Preserving Eggs by Corinne Updegraff Wells

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D. C. · Mar 9, 1911

Preserving Eggs

By Corinne Updegraff Wells

SCIENCE has solved the question of November eggs at spring prices. They may be preserved for nine months, or more, in a solution of silicate of soda, commonly called water-glass. The solution is harmless, gives certain results if properly used, is easily prepared, and in bulletins issued by the Bureau of Agriculture at Washington is recommended as the best-known egg preservative.

Silicate of soda is a thick, sirupy liquid

sold by the pound at drug-stores. In ten-pound lots the price is usually ten cents a pound for the best grade. Ten pounds will make enough solution to cover fifty dozen eggs, making the cost two cents a dozen. There are three grades of silicate of soda on the market. An inferior quality costs a trifle less than the best, but the saving may result in loss of eggs.

To prepare the solution, stir one part of silicate of soda into sixteen parts of water that has been boiled, cooled, and measured.

The logical time to put eggs away is in March, April, or May, when they are cheap. It is advisable to do it as early as possible, before the temperature is high. They must be unquestionably fresh. The ideal way is to drop them in the solution as soon as they are brought from the nest. When this can not be done, one should secure them not more than three days after they are laid. Soiled eggs, cracked ones, or those that have been washed, can not be used.

An egg-shell contains many air-cells. In time the air spoils an egg, as it spoils a jar of fruit that is not tight. When covered with a solution of silicate of soda, the shell becomes hermetically sealed by an invisible, glass-like varnish. It is so effectually sealed that an attempt to boil it without first piercing the large end of the shell with a needle, will result in an explosion.

Stone crocks with lids are the best vessels in which to keep the eggs. A six-gallon crock will hold twenty dozen. A new keg or barrel will answer the purpose, but should first be well scalded. The best place to store the eggs is in a cool, dry cellar. The preparation may be poured into the crock and the eggs dropped into it at different times, or the eggs may be packed in and then covered with the liquid.

After a few months the solution will become cloudy, and occasionally small transparent lumps will appear on the surface of the water. These are deposits of water-glass and need cause no uneasiness.

The preparation is slightly alkaline, but not injurious to the flesh. The eggs may be handled with safety. They should be taken out of the solution only as they are needed, because, after the long storage, the air causes rapid deterioration. There is but little loss of the original delicate flavor, and the whites, when beaten, are as stiff as those of new-laid eggs.—Corinne Updegraff Wells, in Harper's Bazar.