I found this method in a book this evening. It uses limewater to preserve the eggs and was listed with the water glass method. (BTW... has anyone ever tried water glass... where do you buy it?) ***************** Eggs may also be preserved in limewater obtained by slaking 2 pounds of lime in water and mixing the clear solution with 5 gallons of boiled water. The use of galvanized containers is not advised for the limewater solution. The eggs should be removed from the preservative only as needed for immediate use and should be washed to remove the coating which covers the shell.

From: ‘Raising Small Animals for Pleasure and Profit’ by Frank G. Ashbrook

Renee

-- Renee at Briar Creek (fakeaddy@nomail.com), November 23, 2001

Answers

Renee, Try the Happy Hovel. They carried water glass at one time, but I have not looked in a couple of years. WEB address is:

http://www.happyhovel.com/

-- Joe (CactusJoe001@AOL.com), November 24, 2001.

Joe! Thanks for the link to KePeg! I found it also available from Australia for $10.34 in American Dollars at: http://www.giveanaussieago.com.au/sites/kepeg.html This does not include postage. I placed an order and will know more about postage when they e-mail me.

-- Renee (fakeaddy@nomail.com), November 24, 2001.

Dear Renee, I ordered some water glass through a Value Pharmacy in our closest town. It is called Sodium silicate and the brand name is Brite-Lite. I paid $6.19 for a 30 fluid oz. bottle. I believe the ratio is 9 parts water to 1 part solution. I think I got the recipe from Carla Emery's book on Homesteading. I did do up a Gal. glass jar a couple of years ago when I was trying to learn as many new skills as possible and we stored them that way for 9 months. I finally used them in baking and they seemed just fine. I did store them in our root cellar also. The solution jells up in time sort of like jello with your eggs in them but it was not difficult to work with. Since then we have not really had a need to store eggs but I do keep it on hand "just in case" and wish I had maybe done at least a couple of dozen to get us through the winter this year as I am having to buy eggs now to supplement our hens. I just looked closer at the bottle and noticed that it is distributed by Bergen Brunswig Drug, Orange, CA 92868. It would be a shame for you to have to pay shipping from Australia to the States if they had to have it shipped from here to there.

-- mary (Mary@home.com), November 24, 2001.

Someone know what kind of lime to use? Is it the pickeling kind or the garden variety? I bought some of the "water glass" stuff from a drug store a while back. Never have used it yet, but have it ready. They special ordered it for me. Can it be reused?

-- Lynnda (venus@zeelink.net), November 25, 2001.

Mary, Thanks for the suggestion on finding the Sodium silicate! Ever wonder why this method is called 'water glass'? Anybody know? Lynnda.... I don't know what kind of lime to use. Hope someone else does. Renee

-- Renne (fakeaddy@nomail.com), November 25, 2001.

Lynnda, I tried to find out what type of lime to use... one recipe said to use "quick lime"... whatever that is! There were a lot of ideas for preserving eggs, including lime water method at these sites:

http://waltonfeed.com/old/mama/egpresrv.html

http://www.freerecipe.org/Old_Fashioned_Advice/About_Meat/StoringSmo_b ccej.htm

Renee

-- Renee (fakeaddy@nomail.com), November 26, 2001.

Renee, quick lime is lime which has not yet been slaked. Simple, no?

Alright, they burn lime - or at least heat it - like taking oyster shells or limestone (calcium carbonate), heating it so it gives off the carbonate part as carbon dioxide, and you're left with calcium oxide. That's QUITE reactive, and will react exothemically (give off heat) with added water. In fact, not just exothermic, but da__ed near explosively - at least generate a lot of heat - can boil - be VERY careful with quick lime and water. Quick lime doesn't last forever, though - it will react with water vapour or carbon dioxide from the air. Once it's reacted with water (been slaked) then it's slaked lime, and more-or-less harmless. Talk to someone at a hardware store or building supplies store about quick lime and slaked lime - they can supply or inform.

Actually, a rural hardware store is also probably your best source for waterglass (sodium silicate) as well. Try them - they probably have a drum in the back of the store, and if not then they did ten years ago, and would be able to get some in for you again. In case you wondered, it's called waterglass because of the silicon (as in glass), because it dissolves in water, and because eventually it (dissolved in water) settles down to a sort of clear jelly-like consistency.

Whatever sort of preservative you use for eggs, remember to keep them cool. All the preservative can do is stop oxygen from getting to them (more or less). The oxygen WILL still get to them - so keeping them cool slows down what happens after the less (or more) oxygen gets to them.

-- Don Armstrong (from Australia) (darmst@yahoo.com.au), November 27, 2001.