The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1881-09-15
The Preservation Of Eggs.

The following will prove of timely in
terest to many:
In the common "liming' process a
tight barrel is half filled with cold wa.
ter, into which is stirred slaked lime
and salt in the proportion of one half
pound each for every pail or bucket Of
water. Some dea' ers use no salt, and
others add small quantity of inter-
one-4uarter pound to the half barrel Of
pickle. Into this the eggs, which must
be perfectly fresh and sound. are let
down with dish, when they settle to
the bottom, small end down. The eggs
displace the liquid, so that when the
barrel is full Of eggs it is also iull OF
pickle. Eggs thus picked. if kept in a
cool place, will ordinarily keep good
for several months. Long storage in
this liquid. however, is apt to make the
shells brittle and impart limy taste to
their contents. This may be in great
measure avoided by amounting the egg
all over with lard before putting in the
pickle. Eggs thus prepared are said to
keep perfectly for six months or more
when stored in a cool cellar.
A much better way of storing eggs is
the following: having selected perfect
ly fresh eggs, put them, a dozen or
| more at time, into q small willow
basket, and immerse this for five Sec
Onds in boiling water containing about
| five pounds Of common brown sugar
per gallon of water. Place the eggs
Immediately after on trays to dry The
scalding water causes the formation Of
thin skin of hard albumen next the
inner surface of the shell, the sugar eff
fectually closing all the pores of the
latter.
The cool eggs are then packed. small
end down, in an intimate mixture Of
one measure of good charcoal, finely
powdered. and two measures of dry
bran. Eggs thus stored have been
found perfectly fresh and unaltered
after six months.
A French authority gives the follow
ing: Melt four ounces of clear beeswax
in a porcelain dish over a gentle fire
and stir in eight ounces of olive oil.
Let the resulting solution of wax in oil
cool somewhat, then dip the fresh eggs
one by one into it so as to coat every
part of the shell. A momentary dip is
sufficient, all excess of the mixture
being wiped off with a cotton cloth.
The oil is absorbed in the shell, the
wax hermetically closing all the pores.
1t is claimed that eggs thus treated and
packed away in powdered charcoal in a
cool place have been found a ter two
years as fresh and palatable as when
newly laid.
Paraffine, which melts to thin
liquid at temperature below the boil.
ing of water, and has the advantage OF
being odorless, tasteless, harmless and
cheap, can be advantageously substi.
tutel for the wax AID oil, and used in a
similar manner. Thus coated and put
into the lime pickle the eggs may be
safely stored for many months; in char
coal, under favorable circumstances,
for year or more.
Dry salt is frequently recommended
as a good preservative packing for
stored eggs, but practical experience
has shown that salt alone is but little
better than dry bran, especially if
stored in damp place or exposed to
humid air.
A mixture of eight measures of bran
with one of powdered quicklime makes
an excellent packing for eggs in trans
pOrtatlOn.
Water glass-silicate of soda-has'
recently been used in Germany for rem
dering the shells of eggs non-porous.
A small quantity of the clear sirup solu-
ton is smeared over the entire surface
OF the shell. On drying, thin, hard,
CLASSY film remains, which serves as an
admirable protection and substitute for
wax, oil, gums, etc. Eggs thus coated
and stored in charcoal-powder, or a
mixture of charcoal and bran, would
keep very long time.
In storing eggs in charcoal, the latter
should be fresh and perfectly dry. If
the eggs are not stored when perfectly
fresh, they will not keep under any
circumstances.
A broken egg stored with sound ones
will sometimes endanger the whole lot,
In packing, the small-end of the egg
should be placed downward; if in char
coal or other powder, they must be
packed so that the shell of one egg
does not touch that of another, the
interspaces being filled with the powder.
Under all circumstances stored eggs
should be kept in as cool q place as
possible. Frequent change of tenn
perature must also be avoided
Scientific American