Could you please clarify what you mean by "fresh eggs"? Is that farm fresh eggs, straight from the chicken, never washed, etc? Or will eggs "fresh" from the grocery store work as well?

A friend with chickens told me that she keeps her freshly laid eggs on her kitchen counter for months, and she doesn't coat them with lard, wax, or anything else.

When eggs go on sale, I've been storing them by freezing them, but a new method that doesn't take up space in my freezer would be great.

-Kuovonne

Pete,

Gee, even I understood that explanation - thanks! Like I wrote, I follow the published guidelines on canning...

Tom

Kuovonne,

Grocery Store Eggs. You could use the other "raw" hen fruit, I'm sure, but I rarely have access to farm eggs these days so I have not done that. I suspect that fertilized eggs may be a little more perishable, but that's only a guess.

The coating on the eggs reduces oxygen transport and retards evaporation - that's all. The Crisco treatment is so cheap, easy, fast, and effective that I'm not interested in experimenting with parafin. OTOH, I bet that plain petrolateum jelly (unscented etc) would do equally well, although perhaps a tic more in cost.

Never had any problems with Crisco going rancid - heck, most everyone keeps vegetable shortening in the cupboard anyway, right? Lard varies in it's susceptability to going rancid.

I greatly prefer this method to freezing. Eggs are cheap enough - try a few dozen this way and see what you think.

Regards,

Tom

Ironraven,

I should have remembered this before: You can pickle beef (a.k.a corned beef) and pork (salt pork - the staple of sailors for centuries). And of course, a "real" ham keeps very well. Dry sausages properly prepared can keep well - I've kept some as long as 1 year in the cool room. AFAIK, these are too much work for a modern d.i.y. person and the grocery store stuff - or even deli stuff - is not in condition to keep when you buy it. There are plenty of instructions around for doing these things.

Then there's the old slaughter-a-hog-and-put-it-up-for-the-winter method of cooking the meat, putting a layer in a barrel, covering it with liquified lard, add a layer of cooked pork and cover with lard, etc. This is where the expression "scraping the bottom of the barrel" comes from - by the time you eat your way to the bottom of the pork barrel, it can be a little rancid. I guess scrapple is sort of a smaller scale version of this. Meat has to be sizzling and lard hot when each layer goes in the barrel.

And since I was on the subject of pickling... pickled cabbage (saurkraut) used to be considered anti-scurvy, meaning to me that it retained vitamin C content. Homemade is not hard to do - crockery pot, strong brine, sink a layer of chopped cabbage with a plate or clean bit of crockery/stone, repeat until full. Smells to high heaven and it's best to skim the scum off the top before fishing a layer of 'kraut out for consumption. OTOH, it tastes so different than store-bought (better, to my taste), it may as well be a different dish. I remember my great-grandpa and my dad making 'kraut. Now, I dunno about the Vitamin C - all I know is that some old accounts claimed that eating some 'kraut everyday prevented scurvy. Kimschee might be better if you like that (and eating enough of that will ward of the average American from your presence <grin>).

Tom

Thanks!

I'll try this as soon as I'm done with the eggs in my fridge.

-Kuovonne

I was told that eggs to be stored must never have been refrigerated. If fresh (never refrigerated) they will keep well. The variety of coating methods keep the air from penetrating the shell.

Can anyone verify the no refrigeration story??

When canning my pork terrine, I don't use a pressure cooker.
I just follow the rules in my canning book and use a longer boiling time.

Industrialy canned food can be kept forever : but the taste of the product is not guaranted after too long a time (see date stamp on box) .
Home canning is supposed to have a much shorter shelf time (6 months - 1 year)

Probably more that you want to know can be found at the National Center For Home Food Preservation:

http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/

Under Publications you will find the " USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning".

about cheese :

why don't you make it yourself ?
just keep powdered milk and and ferment (AFAIK, ferment shelf life is one year - more if freezed).
I prefer making mine with fresh milk, but I guess I will have to try some with powdered milk, just to taste it ; I guess it wont be as good as with fresh milk, but it will be cheese anyway...
And if you make "hard" cheese like "tome de Savoie", anyway you need a few months to let it grow (?).

i'm so glad cheese stays good for quite a while. i could live off of good cheese, crackers, and wine for at least a couple of months. <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> speaking of wine, has anyone ever made their own? my grandfather in europe still does. funny, he stores it in used 1liter soda bottles. i must say, its quite good.
a lilttle off topic but still relevant. as far as food storage goes, is there any resource to find out what foods submarine crews used to pack for long trips out to sea years ago? i would think that would be a good source to find out about food preparation and even creative recipies with limited supplies. its just a thought.