Has anybody tried freezing raw eggs for a paddling trip? I've read different topics but most of them want you to break the yoke. Some say to add some salt. I was hoping to put 12 eggs in a Gatorade bottle then freeze it. Thought the frozen bottle would add cooling plus pack effeciently.

Thanks in advance,
FISHONFISHOFF

Eggs aren't especially perishable.

The official USDA recommendation is to refrigerate them because that reduces the risk of salmonella when eggs are consumed uncooked or incompletely cooked. Eggs sold in the USA are washed which reduces shelf life but not as much as the USDA would like you to believe.

In cool weather (say, highs below 75 or so) you can keep eggs a week or two without refrigeration, if you keep them out of the sun and otherwise use common sense. This is true whether you buy them at the store or have your own hens (I've done both).

So if you want to have eggs for breakfast you could bring them at room temperature and use them within a few days to a week this time of year and be just fine. Or wrap them in a towel with a frozen gel pack if you're paranoid or if it's the middle of summer.

This is part and parcel of the modern USA fixation on refrigerating food, which isn't the approach the rest of the world uses. Where refrigeration is in short supply the modern response is freeze dried food in a foil packet, the old school response is to choose foods that will keep long enough and consume the most perishable foods first (rather than trying to make food immortal).

If you want to freeze eggs the best move is to scramble them and pour them into an ice tray and freeze them in cubes, then put the cubes in a bag. One cube per egg. Then you can thaw however many you want.

Go out in the country where someone is selling fresh eggs. If you don’t wash them they will last during a trip.

Savage Voyageur: "Go out in the country where someone is selling fresh eggs. If you don’t wash them they will last during a trip. "

Just take them

I've been taking a dozen of eggs on trips for the past 10 years. THEY keep fine, and I've only broke 1 or 2.

TAKE THEM.......stop worrying about it.

:) :)

Later,

Geo

GeoFisher: "

Savage Voyageur: "Go out in the country where someone is selling fresh eggs. If you don’t wash them they will last during a trip. "

Just take them. I've been taking a dozen of eggs on trips for the past 10 years. THEY keep fine, and I've only broken one or two.

TAKE THEM.......stop worrying about it. :) :)

Later,

Geo"

Or just bring a chicken if she’ll get along with the pig your bringing to roast!

nctry: "

GeoFisher: "

Savage Voyageur: "Go out in the country where someone is selling fresh eggs. If you don’t wash them they will last during a trip. "

Just take them.

I've been taking a dozen of eggs on trips for the past 10 years. THEY keep fine, and I've only broke one or two.

TAKE THEM.......stop worrying about it. :) :)

Later,

Geo"

Or just bring a chicken if she’ll get along with the pig your bringing to roast!"

We are bringing a pig..................or at least, parts of a pig!
FOFO

On my latest trip I learned about egg beaters. We used them for battering the fish and for scrabbled eggs and I couldn't tell the difference between them and regular eggs. They can be frozen in the carton before the trip (just not suppose to freeze an opened container). A couple of frozen 16 oz containers would help keep a lot of stuff cool for a few days.

Cricket67: "On my latest trip I learned about egg beaters. We used them for battering the fish and for scrabbled eggs and I couldn't tell the difference between them and regular eggs. They can be frozen in the carton before the trip (just not suppose to freeze an opened container). A couple of frozen 16 oz containers would help keep a lot of stuff cool for a few days. "

+1

We’ve been freezing these cartons for years, and very little mess in camp. Only issue has been that they are sometimes not thawed when you want them. One frozen carton and one unfrozen carton would be perfect, if you have enough people to eat that much egg.

Not sure what your need is exactly, but I wouldn't worry about eggs going bad. I did a 12 day backpacking trip in Tanzania and we didn't have a cooler for the meat or the eggs. Was I extremely uncomfortable with it? Yes. Did my wife or I die or have any health issues? No.

Never froze eggs but have broken them and poured into a Nalgeene bottle for camp use. Might not work well in the summer but for spring fall this worked fine for me.
Have gone lighter in my carried food pack and now use Ova Easy very good slightly sweet tasting done as scrambled, work like fresh eggs mixed in a recipe.

butthead

Eggs keep for a while. I’ve heard it’s better if you buy fresh eggs from a farmer but not sure why that is. We brought in eggs with no issues for first 2 days of trip but had we not cared about weight I’m sure we could have had fresh eggs for several more days.

One hack I remember seeing I think it was from Kevin Callan is to put the eggs in a protective container. Then tape them in under the canoe seat. We just kept them in our cold food bag though in containers.

Ryan

OvaEasy

CityFisher74: "Not sure what your need is exactly, but I wouldn't worry about eggs going bad. I did a 12 day backpacking trip in Tanzania and we didn't have a cooler for the meat or the eggs. Was I extremely uncomfortable with it? Yes. Did my wife or I die or have any health issues? No."

Eggs purchased in Tanzania were almost certainly not washed and never refrigerated, and therefor would last much longer.

When a chicken lays an egg, it is coated with a substance called the “bloom” which seals the egg against bacteria. This is a natural defense to keep one “bad egg” in a nest of many from rotting the whole bunch.

As 2AirIsHuman states, in the US (and only several other countries) commercial eggs are washed which removes the bloom, and then constantly refrigerated to extend its life. In most countries, including many that have ample refrigeration, eggs are not washed and sold in stores stacked on the shelf.

I have purchased farm eggs unwashed and left them on my kitchen counter for 8 weeks. They will last longer than store bought eggs. That said, I’ve also taken store bought eggs to the BWCA and not worried about them for up to 4-5 days (then I’ve eaten them all).

Oh, and taste and look wise, farm eggs are to store eggs as just just-caught walleye is to frozen walleye.

Another thread on eggs

GeoFisher: "

Savage Voyageur: "Go out in the country where someone is selling fresh eggs. If you don’t wash them they will last during a trip. "

Just take them.
I've been taking a dozen of eggs on trips for the past 10 years. THEY keep fine, and I've only broke one or two.

TAKE THEM.......stop worrying about it. :) :)

Later,

Geo"

Who said I was worried about them? Not me, I could give a cracked egg less. I was just giving the poster some advice.

Gaidin53: "Eggs keep for a while. I’ve heard it’s better if you buy fresh eggs from a farmer but not sure why that is. We brought in eggs with no issues for first 2 days of trip but had we not cared about weight I’m sure we could have had fresh eggs for several more days."

Others have alluded to it, but it's true that it's better if you buy fresh eggs rather than store eggs, and it's because in the US commercial eggs are washed. The washing removes the natural oils on the surface of the egg that protect its insides from bacteria. The US washes eggs because we have a supply chain that can guarantee the eggs stay below 40 F after they're washed, and if that's true, the washing, which removes any bacteria that were on the egg from the hen, makes for an essentially sterile egg.

Unwashed eggs will have a lot of bacteria on the outside of the shell, but the oils on the shell virtually guarantee that nothing gets inside the shell. An unwashed egg will keep for weeks without refrigeration, safely. The only thing with unwashed eggs is that you want to be careful to crack it cleanly, and to not let it sit for any period of time after it's been cracked, as bacteria contact is likely when cracking the egg.

In France it's actually illegal to wash an egg for sale, and that's because the French are used to storing eggs unrefrigerated, and when suppliers started washing them, they'd go bad early and get people sick.

To cut to the chase: if you can get fresh unwashed eggs, you can bring them along and keep them unrefrigerated for as long as you're likely to be in the woods without worrying. If you have to get grocery store eggs, they'll be fine for a few days anyway but you are taking a higher risk of getting sick from bacteria.

I better add to the story: On all BWCA trips we use OvaEasy and it works great. Next weekend we are headed to Maine to trip down the St Croix River (plus a few lakes). Since there is very little portaging, we are bringing a cooler for fresh food (a first for us). I was thinking that 12 eggs would fit in a 28oz Gatorade bottle, then we would have 3 eggs each, since there will be 4 of us. Probably fill up 3 bottles for 3 days worth.
Half way through the trip we found someone who was willing to store our last 3-4 days of food in his freezer. Fresh food the entire trip! Ribeyes, Chicken halves, marinated pork loins, etc... We ain't gonna be loosing any weight, for sure!!!!!
FISHONFISHOFF

We get all our eggs from a local farmer and they last a very long time.

No need for refrigeration, just need to pack them moderately carefully but they aren't as fragile as they seem sometimes.

Cartons of Egg Beaters also work well on a trip. We freeze them ahead of time like we do most of our fresh foods. They'll help keep everything else cold while they thaw. Makes for a very easy no mess breakfast.

I've been freezing my own eggs for years. And I been eating my eggs from my range free chickens raw for
years in my protein blends. Just don't do it as often as I once had. I suppose of all the reading about raw eggs.... Yes, find yourself some down home grown country raised eggs, freeze them all you like, and don't worry. Enjoy. ??

We freeze 18 eggs that have been stirred so the yokes are broke.then add all the cooked
Ingredients for a omelet flat in a large ziplock bag thaw it out at the campsite and cook in a skillet it works perfect. Try it before you go, you can’t tell they have frozen

homers: "OvaEasy"

Nice pun!!

Kampynkate: "I've been freezing my own eggs for years. And I been eating my eggs from my range free chickens raw for
years in my protein blends. Just don't do it as often as I once had. I suppose of all the reading about raw eggs.... Yes, find yourself some down home grown country raised eggs, freeze them all you like, and don't worry. Enjoy. ??"

Do you freeze unmixed eggs with yolks intact? I freeze pre-scrambled eggs, but my family notices the difference (which they don't with my home dehydrated eggs), but I've never tried unmixed ones. Can you make a fried egg from frozen eggs and do you notice a big difference?