Preserving eggs with mineral oil is both an inexpensive and speedy process, but you can only use this old homesteading method when dealing with farm fresh eggs.
Because commercial manufacturers of eggs wash the bloom off of the shell and refrigerate them, rubbing mineral oil onto the shell to protect it from air and bacteria, would be useless, and would result in stinky rotten eggs.
Steps to Preserving Eggs in Mineral Oil
Step 1. It takes roughly 1 tablespoon of mineral oil to thoroughly coat approximately 12 to 18 eggs. I really don’t measure exactly anymore, I simply put ample mineral oil in a coffee cup or bowl to coat multiple eggs completely and replenish as necessary.
Step 2. Gently roll each egg around in the mineral oil of use a spoon to lather it on. It’s sometimes easier and far less messy to hold an egg in one rubber gloved hand when going the spoon lathering route.
Step 3. Place the eggs in an egg carton with the pointy side down. You can go bottoms up, but the mineral oil covered eggs tend to suction into the carton holder far more tightly when initially place in the carton this way.
Step 4. Turn the eggs once a month to help prevent the yolks from settling too firmly and bursting the air sack.
Helpful Hints
- You can store the eggs either in refrigerator, but you really don’t have too. Simply store the mineral boiled eggs in a cool, dry place until ready to use.
- The eggs should remain safe to eat for at least a few months when coated completely with oil and stored properly.
- Do no try to use any oil to preserve eggs other than mineral oil. I confess that I am not clear about the science behind it, but it is the only oil known to work.
Tara lives on a 56 acres farm in the Appalachian Mountains, where she faces homesteading and farming challenges every single day, raising chickens, goats, horses, and tons of vegetables. She’s an expert in all sorts of homesteading skills such as hide tanning, doll making, tree tapping, and many more.
Why do people write a blog, leave a place for comments, and then have no respect to follow up and answer questions from your readers. So sad.
Unfortunately Tara isn’t writing for NLOAH anymore. IN addition, most writers, unless they own a blog, won’t come back to check comments as that’s not typically in their contracts.
The reason you use mineral oil is because it is not actually a food oil. It has no nutritional value, so no bacteria feed on it. There is nothing in it to go rancid. This makes it a superior oil to food oils as those go rancid and bacteria do feed on them. Just a friendly FYI. Great article.
Other articles I have read on this process state–use food grade mineral oil. I found it on Amazon. Just another friendly FYI
I coated some of my fresh farm eggs with mineral oil a few years ago. I let them sit too long (over a year) and they rotted. Also, if you are going to use this method of preserving eggs and are female, use gloves to rub it onto the shells! I researched it before I put some eggs up and apparently, mineral oil absorbs into the skin of women and messes with their hormones.
Do you use boiled eggs or use fresh eggs with the bloom on them;
Thanks,
Velma Hoeksema
I was watching your video on coating your eggs with mineral oil and I was wondering do you have to cook the eggs before you coat them or can you coat them raw?