Eggs in slaked lime going bad - any ideas?

Hi all,

I'm in New Zealand and have been trailing preserving our egg bounty in hydrated lime/builder's lime. After a week or so I noticed a few of the eggs had cracked and the water was smelling pretty bad. This has happened in 3 out of the 4 jars I did. There's about 20 eggs per jar and it's not limited to the bottom eggs so I don't think it's from pressure. The eggs are fresh and not chipped or cracked when I put them in (unless maybe there are tiny cracks that I don't notice).

I also noticed that the bottom eggs that are sitting in the settled lime are not as robust somehow - as though the lime has begun to erode the shells.

I've taken the eggs out and represerved the good ones with fresh lime water.

I'm wondering if it might be from it being warmer here? I've popped them into a cooler room to see if that might help.

Any other ideas of what I might be doing wrong?

Thanks

Kia ora Josie, and haere mai ki permies. I had the exact same problem this past year, with probably 2/3 or more of the eggs developing hairline cracks and going bad. I keep the buckets in the garage or a shady spot next to the front porch, so I don't think they're getting too warm. It's weird, because I've preserved eggs this way for a few years now and this is the first time I've had this sort of failure rate.

Thanks Phil, it's good to hear I'm not the only one, and that you've had success with it in the past. Nga mihi

This is very interesting! I do keep mine in the darkest part of a cool, dark pantry, but it gets pretty hot here, too - with heat indexes over 105°F. The possibility of hairline cracks being missed, as they were being preserved is the one thing that stands out to me. Another possibility is that maybe they were somehow jostled a bit?

After some length of time, the shells and even inner membranes do become thinner and fragile, to the point that simply cracking the shell open will also break the yolk - but not in mere weeks.

What concentration of slaked lime are you using? Generally, it's supposed to be 1oz (by weight) of lime to 1qt water. Now, just exploring possibilities, I'm wondering if using hard water vs soft would make any difference...

Edited to add, yes! Yes, it can make a difference. Using soft water is preferable, because it creates a more lime-saturated water, allowing a better seal for the surface of the eggs. So, that's worth checking out, too.

Good investigative angles, Carla. I use rainwater and enough lime that it eventually settles out on the bottom in a layer about 2-3 cm thick. I always inspect the eggs before they go in, and I saw more cracked eggs at the top of the "stack." I also don't stack them as deep as I used to...maybe 6-8 layers, and then I start a new bucket.

Using rain water here, so I don't think it's that.
Maybe jostling could be a thing. I'll try a more gentle batch!
My ratio is 1/3 cup lime to 1 litre water.

Josie Gritten wrote:Using rain water here, so I don't think it's that.
Maybe jostling could be a thing. I'll try a more gentle batch!
My ratio is 1/3 cup lime to 1 litre water.

This afternoon, I'll weigh out 1/3 of a cup, and see if it's the same as 1oz. The usual issue with measuring by volume vs measuring by weight, is that by volume is less consistent, in that sometimes we (intentionally or accidentally) might pack the measuring cup more firmly, or more loosely, and end up not getting enough of whatever the ingredient is. So you have a scale?

Good thinking! I use an actual measure rather than a cup itself, but I guess it could still be off.