Friday, April 21, 2017

Egg overload

Now that the chickens are no longer trapped in their coop by deep snow, they're happy as clams exploring the barn and scratching in the compost pile. Suddenly we're finding eggs. Lots and lots of eggs.

Yesterday in the chicken coop, I happened to glance at this old battered fire screen we keep tucked inside, in case we ever need to block the door without actually closing the door.


I don't know what inspired me to pull the screen away from the wall, but this is what I saw tucked behind:


Suddenly it seemed we had eggs everywhere.




(One of these is a fake wooden egg to encourage the ladies to lay in this spot.)


Lately I've been getting about a dozen eggs a day, but suddenly I had an additional three dozen. This was in addition to the five dozen I already had in the fridge.


There was dirt and grunge on many of them...


...so I plopped the dirtiest in water to both wash and test them. (A bad egg floats; an old egg stands upright; a fresh eggs stays at the bottom of the water.)


All but four eggs passed the test.


I laid the rest out to dry; some on the dish drainer, the rest on a towel.


Fortunately we have neighbors who take eggs with great enthusiasm, and before the day was out I had distributed seven of the nine dozen eggs.

Grunt. It must be spring.

16 comments:

  1. I wish we were getting that many eggs. There's a reason our dog is putting on lots of weight lately...

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    1. our dog was eating over a dozen a day , she was gloriously sleek of fur and very round .We finally realized what was going on !!

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  2. Patrice--Have you ever considered dehydrating your excess eggs? I recently did it with a couple dozen eggs using the dehydrate-and-grind method (vids on YouTube.) It worked marvelously!

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  3. Hi Patrice - I could use some help. On a regular basis I make up a batch of pickled eggs. No matter what I do I cannot come up with an egg that peels easily. I've aged the eggs, used eggs from different sources including local farm eggs, boiled them for different lengths of time, and added ice water. No matter what I do they are a nightmare to peel. Any ideas? Thanks.

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    1. You might try this website and see if it offers anything helpful:

      http://greatist.com/eat/how-to-peel-hard-boiled-eggs

      Let us know what works best.

      - Patrice

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    2. Thanks Patrice. It seemed to work. I filled a pot with water and added some baking soda. I then brought the water to a full boil and then gently added the eggs in with a set of tongs. I boiled the eggs for a full ten minutes and then turned the heat off and allowed them to sit for another ten minutes. I then poured off the hot water and immediately ran cold tap water until all of the heat had been drawn off the eggs. Just to make sure I am putting the eggs in the frig to sit overnight. Not wanting to wait however, I took one of the eggs and it peeled perfectly. The final proof will be when I peel all of the eggs tomorrow but I think that I have found the solution. I have no idea if the baking soda helped or not. Thanks for your prompt assistance. Your long time fan....

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    3. We had this problem with our fresh eggs. The wife read somewhere to steam them instead of boiling. We have a vegetable steamer expandable bowl thingy that was designed to go into the bottom of a regular pan to steam vegetables. That works very well!! Then do the ice water trick and the shell will just peal right off.

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    4. I just came here to say the same thing as Steve. We've had great luck steaming eggs as well, regardless of freshness.

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    5. Many thanks to both of you. I'll try steaming next time.

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  4. sounds like you should make some Lemon Curd!!

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  5. I'm experiencing an abundance of eggs too. It's a nice problem to have.

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  6. http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/swedish-meringue-cake-with-strawberries-and-orange-filling-12152
    make this...it takes 8 eggs and is yummie.

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  7. This is why , also being on egg overload, am able to donate to the local food bank/tiny thrift shop in my community. They like them in six pack cartons that I cut out and are distributed in that form. They are always grateful for the donation. God provides.

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  8. I heard you can freeze eggs too, good for baking. Nothing like discovering where the hens are hiding their eggs - Once found 24+ eggs under the house, when we only had 3 hens. Courtney - Maui Jungalow

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  9. I am always in awe with the hue of colors in the eggs. Well you are fortunate to have neighbors who will take those off your hands. Unfortunately, the same doesn't seem to play out with zucchini (I once grew 5 plants - amateur - no one wanted the extra. but I still put it to use. glad I didn't grow sick of it. ha)

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