Washing eggs to sell?

When picked daily, mine aren't too dirty. I sort them by how clean they are and sell accordingly. My hay guy and little old lady neighbor don't mind dirty eggs because they both grew up on farms. The guys from work get the cleaner ones. I explain why the are not washed and warn them that they might be a bit dirty. They continue to buy from me, so I guess it isn't a problem. The REALLY dirty ones, we save for ourselves. I sell about 10 dozen a week.

The protective coating on eggs is called bloom. If you are going to wash eggs, do so with cold water. Warm water opens the pores on the egg and can allow bacteria to pass through the shell. Do not soak them regardless of whether the water is warm or cold. I would skip the antibacterial soap as well... regular soap will do.

I only wash the ones with poop on them. Just using a warm wet rag...but it is better of course to not have poopy eggs in the first place. I don't wash any eggs until they are ready to go to the customer. super poopy ones get fed off to our dog or to the pigs...

I try very hard to keep the nesting boxes clean, but my girls sit in them overnight!

The way you are washing them should be fine I would think.

You will find that there are many people who do it many ways. For the most part I try to keep the nesting boxes (especially the ones the hens favor) with clean bedding in them you will get way less poo eggs. Those that I do get with poo, I do a light wash with cold water and pop them into my house carton. Seriously my eggs move way to fast from point of lay to consumption for worries of bacterial buildup...as long as they are collected everyday and kept refrigerated.

i wash them but most times like people say the eggs will be clean if you have a clean place for them to lay

when it rains my eggs all need washed that day cause they are full of mud from the hens going in and out of the nesting box and steeping all over the eggs

but most days just a wet wash cloth will do

alot of people wash them or clean them different just make sure when letting them soak in water that if you have any cracked ones you take them out cause that will get in to the eggs some times its hard to tell if there cracked or not with out looking closer at them when your cleaning them up and if there cracked trash them there no good

if you wash them, make sure to refrigerate them. for home use i do;t wash them until just before i use them.

I wash mine with cold/cool water unless they aren't poopy at all. But even with collecting them daily and keeping the nests clean, I always seem to have SOMETHING on the eggs. I have a couple of hens who like to hang out on the nest.

The few people who buy our overflow don't mind a little straw or even a feather stuck to the egg... but poo gets washed off. If an egg is really poopy, then I feed it to our cats.

While I don't always wash all of our eggs, I do like to take time to make sure we don't have any cracked eggs or thin shells. Those are garbage.

I have ducks. I wash my eggs gently in warm water because ducks are just messy.

If they are nasty or cracked, the dogs get them. The nicer ones I'm starting to sort out to sell, I am going to put up a sign in town tomorrow. I don't have a lot to sell, but this time of year I've got too many for us and our family to use.

GrannyCarol said:

I have ducks. I wash my eggs gently in warm water because ducks are just messy.

If they are nasty or cracked, the dogs get them. The nicer ones I'm starting to sort out to sell, I am going to put up a sign in town tomorrow. I don't have a lot to sell, but this time of year I've got too many for us and our family to use.

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I have the same problem: Ducks are so messy!

Dog doesn't get them any more, though. He was helping himself to the eggs in the nest after we'd given him a couple of cracked ones. Whoops!

How much are you going to charge for your duck eggs, Granny? We get six a day, and wow! they sure do add up!

I thought you were supposed to wash them in water a little warmer than the egg is to prevent the risk of bacteria going into the egg.

Honestly, I wash all my eggs with antibacterial dish soap if a tiny bit dirty. The thought of the possibility of chicken poop getting onto my food just grosses me out- I grew up in a city but moved to the country when I was 14.

Really dirty eggs are dog/chicken food.

laughaha said:

I thought you were supposed to wash them in water a little warmer than the egg is to prevent the risk of bacteria going into the egg.

Honestly, I wash all my eggs with antibacterial dish soap if a tiny bit dirty. The thought of the possibility of chicken poop getting onto my food just grosses me out- I grew up in a city but moved to the country when I was 14.

Really dirty eggs are dog/chicken food.

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As a friend of my son's was fond of saying, "God made dirt, and dirt don't hurt."

My favorite one-liner is, "Challenge your immune system." I think I coined that one after reading Huxley's "Brave New World."

What I'm trying to say is, there's such a thing as TOO clean. Those antibacterial products (esp the ones with triclosan) are really bad for the environment.

A good wash with lukewarm water is enough for me. I'm not eating the shell! And if a little dirt gets into my food, well, there are lots of healthy nutrients in dirt.

Pony said:

As a friend of my son's was fond of saying, "God made dirt, and dirt don't hurt."

My favorite one-liner is, "Challenge your immune system." I think I coined that one after reading Huxley's "Brave New World."

What I'm trying to say is, there's such a thing as TOO clean. Those antibacterial products (esp the ones with triclosan) are really bad for the environment.

A good wash with lukewarm water is enough for me. I'm not eating the shell! And if a little dirt gets into my food, well, there are lots of healthy nutrients in dirt.

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I don't mind dirt- it's spring- dirt will be under my nails for the next 5 months or so. Feces I have a problem with......

My eggs are usually pretty clean, unless it's rainy and then the mud gets on them. I also collect my eggs 2 to 3 times a day when possible, I find the longer they are in the nest, the dirtier they get.

In the winter I let my eggs sit on the counter in a basket over night to bring them to room temperature, then wash the next day.

Any time of the year though, I just rinse with water thats room temperature and gently rub the dirt off with my fingers.

From what I've read, "store bought eggs" are required to be washed in a bleach solution. Have you ever bought a "store bought egg" with any dirt on it? It's also why their shelf life is shorter, because the bloom has been washed off.

I rinse my eggs, if needed, but I've never used any kind of soap as eggs are very porous. Actually, it's never occurred to me to use soap..... Rinse, only if needed, and the really yucky ones are fed to the dogs.

This is a quote from Wikipedia "About 142,000 Americans are infected each year with Salmonella enteritidis from chicken eggs, and about 30 die.[13] The shell of the egg may be contaminated by feces or environment, or its interior (yolk) may be contaminated in utero."

I guess I am paranoid because I personally eat raw eggs in cookie dough all the time (and don't plan on stopping until I die from salmonella) and I also don't want to get sued for making somebody sick or go to jail because the laws here are idiotic and I'm not doing things legally (another matter entirely, but I'm NOT going to provide a special fridge for egg sales).

What about a little apple cider vinegar in cold water? I think it's a natural antibacterial cleanser.

Never thought of the cider vinegar... GOOD IDEA!

I'm a real stickler about antibacterial products and antibiotics in general. They are an absolute last resort in my book. I'd rather put an animal down (aside from those not for consumption - horse, dog, cat) than treat with antibiotics.

Jay27 said:

Never thought of the cider vinegar... GOOD IDEA!

I'm a real stickler about antibacterial products and antibiotics in general. They are an absolute last resort in my book. I'd rather put an animal down (aside from those not for consumption - horse, dog, cat) than treat with antibiotics.

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Same here about antibiotics and antibacterial stuff. It would be a deal breaker for me if I were buying someone elses eggs and found that they were washing them with antibacterial soap.
I will take a dry scrubby to a little bit of icky on the eggs. Those that are a little more dirty will get a quick wipe with a wet rag.

If the dirt is dry a stiff horsehair brush actually works really good. A flat back handle that you can leave on the counter then just run the egg over a couple of times and put them in the carton.

That's how we do it anyways.

We sell so many eggs each week that sometimes we DON'T have any eggs for ourselves. We DO NOT soak our eggs, because the porous nature of the shell allows the nasties in the water to enter the egg, and the thought of anyone using soap in a soaking water REALLY worries me.
If our eggs need washing I use a soft bristled nail brush and cool running water...We have a real nasty clay here in the valley, it stains everything RED, so some of our eggs are stained but the customers don't care. (I do hold back the REALLY stained ones for us and/or the dogs).
I was reading that once the bloom is washed off it is suggested that a food grade mineral oil be rubbed on the surface to prevent air from getting inside.

Maybe I should clarify- I do NOT soak my eggs, they are dunked in soapy water that has very little soap in it, washed with a scrubbie, dunked into rinse water and then immediately dried with a towel. They are wet for maybe 15 seconds. This is only for the fairly clean eggs, the spotless eggs don't get washed and the dirty ones get recycled back to dogs and chickens.

I like the apple cider vinegar idea as I would prefer a natural antibacterial cleanser. I also don't like using commercial antibacterial products, but am not willing to make my family or friends sick. How much do you think would be needed?