A lot of the Egg Substitutes out there are good for baking, but what about when you have the urge to stick them between your toes, or feel the need to egg someone’s house? The egg substitutes just aren’t the same. So if you want to make sure you are never without eggs, don’t worry, you can preserve eggs with mineral oil!
Preserve Eggs with Mineral Oil:
#1 You will need:
- Eggs – You want clean eggs, and the fresher the better!
- Mineral Oil – Usually found in the drugstore next to Pepto Bismal.
- Gloves – You want to be careful not to get this stuff on you! (mineral oil can cause Estrogen issues in women so be extra cautious).
#2 Oil Eggs
- Warm 1/8 cup oil in the microwave for about 10 seconds. (this much will be able to do about 2 dozen eggs)
- Dry eggs and carton.
- Put your gloves on!
- Rub a little oil in your hands and then grab an egg.
- Coat entire egg with oil doesn’t matter how thick or thin.
- Make sure not to leave any exposed areas, cover completely with the oil!
#3 Place Egg in Dry Carton
- Once the egg is all lathered in oil, make sure to place it in the egg carton small end down! Not sure why just do it!
#4 Store
- Short-Term Storage (up to 3 months): Store at regular temperature.
- Long-Term Storage (about 6-9 months): Store them in a cool, dark area – Ideally between 65-68 degrees & 75% humidity
- Extra-Long Storage (9-12 months): Store in Fridge
#5 Flip Weekly or Monthly!
- Once a Week, Month, or whenever you remember, make sure to flip the entire egg carton gently upside down to help maintain the egg yolk.
How do I know if the eggs go BAD?
Use your nose! You will pass out!- Play the Sink or Float game!
- Sink = GOOD
- Float = BAD
Benefits:
Besides the benefits I mentioned earlier, here are some other great reasons you should know how to preserve your own eggs:
- Emergencies – If you’re power goes out, you don’t have to worry about turning Vegan!
- Sales – When eggs go on sale you can score big!
- Space – Sometimes you just need some extra fridge space, and by kicking the eggs to the counter it will free some up!
References:
This Bug Will Kill Most of the Americans during the Next Crisis (Video)
13 Myths and Facts About Canned Foods
Survival Food – 59 Long-Term Survival Foods and Supplies at the Grocery Store
Another way to keep eggs out of the fridge is to buy them from a local farmer and make sure they are unwashed. When eggs are laid they already have a coating on them that keeps out the oxygen, which is what makes them go bad, so they can go from store to your pantry without any hassel in between. If you go to England, or most of Europe, you will never find eggs in the dairy cooler because they don’t refridgerate them.
Here in the UK, they tell you to refrigerate your eggs once you take them home.
Why is that.?
Coolblue
I’m not really sure. I surmise that it would be to prevent lawsuits against the entity from which you purchased them.
The weather does not get as hot as it does here in the U.S. that plays a big role in why they do not refrigerate eggs in the UK
Mineral oil which causes harm – isn’t that affecting my health?
Mineral oil is not the best choice. The estrogen / endocrine-disrupting issues affect males as well as females. You don’t want your sons growing up gender-confused, do you?
The ancient Greeks stored their eggs in sealed jars of olive oil. A sunken Greek ship dated to circa 300BC was found a few years back. In it, they found unbroken, sealed jars of olive oil which were filled with eggs. The eggs, which had been sealed in olive oil sitting at the bottom of the Mediterranean for a couple of millennia, were still fresh enough to eat.
So I recommend using only healthy, edible oils as the sealant for the eggs. I also recommend rinsing the eggs and spraying them with colloidal silver prior to coating them in oil. That way you eliminate any microbes which could have been harmful given the time to colonize the egg.
While true that fresh, unwashed eggs have a coating which protects them from oxidation, this coating has its own natural expiration date. Anyone who’s raised chickens knows that, while eggs will sit outside for a few days and still be OK, they DO spoil eventually unless they’re collected and treated (rinsed/oiled).
very interesting 🙂 thank you. we just got 6 laying hens. when we had too many eggs we took them to the local food bank.
Thank you, your message was much more informative and reasonable
Gender confused? Really?
-rolls eyes-
To be concerned for your health is one thing, but come on.
A hormone imbalance won’t make you gender confused. I suffer from PCOS and I have lots of make hormones as a woman and there’s not any mental concerns associated. It’s only a problem physically. So I have to agree the gender confused comment was silly and ignorant 😂
In my youth, fresh eggs lasted weeks at
room temp (~70 deg F) & months in frig.
Your Link’s are not working
Very bad way to store eggs. Eggs have a coating called a bloom. Once laid can last 30 days UNrefrigerated. Trust me I found one of my chickens laid under my beehive for a month until I found them. I ate every egg, 25 in total.
Couldn’t tell which was new which was old.
This is actually talking about store bought/commercial eggs. MOST commercial eggs have had the bloom removed, so this is replacing the bloom. Tho there are still many people who have their own chickens, and more starting to do it again, the majority of Americans do have to buy commercial eggs, which have been washed, and the bloom removed.
The eggshell of an old egg is easier to peel without taking part of the egg off with it such as when hard boiling them to obtain hard boiled eggs.
They last a lot longer than that. My grandmother turned them on a regular basis and had them for months. They didn’t have a refrigerator in those days. I glass mine and they last way over a year, some have had them 2 years. Shelf ready when you want them.
Thank you, I’ve just been looking for information about this topic for a long time and yours is the greatest I’ve discovered so far.
However, what about the bottom line? Are you positive concerning the supply?
From 1974 to 1993 we were “back-to-the-landers” in the SE Alaskan bush raising our two children. We lived the first 11 years without electricity. After 3 years we gave up raising rabbits and chickens because they were so hard to get through the winter and they were magnets for bears in the summer (we canned up 9 bears in 3 years). As we purchased a years supply of food at a time we learned to water glass our eggs. Water glass is a common name for sodium silicate that we purchased in the drug store by the pint. It is a clear, odorless, oily liquid that we submerged the eggs in. We found 1 gallon glass jars would hold 37 eggs and take 1 pint to cover the eggs. We would take a case of eggs (30 doz.) and water glass 15 dozen in 5 gallon jars (180 eggs) and keep the rest in the cartons in our cold room. We would recycle the water glass. It worked for us. We used powdered eggs only for baking cookies and such.
so for clarification, your eggs lasted almost a year this way? and you just pour the pint o sodium silicate over the eggs? could you re use the liquid the next yr? thank you,
I saw this on Doomsday Preppers a number of years back when the show was popular. I tried mineral oil on a couple of dozen store bought eggs. I stored them in the fridge and would rotate them once a month and date the carton each time to keep track. Between eight and nine months I had a party and made devil’d eggs out of them. They smelled fine and tasted good as well. No one could tell that these were stored for such a long period of time after I told everyone later that night. Will do it again if I need to.
I have done the same. I have used year-old eggs and they were just fine. I saved a carton to test at 18 months – they were okay in that the yoke was a little flatter is all. They did pass the water test, no odor and tasted fine. I have also used Crisco shortening to coat the shells.
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We had 100 or 200 chickens when we tried water glass. we stored them in stone crocks 30 gallon I think. We made up the waterglass/water solution and began putting in the eggs. When we needed more waterglass we added it, they kept well. If we had any floaters we took them out. They quit laying in the winter and after about 9-11 months we noticed they began to get watery inside. Were I to do it again I would try taking them out after a while and just sit in the cartons. I can’t tell you how long they would last that way, but I like the oil idea too. First I have heard about mineral oil being bad for you.?! No comment. Watery was the only thing I found unattractive about water glass from the drug store, started out with a gallon and still have some left. Coyotes and fox got the chickens and things changed – no chickens anymore.
My grandmother told about using water glass in her cool spring house to keep eggs through the harsh winters in SW Pennsylvania. They left the farm in 1920. It was an old family owned farm and she had been there since 1898 when they married. She always bragged she was the only one in her church to have fresh eggs to bake cake for a Christmas dinner at church. When I was little Mom rubbed our eggs with Vaseline to keep on the counter in a basket. I use olive oil or warmed coconut oil on mine these days. I don’t wash any but the dirtiest eggs, just oil and put in cartons to keep in the pantry. I had 2 dozen hens but dogs took that number down to about 8 hens but for two of us in warm weather we get more eggs than we use. I keep eggs Fall through Winter with this method. By spring I go back to fresh eggs and use up any older ones in baking. They would keep, it is just a matter of space. Spring through Fall I’m canning, drying and planning for winter. I always pickle some things I want to carry through the year. We love pickled beets, green beans, tiny tomatoes et for a relish tray or added to a salad. People are always surprised that tiny tomatoes and green beans are so good pickled. I even tried a middle eastern radish pickle made from long white radishes. They were good and a Jordanian man in the church always loved them on the relish tray with meals. I extend the freshness of raw cucumbers of all kinds by soaking them in a mild vinegar water. Not quite a pickle but still crisp and good for much longer than just being refrigerated. Many old fashioned ways, from before refrigerators were in every kitchen, still work well for us. Even in the days of an ice box many folks found good ways to preserve food and loose less to spoilage. Canning and dehydrating still are good. My mother loved what her family called Dutchmen’s Breaches. They were green beans lightly blanched, cut from tip almost to stem and hung on the clothes lines to dry in the hot summer sun. When boiled and lightly seasoned with a bit of salt they almost taste meaty and are good with any meal. They will keep for years closed tight in glass jars or hung in a cloth bag from shed rafters if you aren’t in a wet climate. I grow sprouts in glass jars or others in shallow trays to put on sandwiches and in salads. I grow grass sprouts to supplement winter feedings for my chickens, ducks and rabbits. They love something fresh as much as we do. Instead of buying crushed oyster shell for my chickens I dry and crush the egg shells and add that back into their feed a few days a week. These were the ways of my parents and grandparents and still help cut bills and work for me. I’m turning 70 in a few days and I know the grand kids think of me as ancient but these are wisdom older then my grandparents. Humans have survived and lived quite well for millenia. So can we. It does take work and learning but there was always time for art, crafts, feasts, and celebrations. Mindless boob tube time would have been scoffed at as wasted but I like watching the news and keeping in touch with friends by email and texts rather than letter writing. I love the composition but not the wait for answers. I enjoy reading these prepper sites but don’t learn too much. I plant cactus along fence lines, keep the place neat but not fancy on the outside. I still go shooting and clean my weapons now and then. I have packed bug out bags with a full surgical firstaid backpack, a survival pack and dried foods pack. I could grab and go but would prefere to shelter in place at this age. I do share all my learning and skills with my family and they all know where to find most things. I keep a loaded 38 revolver near by for dogs and I’ve used it. Even my husband only has a vague idea where it is. That’s because I use it killing dogs killing my chickens. Keep up the good work teaching and enjoying the journey.
You are an awe inspiring gal! I love that you have kept some of the old ways alive. perhaps you should write these things down? I know there are a lot of these DYI books on the market but I think you additional wisdom would make for a great read as well. Keep it up and I hope to catch ore of your comments.
Thank you for your response. I hope to learn even half of what you know to teach my children in the future. Please contact me if possible. I have two boys that I would love to share this with. Even if I can only get a little of your knowledge. Thank you again.
Clergylady…I SO enjoyed your post/comment!! I LOVE gardening and LOVE learning new things but more so about “way of the past”…to keep them alive! I would LOVE to correspond with you somehow..if you see this message!! Thanks! Jessica in Oklahoma
You are an absolute joy! Thank you for allowing us to get a glimpse into your life. The LORD’s brought you this far and not doubt will be there the whole way for the rest of your days! Blessings!
Loved your post. I can really relate and remember most of those things from my youth.
I am very impressed by your knowledge! Except for the animal killing which I can’t condone (there are always alternatives).
I am 65 and still in the newbie stage. TY for sharing your wisdom.
Thank you for all that info and sharing. In uncertain times like now, it’s amazing to be able to hear these things that the younger generation wouldn’t ever think to utilize. Your knowledge is welcomed.
My grandmother taught me the ways. I do all, can, dry, raise a garden so I know what is in my jars. We hunt for meat, have chickens, rabbits cats for the barn, dogs to let us know something is invading our property. Sometimes a bear, sometimes a human animal.
Good attitude, and a great story. I hope my children and grandchildren have learned from me, at least the basics. The world is changing, and they need to protect their lives with good old fashioned ways to survive.
Thanks.
For me it is a normal part of life surviving on a low income with a house full of hungry kids. Then as a 55 year old widow without a current vocation at that time. I’ve owned a restaurant, been a cake decorator, crafting seller, re-seller, taught oil and acrylic painting…. many things but I’d not worked outside of pastoral work and parenting in many years. Now I just have turned 70 and I’m living with a new retired husband and together we still barely make it on our social security and have to have expensive supplemental health insurance so money is too tight.
This means living old ways and make do. It is an adventure. Not complaining, just a fact of life for many these days. Luckily we are able to garden and can, dehydrate, and pickle to have a variety of foods. We get things from a church food program. It is a mix of whatever comes in each week. Often we are blessed with a lot of fruits and vegetables. Not so much meat but most weeks there are eggs. Occasionally there is meat. This means we have to be creative and cook from scratch. I love cookbooks. A homemade tomato, onion,cream/half and half/ or even coffee creamer and chicken bullion makes a wonderful soup. Add a bread or tortilla melted cheese sandwich and we have a good meal. Wild greens or purslane can be added to the soup. If you had nothing but good dark greens and whole potatoes including the skins you could actually maintain good health. All the necessary vitamins and protein are right there. Too many people throw away the best of the vitamins with skins from potatoes or carrots et., cook it as God made it. Shrimp shells can be reboiled for more flavor to add to your meal or broth as a soup base or to just drink. If you’re really hungry throw insects in a fire to singe off wings and roast them. Crispy they taste nutty and are great protein.Today was an odd meal for me. Two boxes of mac n cheese cooked till tender. Stir in a can of tuna and a can of baby peas-juice and all. Stir in the cheese powder and heat till bubbly. Served 4 generously.
What’s with all the expensive dehydrated food. Go to the $ store and buy dry mixes and canned meats or seasoned pasta dry mixes. Cheap, easy, and just needs water to prepare. Spend the money on good water storage containers or have a rural bug out spot with water nearby. I have 2 wells so I’m more interested in power out ways to get water from my 65 ft deep wells. If all else fails make a hand winch with a weighted juice can that will fit down the casing. Footed or weighted containers are required as an unweighted can would float and not sink to be filled.
Our best tool is that hard rounded thing on top of your neck. Think about possibilities and how to handle them. It is some of the best survival prep there is. I do have things like para cord, turn buckles and clips, even a round whole parachute, and surgical tools and suture kits. Hand sanatizer is antiseptic and will burn.Dryer lint, toilet paper rolls cut into 1 inch long section and a bit of Petroleum jelly makes wonderful firstarters. I use some of them to start my pellet stove rather than the $10 container of jelly fire starter. A squirt of hand sanitizer on the lint will start a fire nicely too. In a power off situation you can use a pellet stove as a twig burning wood stove. There are also gravity fed pellet stoves.
I loved all of your ideas. Heard some of them before and looking forward to what else we could use in a crises.
Dear clergy lady, Ian not much for blogging but I would love to have a weekly email from you just about things.
Justin Dragna, PhD in chemistry from UT Austin
Written Oct 9, 2012
Mineral oil is a fraction of petroleum, and thus, contains hydrocarbons of various molecular formulas. Hence there is no one chemical structure that can be used to describe mineral oil. If it is considered a carcinogen, it likely contains some aromatic molecules such as benzene, toluene, naphthalene, etc.
I still favor olive oil or coconut oil. My grandmother, 1876-1970, used water class in a cool spring house to keep eggs through the winter when her hens weren’t laying.
You provide so much good information, not just for the end-days scenario, but everyday people who concern over world affairs. Thanks for being there for us…
Plan ahead. Old folks used to can when gardens produced to have food for the rest of the year. Even city folk kept chickens or pigeons for meat and eggs.I keep a few chickens for eggs, rabbits fo. meat and fur, ducks for meat and eggs for baking and entertainment (they have personality!) , a dog for companionship and a great announcer of anything out of the ordinary, and a cat for cuddling and for her hunting skills.
Many cities allow a backyard chicken coop but only a few allow one rooster. A clock of hens will still produce eggs with less noise.
Rabbits make no noise and if protected from the hot sun they live outside with just minimal shelter. I let my rabbits live in groups. They enjoy the companionship and in cold weather keep each other warm. One winter in the middle of a snowstorm two does delivered large litters. They pulled hair to make one large warm nest where each delivered their babies and each went there to nurse babies. They didn’t loose a baby and we hit minus 10f three nights in a row.
I put males with males and females with females except at breeding time. Then the females return to the group. Raised together they enjoy that arrangement. Many keep every rabbit separate. That’s up to the one doing the raising.
Life is about planning ahead and doing what you can.
I can’t raise a calf, goats are more work than I’m up to these days. I still garden. I have a salad garden of lettuce, cilantro, garlic chives, raddishes, swiss chard all crowded together in a tub by the patio doors on the side that doesn’t open. That’s most of my winter garden. Sprouts in jars with screen in place of lids, and a few baking pans that start out with screens taped on so they can be rinsed daily without washing away. The screens come off once the roots develope enough to mat together. I harvest the grass with scissors for weeks while a new bath comes on. That is for the rabbits, chickens and ducks. They love their “salad” too.
There are folks that do racks of pans that drain down pan to pan into a tub. Also aquponics. I’m not there yet. But its interesting.
I’m in the midst of remodeling a double wide I used to live in. Its on a rural 3 acres. There is an old storage trailer I pland to move the chickens, ducks, and rabbits into one end of it with a totally enclosed outdoor yard. The other 1/3 will become greenhouse. I might try aquaponics there. I have several large preformed ponds and a 3′ tall swimming pool someone gave me along with the filter and pump. Plenty of room to play. For my trying new things is so much fun I consider it play rather then work.
I use my solar lights to recharge batteries for my flashlights, remote control, camera et. Some charge AA and others charge AAA. That was an eye opening discovery. I just bought rechargeabl batteries and switch with the ones outside as needed.
My son bought solar motion sensor lights for the country place. A very bright one comes on when I get there at night so I can unload the car and walk up the ramo to my front door. Any person or any critter in that area will be seen. Solar lights are wonderful inventions and motion sensors added to that are marvels. I have two and plan on at least two more. I will keep one entrance with a light on a switch so I can slip out in the dark.
I live in an open carry state and when I’m at the rural place I do walk the perimeter in my rubber soled boots and keep an eye after dark at odd times. I tend to wake up off and on so I go for quick walks in dark sweats then go sleep some more. I can sleep in if I choose to.
I couldn’t hold down a steady job anymore but I can feed and water the critters. I can still use power tools and can one or two batches in a day- but not all day like I could 10 years ago. Life changes but a little done every day adds up to a lot accomplished.
I love eggs for breakfast. When cruising on my sailboat, Felicity, without refrigeration, I always lay in a supply of eggs. I buy them at the local store, coat them with Vaseline and store them in styrofoam store egg cartons (two cartons fit perfectly in plastic shoe storage boxes with lids I got at Target years ago). I place them in the lower storage lockers on the boat, below the waterline, so they stay cool (40-60 F). I do not intentionally turn them except when “harvesting” them, and have enjoyed fresh-like eggs for up to 74 days. The only change is that after several weeks the membrane on of yoke relaxes somewhat and my “sunny side up” breakfast eggs are not quite as beautiful but taste and texture do not suffer at all. I use lots of other “old technology” and find it extremely enjoyable and satisfying. No need to leave the wilderness to put into port for provisions all summer. Nature is our friend.
Wow! I really am learning so much from this article and the comments (esp. ClergyLady). Thank you all so much for sharing.
Because egg shells are very absorbent, I would never use toxic oils like mineral oil or Vaseline. Nor would I use any GMO derived oil. Organic raw coconut oil and virgin olive oil would be good. I don’t see why peanut oil and avocado oils wouldn’t work, too, though they are more expensive than the coconut and olive oils. Don’t use canola (rapeseed) oil unless you know for certain it’s organic. No use imbibing toxins with your eggs–which should also be from hens not fed GMO foods or pasture that has been treated with pesticides at any time.
hi i just started using mineral oil to store eggs and recently went to add more and the container when opened smell bad is that bad and i have to get rid of them
Try Crisco instead and do not miss a spot. Place back in the carton and place the carton in a plastic bin with a lid and store in the pantry of a basement. Mine last a year or so.
I am very impressed by your knowledge! Except for the animal killing which I can’t condone (there are always alternatives).
I am 65 and still in the newbie stage. TY for sharing your wisdom.
Clergy lady – write a book on your ways and i bet your income will rise up
thanks, Sara, well done. Big end of the egg goes up so it can vent any gasses fast. niio
And, I forgot to add, hardware stores often carry mineral oil by the gallon. niio
If you want to keep eggs un-refrigerated for up to a year try the water glassing method. I have chickens and do it regularly. Google it!