Winter is coming, which means egg production will slow down on our little farm. I know from history that I will run out of eggs at some point as my chickens stop laying. While I will turn on supplemental light after they finish molting to jump start egg production again, I’m already thinking of ways to avoid having to buy grocery store eggs.
Can we all agree that grocery store eggs are a little gross? We’re so spoiled with our wonderful, farm-fresh eggs. If you’re flush with eggs now and wondering how to make eggs last through the winter, here are a few things you can do with all those eggs!
Refrigerate Unwashed Eggs
Remember in our discussion recently about washing eggs? Refrigerating unwashed eggs will help them last longer. It might a good idea to fight the urge to wash your eggs this fall and to also clean out some room in the fridge for them! Read about refrigerating eggs here.
Recipes that Use a Lot of Eggs
Another way to make eggs last longer is to cook them in freezer friendly recipes that use a lot of eggs. Here are a few of our family-friendly freezer recipes my family loves that use a lot of eggs:
- Breakfast burritos – our favorite breakfast burritos are simply scrambled eggs with homemade breakfast sausage and cheese.
- Waffles – we love these eggnog waffles, but you can also sub regular milk for the eggnog.
- Egg muffins – bacon wrapped egg muffins are fabulous and free well!
- Pancakes – nothing beats a good classic buttermilk pancake recipe.
- Cheesecake – cheesecake actually freezes surprisingly well and uses a lot of eggs! We love these mint chocolate cheesecake bars and this pumpkin cheesecake as well.
Preserve Eggs
Finally, there are also several ways to preserve eggs to make them last longer. Some of the most popular egg preservation methods include:
- Freeze raw eggs – this is pretty easy and works really well. Simple whisk eggs lightly, add a pinch of salt or sugar (salt if you want to use the eggs in savory dishes and sugar if you want to use them in baking), then freeze individually in ice cube trays.
- Preserve egg yolks in salt – basically you’re curing the yolks in salt, and then using them as garnish on salads and sandwiches. Learn how easy this egg preservation method is in this salted egg yolk recipe.
- Ferment and pickle eggs – hard boil and peel eggs, then preserve in a vinegar brine and store in the refrigerator. Here’s a traditional recipe for pickling eggs.
- Storing eggs with mineral oil – this is another common way to make eggs last longer. Simply wipe the dirt off farm fresh eggs, but don’t wash. Coat with warmed food-grade mineral oil, and store pointy side down in an egg carton in a cool location. Read more about storing eggs with mineral oil.
What’s your favorite thing to do with all the eggs to make them last?