Preserve eggs by dipping them in wax

[snopes]

Comment: A friend of mine told me, by dipping eggs in wax, the eggs won't
get spoiled. Last for months without refrigeration and it is done so,
still, today on a small boats without refrigerator out in the ocean. Is
this true?

[vison]

My grandmother used to put eggs in "waterglass" to preserve them. Waterglass is sodium silicate.
In a cool cellar, eggs will keep very well in a mixture of common salt and bran. Use equal parts, mix well, and as you gather the eggs from day to day pack with big end down in the mixture and see that the eggs are covered. Waterglass eggs are good enough for cooking purposes, but when boiled anyone that knows the taste of a strictly fresh egg can tell the difference in an instant; when fried the taste is not so pronounced, but it is there just the same; besides, when broken, they are a little watery. This watery condition passes off if left to stand for a few minutes. The best way is to use the waterglass method, is one quart of waterglass to ten quarts of water. Boil the water and put away to cool, when cold add the waterglass, mixing well, and store in 3 or 5-gallon crocks in a cool place. They will keep six months if good when put in. In all cases the eggs must be gathered very fresh, for one stale egg will spoil the whole lot, so great care is needed.

Eggs will keep quite awhile unrefrigerated, actually. At least a week, and likely longer. The eggs you buy in a supermarket are several weeks old, but will supposedly have been kept under refrigeration all the time. Really fresh eggs are hard to find if you don't go to a farm to buy them.

I am going to look into the "wax" thing.

[vison]

I would have added this to my previous post, but I see I can't.

Yes, dipping eggs in wax would preserve them for a time. Vaseline has been used, and tallow. The waxed or greased eggs would then be covered with flour or bran.

Here is a link:
http://www.florilegium.org/files/FOO...orage-msg.html

[Sis]

I really either haven't been getting enough sleep or else I've been drinking too much coffee, because I accidently read that as "Preserve dogs by dipping them in wax."

But that's actually rather an interesting way to preserve eggs. I have chickens and generally end up with more eggs than twenty people could use. I'll have to give this a try at some point. Thanks Vison.

[vison]

It don't work quite so good fer dogs.