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On August 18, 2022 I was NEW to water glassing and fell in Love with it. You can see that I began on August 18, 2022 with two (2) gallon jars with about 36 eggs in each jar. The third (3rd) jar in the distance is dated August 29, 2022. I ended up and keep about six (6) jars with 36-40 eggs in each jar at all times.

UPDATE! On Sunday - May 12, 2024 we finished the jar from November 2022. That's 18 months and the eggs were fine, smelled great, and many held their yolks. I only use the water glassed eggs when I we are out of farm fresh eggs that I buy from a local farmer. I use these waterglassed eggs in recipes as well. The shell is pretty hard from the 'Pickling Lime' that I use and the egg yolks do very well at holding their own even after a year. If the eggs float, that means air has entered the egg and I would not be using that egg. I have gone through many gallon jars of water glassed eggs and the November 2022 jar had only one (1) broken egg out of 40 eggs in that jar.

The hardest thing about water glassing is finding 'farm fresh' straight-from-the-hen, unwashed, unrefrigerated eggs in order to begin water glassing.

You absolutely CAN NOT use store bought eggs, even if they say 'organic' or 'cage-free'. It's not about that. When the hen lays an egg, she puts what is called a 'bloom' covering or 'cuticle' covering around the egg to protect it. Innately, the hen knows that her eggshells are very porous. You can't see this bloom, but it's there.

The eggshell itself is bumpy and grainy, which has as many as, or more than 17,000 tiny pores. The eggshell is made nearly entirely of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) crystals. It is a semipermeable membrane . . remember those two (2) words from your first science class? . . . A semi-permeable membrane means that air and moisture can pass through the pores. OSMOSIS!

OSMOSIS DEFINITION - a process by which molecules of a solvent tend to pass through a semipermeable membrane from a less concentrated solution into a more concentrated one, thus equalizing the concentrations on each side of the membrane.

If the eggs are washed, then the bloom is washed off and all of those tiny little pores are exposed and then you may as well stick them in the refrigerator and use them. They CAN NOT be used if they are washed.

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If the eggs are unwashed and refrigerated, then once the eggs are taken out, contact with the warm air will cause them to sweat, which means they are wet and pretty much in a state of washing themselves. Bummer! Can't use them!

If the eggs have hen poop, mud or dirt on them, you can't use them either because you would have to wash off the poop, mud or dirt in order to put them into clean 'Pickling Lime and Water Solution'.

The solution is made using 1 quart of distilled water to one (1) ounce by weight of Pickling Lime. It has to be one (1) ounce by weight, meaning with a food scale, not using a measuring cup, meaning by quantity.

I purchased my gallon jars with a screw on top. I liked this jars because they had a wide-mouth and you need to be able to get your whole hand in the jar. Food canning jars come in gallon size and wide-mouth but they are around $15.00 whereas you can get the gallon wide-mouth jars at around $8.00 a piece at Target or Walmart or get four (4) at once through Amazon. Notice that I used a piece of cling wrap over the mouth of the jar before screwing on the lid.

It would do you a world of Good to watch SOME YouTube videos on Water Glassing. I saw a video where one homesteader used a 5 gallon container. Imagine picking up that 5 gallon container full of eggs and solution. I can't imagine it because it would be too heavy. So do yourself a favor and just get 1 gallon jars.

Also, it would be wise to load up the eggs first, pointed side of the egg down, so that the air bubble of the egg is 'up'. It just makes sense since that air bubble exists for a reason. The air bubble I am referring to is that flat part of the egg that you see on your hard-boiled egg. So pointed side down.

The best way to get the pointed side down is to start your layering by tilting the jar about 45 degrees and placing your eggs at the bottom and then gradually you can stand the jar and load the rest of them. The first layer of eggs will support the second layer once the first layer is complete. Then pour in your already pre-made solution.

A gallon jar . . . in the jars I chose to use . . . will take about 2 quarts of solution for 36 eggs or a full jar of eggs, whichever comes first.

There will be some solution sediment at the bottom. No matter how much you stir and shake your solution previous to pouring over the eggs, there will be sediment. Just expect it.

My first experience using any of the eggs was the morning of Sunday - September 11, 2022. We had two (2) eggs left in the refrigerator, so I used those for the Scorpion King's breakfast and then I grabbed two (2) eggs out of one of the 8/18/22 jars for my breakfast. The eggs were fine, held their yoke and tasted great! I was kinda scared, but not enough to miss my Sunday morning breakfast.

Side note insert - I made a post on Sunday - March 5, 2023 that we had just used the last egg out of the first August 18, 2022 jar and will be diving into the second jar now. I still get eggs from my egg guy every two (2) weeks and we use those eggs now for hard-boiled eggs and for cooking. If I run out, I go straight to my water-glassed eggs.

Again, watch some YouTubers on Glass Watering. Watch at least ten (10) videos and then go for it.

For my prepping, I now have at least 5 - one (1) gallon jars rolling, and plan to keep that plan rolling. So my 'farm fresh egg guy' will continue to supply me with eggs. Any poopy, mud, dirt eggs I will wash and refrigerate . . and all super-clean eggs will be used for water glassing. My 'farm fresh egg guy' knows not to wash any eggs, even the poopy dirty ones. It's best that you have an agreement with your 'farm fresh egg person' NOT TO DO ANY egg washing so that you can handle that responsibility and know which eggs are washed and which are not.

Sometimes it takes a while to get a dozen eggs that do not have poop, mud or dirt. My 'farm fresh egg guy' calls me once he has a couple dozen super clean eggs and then has a couple of cartons of poopy, muddy, dirty eggs that I can clean myself to go in refrigerator for boiling, scrambling, etc.

Happy Prepping!

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