How to Preserve Eggs for Long Term Storage

Have you ever wondered how to preserve eggs?

Whether you have a coop full of overachieving hens or just hit the jackpot at the farmer's market, it's time to learn how to make those eggs last. Here are five ways to preserve your eggs for later.

Quick answer: What's the best way to preserve eggs?

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The best way to preserve eggs depends on the eggs you have and how you plan to use them later. For most families, freezing beaten-raw eggs offers the safest, simplest long-term option. Dehydrating eggs works well for camping meals and emergency food storage if you dry and store them carefully.

Water glassing, lard coating and preserving eggs with Vaseline come from older homestead traditions. I treat those as old-fashioned methods, not modern, tested food safety methods. If you try them, use only clean, uncracked, unwashed farm-fresh eggs, and understand the risks before you start.

Maybe you found a great sale on eggs at the supermarket. Or maybe, like us, you have some pretty productive chickens.

When we were raising chickens and had laying hens in full production, eggs stacked up fast. That sounds like a good problem, and it is, until you run out of fridge space and start planning breakfast, lunch and dinner around eggs.

During our off grid years, I learned that egg preservation isn't just about saving money. It's about making the most of the food your animals provide while building a deeper pantry for slower seasons.

Unless you have a large family and you eat eggs for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day, it doesn't take long to find yourself with more eggs than you can use fresh.

A quick egg safety note

Before you try any egg preservation method, start with clean, uncracked eggs and know which methods suit farm-fresh eggs versus store-bought eggs. The USDA FSIS guide to eggs from farm to table explains how washing, refrigeration, and safe storage affect shell eggs. Penn State Extension also shares helpful advice on how to safely handle and store eggs from your home flock, which matters if you're preserving eggs from your own hens.

Old-fashioned methods like water glassing, lard coating and preserving eggs with Vaseline come from homestead traditions. I find them fascinating, but I treat them differently from modern tested methods for safely handling eggs. When in doubt, choose the safest option for your family and your setup.

5 ways to preserve eggs

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Saving money, reducing food waste and ensuring a consistent supply of eggs throughout the year are just a few reasons to learn different methods of preserving fresh eggs.

Freeze your eggs

If your fridge is overflowing with eggs, transfer some to the freezer and freeze your eggs for later. You have several options for freezing eggs, depending on your plans.

Break the eggs into an ice cube tray and freeze them individually. Thaw cubes as needed for breakfast dishes or baking recipes.

Alternatively, you could scramble the eggs without cooking them, then freeze them in an ice cube tray, then thaw them for a fast scrambled-egg breakfast.

If you frequently bake with egg whites, separate the whites from the yolks before freezing. Otherwise, they become watery, making them difficult to separate after thawing.

And if you like a specific cooked egg dish, simplify your future food prep by cooking a big batch of scrambled eggs, omelets, egg breakfast burritos or quiches. Then freeze them in single servings for quick and easy breakfasts or make-ahead camping meals.

It's also important to add salt or sugar to best preserve the texture of farm-fresh eggs when freezing.

Freezing works best when you want eggs for baking, scrambled eggs, breakfast casseroles, egg bites or baked eggs in the oven. Don't freeze eggs in the shell because the contents expand and may crack the shell. Crack each egg first, check it, then freeze whole beaten eggs, separated whites or separated yolks.

For baked eggs oven recipes, freeze cooked egg dishes in single portions. Wrap cooled baked eggs, egg muffins or breakfast casseroles tightly, then store them in freezer-safe containers. Label the container with the date and use it for busy mornings, camping trips or quick off-grid breakfasts.

Water glassing

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We tried this earlier this summer when we were getting 20+ eggs a day from our laying hens. (Too much for our family - feeding five adults and two children daily.) And when I was researching how to preserve eggs without using a fridge, water glassing kept turning up in my search results.

Long before every home had a fridge and freezer, North American households were learning how to water glass eggs for long-term food storage. This simple egg preservation method protects eggs from bacteria that cause the breakdown of the shells. 

Water-glassing eggs helps to avoid egg spoilage by encasing the shells in a liquid lime solution.  However, do not try water-glassing store-bought eggs. 

In North America, grocers usually store commercially grown eggs in the refrigerated section. Their bloom, the protective layer that coats the egg when laid, gets washed away during commercial egg processing. 

When water-glassing, only use unwashed farm-fresh eggs so the bloom remains intact. The bloom naturally on the eggs helps protect the eggs from going bad for several weeks. 

How to water glass eggs

You will need pickling lime, filtered or distilled water and a storage container with a lid to water glass eggs.

Mix your lime solution with one ounce of pickling lime to one quart of water.

Exceeding the lime-to-water ratio won't harm your eggs; however, not using enough lime can harm them, so measure carefully. Weigh the lime and water on the side of caution and add a little extra if you don't have a kitchen scale.

Place fresh unwashed eggs into a wide-mouthed container and add the solution. Then store water-glassed eggs in the lime solution for up to two years, providing the eggs haven't cracked. 

Avoid moving your water-glassed eggs or adding too many eggs to the container to minimize the chance of accidentally breaking the lower layer of eggs.

Water-glassing eggs does not pickle them. This method of preserving eggs lets you use them just like fresh eggs come winter. 

"Water glassing eggs is an easy and straightforward way to preserve farm fresh eggs. The hardest part was finding eggs clean enough to use because you can't wash them before immersing in the pickling lime solution."

- Laura Sampson, Little House Big Alaska 

Preserve eggs in lard

One way to make washed fresh eggs last longer involves replacing the bloom if it was removed due to washing.

Do this with lard, mineral oil or shortening. It's a good option if eggs are one of the items you buy in bulk to stock your pantry and you expect to use them within four months.

Preserving eggs in lard, mineral oil or shortening may work best when the weather is cool, and the risk of spoiling is lower. Inspect each egg carefully to ensure each egg gets fully coated with the oil or shortening.

"Preserving fresh eggs with a lard rub carried my eggs through many months of cold weather. It was a simple process my children and I worked on together. We buffed fresh eggs with lard until the usually porous shells were sealed and prepped for long-term storage. Out of 120 eggs, none spoiled, even after being stored at room temperature for four months." 

- Jessica Haggard, Primal Edge Health

Dehydrate eggs

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Are interested in securing your family's food supply for the long-term? Or maybe you're building a prepper pantry.

If so, you'll be happy to know you can dehydrate eggs to store as a powder for long-term storage. This is great for emergency kits and camping trips as well.

Dehydrating eggs is a popular method of preserving eggs without a fridge or freezer. Dehydrated eggs take little space and can be a good choice for households that stock prepper pantries or emergency kits. 

To dehydrate eggs, crack them into a bowl and whisk together before pouring them onto a fruit leather tray in your dehydrator.

Set the dehydrator at 140 F for eight to 10 hours. Occasionally stir eggs so they dry consistently.

Break the dried eggs into chunks, then use a coffee grinder or blender to grind them into powdered eggs if you prefer these to dehydrated egg pieces.

To rehydrate and cook your dehydrated or powdered eggs, add water and wait 20 minutes. Use rehydrated eggs in baking, scrambled eggs, egg bites or even omelets.

Dehydrated or powdered eggs are lightweight and take up little space, making them an excellent addition to backpacking meals or camping kitchen supplies.

To rehydrate and cook your eggs, add water. Then let them sit for 20 minutes or so before using them in baking, scrambled eggs, or egg bites without worrying about keeping fresh eggs.

Dehydrated eggs help when freezer space runs short. They also make sense for emergency meals, backpacking food and pantry planning.

If you want the best way to freeze-dry eggs, use a home freeze dryer instead of a dehydrator. Scramble raw eggs until smooth, pour them into freeze-dryer trays, and dry them according to your machine's instructions. Once dry, grind the eggs into a powder for easier measuring, then store them in airtight jars or mylar bags with oxygen absorbers.

Freeze-dried eggs usually keep a better texture than dehydrated eggs. However, freeze-dryers cost far more than a basic dehydrator. If you're just starting your food storage journey, dehydrating eggs may make more sense until you know how often your family will use powdered eggs.

Vaseline Eggs

Preserving eggs with Vaseline works on the same basic idea as coating eggs with lard, shortening or mineral oil. The coating covers the shell and helps replace the natural bloom that protects a fresh egg. My grandmother used this method years ago, and that family story still fascinates me.

That said, I'd treat preserving eggs with Vaseline as an old-time method, not a tested modern food safety method. You need clean, uncracked, unwashed farm-fresh eggs. Store them in a cool place, check each egg carefully before use, and don't use this method for store-bought eggs.

A couple of years ago, I had a chat with my aunt when we were looking for ways to start preserving our eggs.

She recalled her mother (my grandmother) preserving eggs without a fridge 40 years ago when Grandma and Grandad lived on their boat and sailed around the Caribbean, Florida Keys and the Carolina coasts.

What my grandparents did was to carefully coat each egg with Vaseline. The theory is similar to preserving eggs with shortening or mineral oil.

The Vaseline acts like the bloom. It fills in any fissures or cracks in the eggs and prevents bacteria that could cause the egg to rot.

I haven't found any reference to this online or in my collection of old cookbooks. However, Grandma and Grandad preserved their eggs using Vaseline for at least a few years.

While Grandad passed away over 25 years ago, Grandma lived to just one month shy of her 103rd birthday. So those years of eating eggs preserved in Vaseline didn't seem to harm her any.

Common mistakes to avoid

Don't preserve dirty, cracked or leaking eggs. One bad egg can spoil the whole batch and waste all your work.

Don't water glass store-bought eggs. Commercial eggs usually lose their bloom during washing, so they don't suit this old-fashioned storage method.

Don't freeze eggs in the shell. Crack them first, then freeze the whites, yolks or beaten whole eggs.

Don't skip labels. Add the date and method to every jar, bag or container so you know what to use first.

Don't assume every old-fashioned method meets today's food safety guidance. Homesteaders have used many egg storage methods over the years, but freezing gives most beginners the clearest and safest place to start.

How do you preserve your eggs? Let me know in the comments.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you preserve eggs with Vaseline?

Yes, some families preserved eggs with Vaseline in the past by coating clean, unwashed shells. The Vaseline acts like a barrier over the shell, much like lard, shortening or mineral oil. However, this is an old-fashioned method, not a modern tested food safety method.

What is the best way to store eggs long term?

For most beginners, freezing eggs gives the simplest long-term storage option. Crack the eggs, check them, beat them lightly and freeze them in small portions. Dehydrating or freeze drying eggs also works well for pantry storage if you have the right equipment.

Can you freeze baked eggs from the oven?

Yes, many baked egg dishes freeze well. Cool baked eggs, egg muffins or breakfast casseroles fully before wrapping and freezing them. Reheat them until hot all the way through.

Can you water glass washed eggs?

No, don't water glass washed eggs. Water glassing depends on the natural bloom staying on the shell, and washing removes that protective coating.

What's the best way to freeze dry eggs?

Scramble raw eggs until smooth, pour them into freeze dryer trays and follow your machine's directions. Once fully dry, powder the eggs if you like, then store them in airtight containers with oxygen absorbers.

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