The Sauk Centre herald., 1912-06-27
EGG PRESERVATION.
BY r. M. WEST, Division of
Chemistry and Soils, Mime
sofa College of Agriculture.
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Eggs for consumption next winter
should be packed duri April, May
and early June. The most effective
preservative for this purpose has been
found to be solution of sodium sill
cate. This preserving solution may be
made from a commercial preparation
of the silicate known as water glass;"
| or from the dry salt.
When the solution is used, one gal
Ion, as purchased, should be diluted
to ten gallons with good water When
the dry silicate is used, it should be
ground and added to hot (not boiling)
water, in the proportion of one pound
to three gallons. The mixture should
lie stirred thoroughly once an hour
during a day, allowed to stand all
night to permit the insoluble matter
to settle, and then the clear solution
may be poured or siphoned off for use.
Every hundred dozen eggs will re-
quire about twenty gallons of the pre-
serving liquor. This will cost 81
where the water glass is obtainable
at 81 gallon, and the dry silicate at
80 cents pound To the cost of this
material should be added portion of
the value of the containers which are
to be used for storage, and small
charge for the additional handling
which is required. The total cost
should lie between 21a and cents
per dozen.
The use of the water glass solution,
rather than the dry silicate, is advised
whenever the relative prices of the
two will permit. Aside from the addi-
tional labor involved in the use of the
dry salt, it is of uncertain composition,
and it's solubility is subject to great
variation. In some instances the sill
cate has been found to contain so
much free alkali as to affect the flavor
Of the eggs; in others, it has been
found so insoluble as to have little
preserving power.
If the following precautions are OBJ
served no difficulty should be expert
enced in preserving the eggs for
twelve or fifteen months.
Pack strictly fresh eggs only. If the
freshness of the egg is in doubt, eX-
clude it,. The preservative will not
save spoiled eggs, and good eggs may
be injured by infection from bad eggs
placed in the same container
Do not allow the eggs to stand for
several days before packing. There
need be no additional labor involved
in placing them in the water glass So
luton as fast as they are collected.
They should be collected at least once
a day.
Pack only clean eggs: but do not
wash the eggs before packing. Water
Gissolves mucilaginous coating with
which the egg is provided, rendering
the shell more porous. and decreases
the keeping quality of the egg.
Stone jars are preferable as con-
tainers, and should be used whenever
POSSIBLE. The large sizes (twenty and
twenty-five gallons), however, are ex-
pensive, and wooden kegs may be used
successfully if special precautions are
taken to clean them thoroughly and
sterilize them with boiling water be-
fore using.
Aside from the low prices which
prevail during April, May and June,
! the eggs laid in those months are to
be preferred for packing; since ex-
| reriment has shown (Storrs Exper
Sta. Bull. SD that the bacterial con.
tent of the egg is less at that time
than later in the summer, and the
eggs are consequently less likely to
spoil.
| If the water used in the preparation
Of the preservative solution is of
doubtful purity, it should be boiled
and cooled before use.
| Make sure that the eggs do not float.
Ir case the solution is too dense, di-
lutte with just sufficient water to allow
the eggs to sink. Keep them covered
with the solution.
! Keep the packed eggs in a cool
place.
Protect the preserving solution from
free contact with the air, by means Of
close fitting covers. The carbon diox-
ide of the air serves to decompose the
silicate by depositing silicic acid, thus
decreasing the strength of the solu-
tion.
After removing the eggs from the
solution TT use, the same precautions
should be observed, as to keeping, as
in the case of fresh egg. As soon
as the egg is dried and exposed to the
air, the changes which start immedi-
ately upon laying, and which were In.
terrupted by the exclusion of the air
BY the preserving hufd, recenmence.