Keep Hens' Eggs Fresh For Longer

The delicious smell of rotten eggs. I'd be happy to never have to smell it again.

Buying eggs

• The colour of the shell isn't important, but shiny eggs are likely to be older (the eggs above have been died so are meant to be shiny).

Raw eggs

• Back in the day, when hens laid fewer eggs during midwinter, people would store eggs in advance by gently rubbing a little butter onto the shells. The butter stops air moving through the porous shells so that bacteria cannot get in. Instead of butter you could use oil or glycerine. Put them in a pot with a lid and store in a cool, dark place. A cellar is perfect. Best for fresh eggs- eggs bought in shops may already have been treated with preservatives and you can never tell how old they are. Make sure that you wash the eggs first do get off any dirt before you brush them with butter.
• Mark eggs with a pencil. You can devise your own secret code, but even a small line would help you tell older ones from newer ones.
• Find out how fresh your egg is. Put it in a cold water. Fresh eggs lie on their sides, older eggs will stand upright. Eggs that float to the top are old- avoid at all costs!
• If you aren't going to put oil or butter on your eggs, don't wash them before storing! Washing them will also remove the protective coatin and they will actually go off more quickly.
• Sometimes it can seem that the only place for a cracked egg is the bin. But you can still boil it if you wrap them in foil first, or you could always freeze it (see below). This is only a good idea if you cracked the egg yourself! If it arrives cracked, best to dispose of it as you cannot be sure what could have got into the egg.
• Cover egg yolks in water to keep them for longer
• Egg whites needs to be stored in a clean, dry, air-tight container.
• To insure lasting freshness of eggs, rotate and mark them. If you place a small pencil mark on old eggs you will be certain to identify them and use them before recently purchased eggs.

Keep cooked eggs fresh

• When you hard boil eggs and are intending on keeping them stocked in the fridge, have you thought of putting a drop of food colouring the water to make sure that you can distinguish them from raw eggs? Another, greener, more waste-friendly tip is the traditional Cumbrian method of boiling eggs with onion skins. The more onion skins, the stronger the dye.
• Don't be tempted to freeze boiled eggs. Their texture and taste will change.

Freezing eggs

• Break the yolks, as they don't freeze well otherwise.
• You can freeze yolks and whites separately, or together.
• If you mix yolks and whites together and freeze in an icecube tray, two cubes would be equivalent to a large egg.
• Whole eggs cannot be frozen; the shells will crack as the liquid expands.

Less waste when cooking with eggs

• If you add one teaspoon of vinegar to water when boiling eggs they may not crack.
• Cotton-buds are you friend if you only want egg white. Even a little yolk or oil can ruin a recipe, so remove drops of yolk with a cotton bud. If you are using an electric whisk ensure that there is no oil on the blades.
• Slice hard boiled eggs more easily by dipping the knife in water first.
  photo with thanks to ANDI2...trying to catch up