What can I do with my extra eggs?
So, What can I do with my extra eggs? I have always observed the laying trend of my hens across the year. I can tell you that most of them lay more eggs in spring than at any other time of the year. They do so in preparation to hatch their eggs into new chicks. Unfortunately, some of them don’t go broody, leading to the availability of extra eggs. So, what happens to those eggs? Let’s find out.
There are different ways you can handle your extra eggs. You can give away, cook them or feed them your pets and so on. Never throw away your surplus eggs.
When your birds lay more eggs than you had anticipated, you should think of what to do with the surplus. Keep in mind that your competitors are experiencing the same thing and soon the market will be flooded with eggs. When this commodity is oversupplied, the demand goes down leading to the fluctuation in prices.
Before you find yourself with hundreds or thousands of eggs at your disposal, you must be prepared adequately. If not, you may be compelled to dispose of excess eggs and that’s not a good idea. Therefore, you need to find out the best way you can handle your extra eggs. And that’s exactly what we are going to discuss in the following sections.
What to Do With Extra Eggs
Freeze the Extra Eggs
Don’t let your extra eggs go to waste when you can preserve them for future use. In this case, you can freeze them to extend their shelf life. To do so, crack a few eggs into a clean bowl to scramble them. Mix in ⅛ teaspoon salt or 1 ½ teaspoon sugar for every four eggs. These two ingredients are only meant to prevent the yolks from becoming gummy in their texture.
Take the mixture into the ice cube trays in readiness for freezing. Then transfer the trays to the freezer bags to store them. Alternatively, you can use the vacuum seal bags to prevent freezer burns.
Put a label to the freezer bag indicating the expiry dates of your eggs. Make sure to use the frozen eggs within one year after preserving them.
When it comes to using the frozen eggs, thaw the mixture for a whole day (24 hours) to make it soft. In this case, take only two cubes for larger eggs.
For a half a dozen eggs, you must freeze at least six eggs by slightly beating them in a pint-sized freezer container. You can use these frozen eggs for your breakfast when it is the right time to do so.
Make Egg Noodles
Egg Noodle Machine
Another way of taking care of extra eggs is by making egg noodles. You can prepare noodles in large batchesMarcato 8320 Atlas 150 Machine, Made in Italy, Includes Pasta Cutter, Hand Crank, and Instructions, Silver for future use when the need arises. Also, this procedure will involve freezing a few eggs. Your ingredients will comprise eggs, bulk flour, and olive oil.
The recipe for making egg noodles requires two cups of flour, three eggs, one teaspoon olive oil, 1 ½ teaspoon water, ½ teaspoon salt and dried herbs including pepper. Combine all these ingredients to give you high-quality dough.
Roll the dough and cut it using a sharp knife to make strips measuring an inch wide. Unroll the strips carefully and hang them to dry for thirty minutes before cooking.
Prepare Some Eggs For Dinner
If you have extra eggs, you can take a few to the kitchen and prepare them for dinner. Who doesn’ like a delicious meal full of protein?
You can cook scrambled eggs and serve them alongside fresh vegetables such as spinach, asparagus, kale, peas or onions. Alternatively, you can make a mouth-watering pan-cake for your family to enjoy during dinner time.
Eggs make a good meal, especially for breakfast. This type of meal will help you start the day when your stomach is already full.
Hard boil Your Eggs
You can hard boil your extra eggs that are some weeks old to use them in egg salad sandwiches. After boiling a couple of eggs, you can slice them to make your salad or eat them whole. Meaning that you can peel and have them for lunch.
If you want to preserve your boiled eggs for future consumption, all you have to do is freeze them. Frozen boiled eggs can stay in the freezer for a month or so, thus saving you some money on food.
The only downside of preserving eggs using this technique is that their whites get somehow rubbery. But this is not a matter of concern because they are still safe for consumption.
Trade Your Extra Eggs
Half Dozen Egg cartons
If you know that you have extra eggs, you can trade them with family and friends for small favors. At least, you will give out your extra eggs to your friends or family members instead of leaving them to go bad.
In return, you will enjoy some favors in the form of services or other items of importance. For instance, you can trade your extra eggs for homemade cookies or babysitting. Whichever way that works for you, make sure that both of you benefit mutually.
Coat Your Eggs with Mineral Oil
Coating your eggs with mineral oil will help preserve them for quite a long time. Once your eggs are coated, you can store them in the fridge with their large ends facing up for up to three months.
At the end of this period, your birds will start to slow down their egg production. If this happens, you will still have eggs for your family.
Feed them to Your Pets
Eggs can also be a wonderful delicacy for your pets. This is because they are a rich source of essential minerals and vitamins for your loyal friends (pets).
When you feed your pet’s eggs routinely, you will notice some physical changes. Their fur will get softer and the skin will look healthier than before. Most importantly, your pets will not trigger any form of allergies when you give them eggs every day.
Donate Your Extra Eggs
If you think you have excess eggs in your store, you should consider donating them to those who don’t have. Donating fresh eggs to your local food pantry is a very significant move and for two good reasons.
First, this is a nice way to show love to other people other than your close family members. Secondly, your donation is tax-deductible, which makes a great difference in the future.
Besides the local food pantry, you can also donate fresh eggs to fire stations, churches, homeless shelters, women’s shelters, and local schools.
Prepare Salt-Cured Egg Yolks
Making the salt-cured egg yolk is a fun culinary project aimed at taking meals to a different level. The process of curing egg yolks is actually easy and timeless.
At the end of this project, you will have yolks that resemble a hard cheese. The yolks will be fairly salty and solid such that you will easily slice or grate them with less effort. This is a great way to add some color or flavor to any dish.
Long-term Storage
To preserve your extra eggs for future use, you need to use two old-fashioned methods. These techniques require the use of sodium silica ( also known as water glass) and lime water.
Solid silicate plays a crucial role in the preservation of eggs in the water glass. The same case is true with the lime water. Despite being an old-fashioned method of preserving eggs, rest assured that this technique will keep your extra eggs fresh longer.
Feed Some Eggs to Your Flock
I know it seems awkward to feed eggs back to your flock. But this is a practical and good way of supplying your birds with calcium, protein and other essential nutrients.
In other words, fresh eggs are a great source of a nutritional treat for your feathered friends. However, you need to be careful not to encourage cannibalism among your chickens.
Related Questions
How do I tell an old egg from a fresh one? It is just simple! Fill a pot or bowl with six inches of clean water. Immerse your eggs in the bowl and observe how each one of them behaves. Fresh eggs will sink while old eggs will remain floating. This method will help you separate old eggs from fresh ones for storage.
What should I do with bad or spoilt eggs? Before you decide which eggs are bad and which ones are good, you need to apply your best judgment. This means that you should perform an egg test to know the good eggs and the bad ones. Once you identify the bad eggs, you should throw them away, leaving only the best ones for consumption or sale.
Final Thought
If you find yourself with more eggs than what you can handle, the best thing to do is to sell them. If not, you can preserve them for future use or donate to other people. Whichever way you choose, make sure that extra eggs are put in good use rather than throwing them away.
Below is a Pinterest friendly photo…. so you can pin it to your Chicken Board!!
