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Okay, so it doesn't happen all that often - but it happens. The folks you sell eggs to are on holiday, the birds are all laying well, and all of a sudden you have a bench full of egg boxes. You're already using just about all the eggs you can in cooking... so what to do with the rest?

I've read that you can freeze raw egg if you separate into whites and yolks, and whisk a bit of sugar or salt into the whites before freezing. Never tried it though.

If I end up with too many eggs I generally make a few pots of quick lemon curd, which keeps well in the fridge for a few weeks.

What other suggestions have you got?

Im sure I read somewhere that you can freeze whole eggs if they are beaten first,when defrosted they can be used in cakes ect. What about ice-cream? Ive always got tubs of the stuff in the freezer when the girls go into overdrive (the hens not my girls obviously!) In the Victorian Kitchen Garden they preserved eggs in Issinglass,the idea being that it coated them and blocked out the air,the same thing can be done with lard,or so Ive heard,must have a go myself!

Ice cream? *slaps head* Nice idea! Isinglass doesn't work as well as yu might hpe, I think wombat posted something in another thread about it.

Yup.....twas me!

They also use vaseline to seal the eggs, too!

Nev

I froze tons of excess eggs, beaten (yolks and whites together) with either salt or sugar, following the instructions I'd found in several books.

I never needed them because the hens never stopped laying, but I thought I'd defrost a batch to have a look see. It had turned into a really disgusting thick gloop that I wouldn't have dared to use. So they all went in the bin but at least it has given me some freezer space.

I shan't be freezing eggs again but I'm now selling my excess to my neighbours. Thank god!

Andy has a pickled egg recipe on the main site. I never got around to trying that though.

could try cooking up some quiches and freezing for when you need a quick meal.
or try and find someone else to buy some eggs as a one off.

H2G2 has something to say about preserving eggs.

And if you're feeling bold (or have a strong stomach) read about century eggs at Wikipedia



Maybe they taste better than they look.

Article says the whites (now transparent brown) taste of very little, whereas the yolks smell strong but taste cheesy. Mmmm. As for the rest of the traditional meal...

On special events, like wedding banquets or birthday parties, a first course platter of sliced barbequed pork, pickled baby leeks, sliced abalone, pickled Julienned carrots, pickled julienned daikon radish, seasoned julienned jellyfish, sliced pork head cheese and the quartered century eggs is served. This is called a lahng-poon in Cantonese, or a cold dish.

I like the quiche idea... apparently to avoid the gloopiness of frozen eggs you should separate yolk from white before beating. Not that I've tried it... but we have six chooks which garuantees us at least one egg a day even in winter (so far) - the flipside being we get four or five a day in summer which is more than we can cope with!

what about pickled eggs There is always freecycle too if you really do have too many to deal with.

Pickled...

One year for frozen eggs! I thought mine might have been dodgy because they had been in for about 4 - 5 months.

Hedgie - all my books say to beat the yolk and white together!

Hmm! I have a book called "Preserving Nature's Bounty" but I can't get to it right now. I'll check it when we move back in and update if I'm right.

some time ago, I ran a small free range poultry farm, and learnt that one of the big local packing/wholesalers would buy eggs in glut at giveaway prices, then shipped them "over the border" into Kent, where they were stored in redundant appple stores at a lowish (not frozen) temperature - they were then sold many months later (in those days you weren't ALLOWED to put a "laid" date on them), with a "packed on" date.............
Keep them cool, they'll last for ages!