[gibbo]

My neighbour has asked me to ask for any advice on egg washing.  She sells eating eggs, but often they are dirty.  She is aware of the reasons not to wash eggs and personaly doesnt wash the eggs she uses for own use.  However it is not nice to sell eggs that are dirty.  Is it ok to wash them or not?  I have said that you will all proberbly say that it is better to keep the nest boxes fresh and claen in the first place to help reduce the risk of diry eggs, but as she pointed out when the ground is so mucky and wet the hens feet are dirty when they go into lay and thus contaminate the eggs.  Maybe im wrong but when this happens to me i wipe them over with a damp cloth then dry them and put them straight in the fridger.  What is your addvice on this problem.

[joyfull]

tell your neighbour to put a covered entrance to their coop (somewhere on here is a photo of Hillfooters set up which shows his covered porch). The eggs should ideally be collected several times a day (impossible if working) and any mess can then be wiped off on grass etc whilst it is still moist - thus protecting the bloom.

[gibbo]

Im not sure if i quite understand what you mean when you say wipe of on the grass to protect the bloom.  Surley you dont mean to wipe the eggs on the grass? ( thats if she had any grass left in her garden, the chickens have sctratched it to mud!!)  What do you mean by bloom?

[joyfull]

when eggs are laid they have a protective bloom on them - this helps protect the shell from letting any odours/bacteria inside. Washing removes this protective bloom. If you have no grass then wipe very lightly on a piece of kitchen towel 

[rachelr]

most of my customers accept the little bit of muck on the eggs as they know you are not supposed to wash them. I do occasionaly wipe the shel witha  dry kitchen towel.

[gibbo]

If i should find an egg that has been layed outside and it is wet and muddy, surley a quick rinse under the tap is better than leaving it with wet mud on it.  What do you recon?

[hillfooter]

If i should find an egg that has been layed outside and it is wet and muddy, surley a quick rinse under the tap is better than leaving it with wet mud on it.  What do you recon?

The book answer is to discard it but I usually try and use it immediately in something which will be thoroughly cooked like baking, hard boiled eggs.  Or you can give it to the MIL.
HF

[Sassy]

My customers do not mind the odd dirty egg but I advise them to wash the egg only as they are going to use it.

[Pertelotte]

What you might want to try is using that green scouring stuff once any muck is dry, or a finger nail. A quick blitz normally does the job.

My eggs tend to end up with relatives or some local old ladies (so no cash changing hands there, then) who are happy for a little and occasional discolouration. I simply state that they're fresh from the chicken's bum which tends to get rid of the more squeamish customer.

Incidentally; what happens to the factory eggs - aren't they washed?

Pertelotte

[joyfull]

they roll away to the front of the cage into a tray so no chance of getting dirty.

[hillfooter]

Also even free range chx don't spend much time outside.
HF

[alisonwo]

I bought some Liquid Egg Wash made by Bio Link from Merrydale Poultry a litre cost £9, I worked out the dilution rate as a capful to a litre of water, so will last years, I wash any really dirty eggs in it, or if not too bad dip in a cloth and wipe over the dirty bits.  It says its for lightly soiled eggs, but must admit some of mine are so bad when its been raining or wet outside that I have to use a nailbrush in the solution to clean them, but I use these myself and as quickly as possible.  It will remove the bloom from the eggs nothing you can do about that, but it says it stops bacteria yeast and fungi entering and has algaecidal properties, has to be better than just plain water.

[hillfooter]

I bought some Liquid Egg Wash made by Bio Link from Merrydale Poultry a litre cost £9, I worked out the dilution rate as a capful to a litre of water, so will last years, I wash any really dirty eggs in it, or if not too bad dip in a cloth and wipe over the dirty bits.  It says its for lightly soiled eggs, but must admit some of mine are so bad when its been raining or wet outside that I have to use a nailbrush in the solution to clean them, but I use these myself and as quickly as possible.  It will remove the bloom from the eggs nothing you can do about that, but it says it stops bacteria yeast and fungi entering and has algaecidal properties, has to be better than just plain water.

Egg sanitiser is often used by breeders for hatching eggs and certainly it's better than water.  Make sure it's warm not hot.  Any heavy deposites of mud or droppings can be lightly scraped off with a knife first so you don't heavily contaminate the santiser.  However regulations apply to sales to the public and I don't think these allow for washing eggs even in sanitiser. 

What you personally do is your choice.  I must admit to not liking to store dirty eggs in the fridge (where I always keep eggs) so I do use the damp kitchen roll approach.

HF

[Aunt Sally]

If you go to our poultry information section you will find a wealth of information there including a topic for lots of "Useful Information":

http://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?topic=4748.0

There is a link to Cleaning Eggs

http://www.pekinbantams.com/cleaningeggs.php

Cleaned eggs can NEVER be sold.