Water Glass... How?

[Cab]

I have next to me some water glass. In a bottle. Also known by the less lovely name sodium silicate.

How does one use it to preserve eggs? How much do I dilute it?

I get that you keep the solution, with clean, freshly laid eggs added, somewhere cool and dry. I get they should be intact and clean other than -maybe- a wipe to get any muck off. But I don't seem to be able to find what concentration to use.

Advice would be apprecuated!

Ta,

Cab.

 

[chrismahon]

Hi Cab. My 1918 book 'Poultry for the Many' has a chapter on preserving eggs and goes into a lot of detail. Water glass (assuming it is the same concentration) is made into a 10:1 solution, with 10 parts of boiled and cooled water. After the eggs have been added to the solution in an earthenware container, some melt a thin layer of wax over the top to exclude the air. The eggs must be first class as one bad one will spoil the lot. No cleaning and no cracks. Worth checking them every month and removing any suspect it says. Lot of work.

We freeze ours.

 

[Cab]

Thanks Chris.

Something about the old school preserving techniques makes me very happy. I'll give this a go and see how I get on

Although just right now its almost as if they're not going to slow down for winter!

 

[mum of 4]

Hi,
I'm now curious - how do you freeze your eggs?? Do you crack them into a dish or freeze whole or ready cooked?
And how do you then use a frozen egg?
Thanks

 

[chrismahon]

Well, I'm not the expert -that's my wife Mumof4. But I think the eggs are broken into a small tub, mixed very carefully just to break the yolks, then frozen. They are used for baking, omelettes and scrambled. This technique came off searching on the internet. Last year we froze dozens in yoghurt pots, each holding about 4 eggs (depends on the size of both). We had too many eggs and almost no-one to give them to (can't just sell them here).

The water glass method gives you eggs that can be used for everything except poaching.

 

[Margaid]

My Good Housekeeping Home Encyclopaedia, 1952 edition, has let me down! It says " as the strength of waterglass varies, dilute it according to the manufacturers instructions." Doh!!!

 

[Icemaiden]

While we're looking at storing a glut of eggs, does anyone on the forum pickle eggs as a means of preserving them? Apart from keeping them for 7 - 10 days before hard boiling them, so that they stay intact when peeled, does anyone have any advice?
How long do they need to be picked for, & what's their shelf life?