Today we’re going to talk about everything you ever wanted to know about farm fresh eggs.
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The first step for many homesteaders are raising their own chickens. There’s nothing like that excitement you feel when you see your first egg. It’s like all is right with the world in that moment.
We’ve owned chickens for 2.5 years now and I can tell you that it has been one of my favorite parts of living in the country. Hearing my rooster in the morning is a sound that is music to my ears.
Contrary to popular belief, however, or at least how the cartoons would try and make you believe, your rooster doesn’t just crow in the morning. Nope, he crows at all times of the day. I’m pretty sure he wants to make sure you know who’s boss around the coop.
We’ve only owned a rooster for a short while, but the hope is that come Spring we will be able to have a hen go broody so we can hatch some of our own baby chicks. If you don’t have a rooster you will only get infertile eggs. Great to eat, not so great to try and hatch into new baby chicks.
One thing I quickly discovered about farm fresh eggs is that they aren’t like their store bought counterparts. I mean, we obviously know the taste is different, but they also require different ways to care for them.
I love to collect our eggs in the cute egg basket in the picture above. I don’t know why, but farm fresh eggs make me that much happier when I get to collect them in a cute basket like this one.
Today I’m going to share with you all the things you need to know about farm fresh eggs.
FARM FRESH EGGS VS STORE BOUGHT
If you ever get the opportunity to, crack a farm fresh egg next to a store bought egg. There’s a good chance the farm fresh egg will be vibrant yellow while the store bought one will look dull. If the egg came from free range chickens, it will probably be even brighter. The color alone should tell you how much better farm fresh eggs are.
The good news is that they’ve done studies on farm fresh eggs vs store bought and discovered that the farm fresh ones have less cholesterol and saturated fat than the store eggs. They also contain more vitamins and Omega 3 fatty acids and we all know how important those Omega 3s are! So, bottom line, buy your eggs at a local farm or get yourself some chickens if you are able. There are clearly many farm fresh eggs benefits!
SHOULD YOU WASH FARM FRESH EGGS?
For some this is going to sound gross, but the truth is, it’s better if you don’t wash them. When chickens lay eggs the eggs come out with a coating called the “bloom”. This “bloom” helps keep out some of the bacteria. When you wash the egg, you are washing some of that protective coating off. You can wash them right before you use them if need be, but until then, pass on the washing.
However, if you do wash them, you may wonder how to wash farm fresh eggs. When washing farm fresh eggs I generally put them a bowl of warm water and use a cloth (designated for chicken eggs – don’t want to use THAT one on my dishes after) to wipe off all the mess. Then I rinse them under the tap, dry them off, and stick them back into the carton to go into the fridge, which leads me to the next point.
SHOULD YOU REFRIGERATE FARM FRESH EGGS?
One of the most popular questions people have when they get their first batch of eggs is, “do farm fresh eggs need to be refrigerated?” I know I asked that the first time I got myself some of those delicious nuggets. You can refrigerate them, but you don’t need to if you are going to use them relatively soon.
However, if you want them to stay fresh longer, store them in the fridge. I adore storing my eggs on the counter because I just think they look so pretty in the basket. There is ONE exception to this though – if you wash them stick them in the fridge. The eggs have what’s called a protective bloom that helps them last longer but if you wash them that will no longer be there. You should only leave the eggs on your counter if you haven’t washed them.
HOW LONG DO EGGS LAST?
You can find out if an egg has gone bad. Learn how to test eggs with this easy egg test. Fill a bowl with cold water, put your eggs in there, and watch if they sink or float. If they float to the top they are definitely bad. If they sink to the bottom they are fine to eat. And if they stand up on their end from the bottom of the bowl they aren’t super fresh but still fine to eat.
But, aside from testing if they are good or not, how long do farm fresh eggs last? Farm fresh eggs taste best when eaten within about two weeks, but often can last for four weeks. However, I always like to check them with the above method when they’ve been sitting around for a few weeks. No one likes to eat a really old egg!
HARD-BOILED EGGS REQUIRE DIFFERENT COOKING METHODS
If you’ve ever cooked a hard-boiled farm fresh egg the way you cooked a store bought egg, you would know the feeling of disappointment when you go to peel that egg and it JUST. WON’T. PEEL. Apparently to peel an egg like you have done for the store bought eggs for years it needs to be much older.
However, don’t despair, because there are ways you can peel a farm fresh egg still, though it’s going to take a different method of cooking.
There’s various ways people have used to peel their farm fresh eggs, but my favorite is to use a steam basket for the eggs and to steam them for 21-23 minutes. Make sure you put a lid on them when you are steaming the eggs.
Sometimes the egg peel can still be a little finicky, but they do peel. We have had many egg salad sandwiches this way.
SOFT-BOILED FARM FRESH EGGS
To soft-boil your eggs you’ll use the same method as the hard-boiled, but for a shorter amount of time. Steaming for 9-10 minutes will more than likely get you a nice runny yolk.
PRESERVING FARM FRESH EGGS
There comes a time for every chicken owner when their chickens are producing like crazy and they can’t keep up. Maybe your kids are dreading hearing you say it’s eggs again for dinner. 🙂 Whatever the case may be, eventually you will have the opposite problem – your chickens won’t be laying enough, or even at all for a time. So it can be helpful to preserve your farm fresh eggs.
There are a few ways you can do this.
Freeze them.
Okay, so you can’t freeze a whole egg, but if you need eggs for baking, or you enjoy a nice scrambled egg, this preservation method may be for you. Whisk the eggs and then pour them into an ice cube tray. Once frozen pop them out of the ice cube tray and put them in a freezer bag. One cube is equal to about one egg.
Coat them with mineral oil.
Take your eggs that were laid in the last 24 hours (you do not want to use eggs that are older than this.) Make sure they are washed and dry and at room temperature. Put some mineral oil in a bowl (you don’t need too much, a little goes a long way) and warm it up in the microwave for about 10 seconds.
Roll your eggs in the bowl one at a time to coat the egg completely. You can also use a gloved hand to rub the oil on the egg. Then put the eggs in a carton with the pointy side down. Store them in a cool, dry place. About once a month flip the whole carton upside down to help the yolk from sticking. They will last about 8 months with this preservation method.
FARM FRESH EGGS WILL BE YOUR NEW FAVORITE
Once you start buying farm fresh eggs you won’t want to go back to store bought eggs. They taste better, and are often better for you. You’ll often notice the yolk of a home-raised, free-range chicken a much brighter color than a store bought egg.
I’m not going to lie, my kids have become egg snobs. They only want farm fresh eggs and my oldest has already declared that she doesn’t think she’ll ever eat eggs from a store again! That’s probably not true since it’s REALLY hard to keep your own chickens when you go off to college (I am pretty sure hiding chickens in your dorm is frowned upon) but chances are she’ll own chickens the minute she’s able.
Now that you know all you do about chickens, you can start raising your own laying hens. If you need some help on how to get started raising chickens, be sure to read this post. Or if you are getting baby chicks and need a beginner’s guide on chicks, check out this post. And don’t forget to read this post on the best breeds for egg production so you can figure out what breed works best for you and your family.
