Thursday, April 11, 2013

Freeze Eggs? Yes, You Can!


We have a small farmette and keep chickens for eggs. Right now they are laying very well.  So well, in fact, that we often have more eggs than we can scramble, boil, bake or consume at the moment.  What to do?

FREEZE them!

Yes, you can safely freeze eggs. :)

According to the Georgia Egg Commission, here's how to freeze eggs:

"WHOLE EGGS ~ Beat just until blended, pour into freezer containers. seal tightly, label with the number of eggs and the date, and freeze."

"WHITES ~ Break and separate the eggs, one at a time, making sure that no yolk gets in the whites. Pour them into freezer containers, seal tightly, label with the number of egg whites and the date, and freeze. For faster thawing and easier measuring, first freeze each white in an ice cube tray and then transfer to a freezer container."

"YOLKS ~ Egg yolks require special treatment. The gelation property of yolk causes it to thicken or gel when frozen. If frozen as is, egg yolk will eventually become so gelatinous it will be almost impossible to use in a recipe. To help retard this gelation, beat in either 1/8 teaspoon salt or 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar or corn syrup per 1/4 cup egg yolks (4 yolks). Label the container with the number of yolks, the date, and whether you've added salt (for main dishes) or sweetener (for baking or desserts)."


Use fresh eggs and try to not get a lot of excess air in the eggs when you mix them.

How to use the eggs once they are frozen is explained by the  Georgia Egg Commission:

"To use frozen eggs... Thaw frozen eggs overnight in the refrigerator or under running cold water. Use yolks or whole eggs as soon as they're thawed. Once thawed, whites will beat to better volume if allowed to sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes.
Substitute 2 tablespoons thawed egg white for 1 Large fresh white.
Substitute 1 tablespoon thawed egg yolk for 1 Large fresh yolk.
Substitute 3 tablespoons thawed whole egg for 1 Large fresh egg.
Use thawed frozen eggs only in dishes that are thoroughly cooked.

We have used our frozen eggs and they are just great! We scrambled them for breakfast and you couldn't tell the difference from fresh eggs. 

I wouldn't recommend using store bought eggs. Fresh eggs from your chickens (or from your friend's chickens) are a better option. 

I freeze my eggs in Ziploc bags but you can use any container that is safe for the freezer. I freeze them in portions that I might readily use but the above chart will help you figure out what you need. 

Give it a try! 




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25 comments:

  1. This is great information, we are very strongly considering having chickens for eggs and meat, so this is being pinned on my chicken board, new follower.

    Would love it if you would link this up on Tuesdays With a Twist.

    http://yourlife7.blogspot.com/2013/04/tuesdays-with-twist-link-up.html

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    1. Thanks for commenting! Chickens are great and I highly recommend them. We have had chickens for eggs for 10 years and meat chickens for over a year. We LOVE it!
      Thanks for the invite! Linking up!
      Gloria

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  2. This is so smart! We buy our eggs in bulk but don't go through them very quickly. Found you via Catch a Glimpse linky. I would love for you to visit my cleaning blog angsays.wordpress.com.

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  3. I found you through Our Simple Farm link. I just made an angel food cake and had many leftover egg yolks. I added the sugar to them, froze them and thawed them when I needed them for lemon curd. They did great! Hope you visit my page.
    http://henandchicksblog.blogspot.com/

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    1. That's great, Angela! Angel food cake sounds yummy! :D We'll come visit your blog, thanks for inviting us! :)

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  4. This is such good info. Never knew this. Thank you so much for sharing. My sister has chickens for the eggs. I'll let her know.

    Consider yourself hugged.
    http://simpleesue.com/try-one-new-recipe-a-week-bed-and-breakfast-cherry-crumb-coffee-cake/

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    1. You're welcome, Sue! We hope your sister enjoys the info!

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  5. I would of never guessed you could freeze eggs. What a great idea! Thanks for sharing. Stopping by from TT&J. Have a wonderful weekend :)

    RamblingReed.blogspot.com

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    1. You're welcome, Andrea! Thanks for stopping by! We hope your weekend is equally wonderful. :D

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  6. I love learning new things! Thank you for sharing your lovely blog at the Thursday Favorite Things blog hop xo

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    1. So do we! :D You're quite welcome and thanks for visiting. :)

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  7. This is awesome! I can't wait to try freezing some. Out hens are giving us 7-9 eggs a day and we aren't using them fast enough.

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    1. Freezing eggs is a really great way to keep them if you have more than you can use! Thanks for dropping by!

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  8. This is genius, thanks for sharing! My mom just bought 13 little chicks, so I'll have to pass this info onto her for when she has chickens laying more eggs than she can handle!

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    1. Aww, baby chicks are adorable. :D We're glad you liked the info and hope it's useful for your mom! :) Thanks for visiting!

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  9. Thank you so much for sharing on Show Me Your Plaid Monday's!

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  10. I ended up with gross yolks that I tried to freeze. Gotta add that sugar the next time. Thanks for the tip! Pinned this! Thanks for sharing these on Two Cup Tuesday at Pint Sized Baker I hope to see ya again on Monday night!

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    1. Oh, yeah, if you freeze the yolks separately from the whites, they'll need that sugar. You're very welcome! :)

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  11. Stopping by from Empty your Archive~ What great information and something I didn't know! I buy all my eggs from a local farm and I will definitely be picking up a few extra dozen so I can freeze them:) Thanks for sharing~Lynn @ Turnips 2 Tangerines

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    1. What a great idea, Lynn! Yes, with this tip, you could buy eggs in bulk! :D

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