The Florida agriculturist., 1907-12-04
Eggs Kept Four Years.

eral years, there is no reason for at
tempting to preserve them at all. Still
there may be cases where it is deslr-
able to keep eggs for some weeks or
even months. In such cases there is
nothing which will do the work SO ef-
fectually as thick solution Of slllcate Of
The eggs should be put into the So
luton as soon as possible after they
are laid, certainly within "a hours.
The effects OF the water lass and the
condition OF eggs alter keeping are
shown in the following extract from
recent bulletin of the y. 5. Depart
ment OF Agriculture:
Recent Investigations show that the
Water Glass method OF preserving
eggs is not only the most satisfactory
method, but that it is entirely success
full. We present the following lntOrma-
ton taken from a recent bulletin is
sued by the United States Department
OF Agriculture.
"Usually the eggs which were pre-
served IN water glass, according to
krot. HendrlCk, OF the University OF
Aberdeen, have a nice appearance, as
the shells are very clean and fresh
looking after the water glass is wiped
off them. Even those which had been
several years in water glass had fine,
fresh appearance. Another advantage
Of preservation in water glass over cer-
tain other methods is that the contents
of the egg do not shrink owing to
evaporation. The eggs therefore do
Il
old they are The cost OF preservation
is very small.
"It was found that eggs which had
been kept in water glass for teW
months could hardly be distinguished
in appearance, flavor and smell, either
raw or cooked, from what are called
fresh eggs-that is, fresh eggs in the
commercial sense, which are days old.
A really fresh egg, only a few hours
laid, is easily distinguished IN flavor
and appearance when cooked, from
fresh egg or preserved egg, and is
known as a 'neW-laid' egg. The eggs
which had been preserved in water
glass for about six months tasted and
smelled like well-kept eggs few days
old. AS the eggs in question were a
few days old when they went into the
water glass, they were not apprec1ably
changed to my eye and palate by feW
months stay in water glass.
'As the eggs get older, however, a
distinct change is found which can be
appreciated both by the eye and palate,
Eggs which have been three or four
years in water glass are easily recog-
nized. The white becomes pink in
color and very liquid. The egg &C
quires a slightly peculiar taste which x
suggested soda. At the same
time even when four years old the
eggs had no unpleasant taste or smell,
and the white coagulated in the usual
manner in cooking. Though there was
a slight characteristic odor when the
eggs were cooked, it was not a stale
or bad odor, and did not suggest sui
phurated hydrogen. The changes in
the preserved eggs take place very
gradually. At one year old they are
hardly noticeable; at two years they
are distinct, but not SO distinct as al
three or four years old.
ITO further test the effects Of the
preserving solution fresh eggs and eggs
that had been kept in water glass one
to three years we're analyzed and it was
found that there was practically rc
change in their composition even after
heightened immersion in the solution
Practically no silica and little, if any
soda found their way into the eggs
The eggs do not dry up, and there