Can you freeze eggs? Egg has 75% water, water freezes, and so you can freeze eggs. But why freeze if you can just go to the nearby grocery to get a dozen or two? You don’t have to worry about it getting spoiled and don’t need to bother about the freezing dilemma.
Introduction
I get it. It’s laying season and your chickens start piling up eggs. That’s great, organic eggs. Yet, you’re bored after eating a few and want to save the rest for the next offseason.
Egg is an excellent medium for bacterial growth. It’s protected with the shell but the protection is not enough to fend off pathogens. You must handle it with care and do measures to extend its shelf life.
Freeze the eggs. It would last for a year if done properly. It would sit in the freezer nicely until the next season or until you got a new exciting recipe.
What are you waiting for? Get those eggs and start freezing.
How to Freeze Liquid Eggs
How to freeze liquid egg? I have two sets of procedures you can follow.
Freezing eggs without the shell.
To avoid eggshell cracking and messing up the fridge, it’s better to break open the egg first.
- Break eggs into a clean bowl. Gently mix to avoid including air.
- For every cup of egg, mix 1 ½ tbsp sugar or ½ tsp salt.
- Strain to remove any shell pieces and to achieve uniformity.
- Transfer into the container of choice and then freeze.
- Take out from the fridge 30 minutes before cooking.
Mixing salt or sugar prevents the yolk from becoming grainy. I always prefer adding salt but sugar is good too.
You have the option to place eggs into ice trays or muffin pans. Just pop out a cube or two whenever you need. Cover the trays and muffin pans with polybags to protect from foreign odors.
If you need to thaw the egg fast, put the container under running water or microwave for a few seconds.
Freeze the eggs with the shell.
You can do this too, without cracking the shell.
- Make space in the freezer compartment. Cold air can’t travel efficiently in crowded spaces.
- Set the thermostat to maximum. Because you want the lowest temperature possible. About -18ºC for most home freezers.
- Check if the door seal is tight. Insert a paper between fridge door and body. Pull. If you can pull it without much resistance, then call a technician for repair.
- Check the freezer temperature. If the temperature is not low enough, turn the thermostat knob. Else, call the technician again for repair.
- Now, you’re ready. Get the fresh eggs and put it inside poly bags, which will serve as the first line of defense if some eggs burst.
- Put the eggs inside the freezer.
I suggest transferring the egg liquid into a container before freezing. Power fluctuation is inevitable. Unexpected thawing and re-freeze events are likely to crack the egg open and make a mess inside the fridge. Besides, eggs are good media for pathogen multiplication. It might have a plethora of harmful bacteria before you know it.
Freeze Cooked Eggs
You can also freeze cooked eggs, boiled, scrambled, sunny side up, and over easy. However, I recommend you not to do so. You cook food for the sake of flavor and presentation.
If done properly, frozen foods are perfectly safe to eat. However, flavor and texture changes are inevitable. Boiled eggs, for example, will likely to exude water after thawing. And exhibit subtle flavor change after a day of freezing, to noticeable after a week.
Have the habit of cooking eggs enough for one meal. For some leftovers, put it immediately inside the fridge. And don’t let it stay there for more than a day.
Can You Freeze Egg and Milk?
For a quick scrambled egg every morning, you can prepare several packs of pre-mix and freeze it. After getting out of bed, get one pack and stir it directly in a medium heated pan. You don’t have to thaw it beforehand.
Frozen milk has a keeping life of 6 months and at its best within one month. For this reason, use the mixture within one month.
Can you freeze egg and milk? Yes, and do so by mixing 1 tbsp whole milk for every egg. Transfer in a small canister, ice tray, or muffin pan. Then put in the freezer compartment.
Freeze Dry Eggs
Can you freeze eggs? Not just freeze. You can also freeze dry eggs to get egg powder.
How does freeze drying work? Water has three phases, solid, liquid, and gas. Freezer transforms the water in egg into solid. Then the intelligent machine converts solid water directly into gas, leaving the egg powder behind.
So, take freezing to the next level. Freeze dry and put it in a can with a pack of desiccant. Store it properly to last for a lifetime.
Egg powder has gotten rid of moisture. It won’t support microbial growth. While a can with a pack of desiccant prevents moisture reabsorptions.
Where can you get a freeze dryer? Freeze dryers being an industrial and laboratory exclusive equipment is history. You can now get it for home use. Harvest Right freeze drier is a good machine to get.
To freeze dry:
- Break all eggs into a bowl.
- Gently stir the yolk and white together, but you may dry the yolk and egg white separately.
- Freeze dry as per equipment instructions.
To rehydrate, add 3 parts water for every part egg powder. Blend and get cooking.
Conclusion
Can you freeze eggs? You can definitely freeze eggs. Get started if you haven’t done it yet. It would last for a year if done properly.
Stir the yolk and the white together, or freeze them separately, if you intend to use each for different purposes. Isolating each component would be next to impossible after.
Egg yolk tends to become grainy when frozen. Mix in salt or sugar depending on the intended use. Salt for scrambled eggs and sugar for meringue and Leche flan.
Then take freezing to the next level. Freeze dry your eggs. Powdered eggs last for a lifetime when the moisture content is right and then packed in an airtight can. Freeze drier is a bit costly but that is an investment that can give great returns.
Do other things. Find buyers before the laying season start. Friends and neighbors would be happy to buy fresh organic eggs from you.
Hatch some eggs. Sell the chicks or raise them for meat. Get a rooster if you don’t have. Get an incubator if the hens never get broody.
Fire up your creativity and you’ll never run out of options.
