Last year I showed you How to Preserve Eggs With Mineral Oil and a few of you asked if it really worked – well, the answer is – YES!
Mineral Egg Experiment
Because I care about you so much, I’ve had eggs in my fridge for OVER A YEAR just to see if rubbing them with mineral oil actually helped with preserving them.
I put 2 cartons of eggs in my fridge:
- M = Eggs that I rubbed with Mineral Oil
- E = Eggs that I did nothing with so I would be able to compare!
How to tell the GOOD Eggs from the BAD
Now the moment of truth – did the mineral oil really preserve the eggs longer than doing nothing at all.
To find out for sure I played the sink or float game! 
Regular Eggs with No Mineral Oil
The year old eggs that I did nothing with floated right at the top of the cup – definitely BAD!
Float = BAD Egg
There was also one egg that had brown gunk oozing from it and when I cracked it open this is what I found… YUCK!
Mineral Oil Eggs
Out of the 18 eggs I rubbed mineral oil on every single egg sunk straight to the bottom, except one! I would call that success!
Sink = GOOD Egg
The one egg that floated had a slight crack in it.
Can You Tell if Eggs Are Bad by Looks or Smell?
The eggs both looked the same, except for the ones with obvious cracks!
As far as smell goes I didn’t notice any difference in odor, but I also don’t have a great sense of smell either ;)
I was a little concerned when I opened up the regular eggs that had no mineral oil on them and ONLY 2 were left! I immediately racked my brain on what poor soul just ate a carton of bad eggs over a year old.
Then it hit me – I guess that’s what happens when you hire a babysitter that can’t read! So just in case if you were wondering if you got sick or died from eating bad eggs, you don’t. My babysitter is proof of that (but don’t quote me, she does have a stomach of steel)!
How Did The EGGS Cook-Up?
Regular Eggs
The eggs with no mineral oil looked almost like a pancake when I cooked it up, especially the bottom of it. It definitely had a different texture and appearance – slightly rubbery.
Mineral Oil Eggs
The eggs coated in mineral oil cooked-up perfect and tasted great too!
Here’s another picture of the regular egg that was not preserved with mineral oil.
And here is how the egg coated in mineral oil turned out! Big difference!
Below you can see the difference with them side by side! Which would you rather eat?
I can now say I’ve eaten eggs over a year old. Not sure if that’s something to be proud of, but I’ll take any chance to brag ;)
Preserving Eggs for a Year or More…
If you need a refresher on Preserving Eggs with Mineral Oil, check-out this post!
This thing about eggs floating or sinking was new to me, great advice. I had to try it to see for myself. So I took a dozen out of the box and put them in water and they sunk, so I guess they are good. Now that I know they are good I think I’ll make breakfast. So how about some advice on how to find the eggs that are now sitting on the bottom of the lake.
I’m glad to hear you’re not eating rotten eggs! Good luck swimming for eggs ;)
Can’t reach them, apparently I am a rotten egg.
We raise chickens here at home for eggs and hopefully meat this year as well. When winter hits and the egg production stops, we start working though the extras, usually there are tons of eggs in the fridge by then, until they start floating. Now I have a way to make them last all the way through! Thank you!
I hope one day to be like you! I would love to have my own chickens! The nice things about having your own chickens is you don’t have to use mineral oil. As long as you don’t wash the bloom layer off they should last just as long!
They don’t last as long with just the bloom. I have my own flock and we have had eggs go bad in the fridge even though I keep the bloom on them. But since I read your blog on oiling the eggs and started practicing it at home, I haven’t lost one of our eggs to rot!! I use vegetable oil because they don’t last very long around here, but if I were keeping them long term I would use mineral oil.
Good to know Kelli! Thanks for sharing! I’ve never had eggs with the bloom still on them so wasn’t sure if they lasted much longer.
Thanks so much for the mineral oil tip. My mother used to use something, but I didn’t think to ask her about it before she passed away. I’m so glad to be able to put some eggs back. Love your blog and you!! you are awesome. Thanks for all the great hints.
Thanks Larene! You are too kind!
Mineral Oil is a petroleum product and since egg shells are porous, aren’t you afraid of making your family sick down the road?!!
I mention this way of preserving eggs more for emergency situations. Ideally, if you are keeping eggs for longer periods of time you might consider getting fresh eggs and keeping the “bloom” on the egg.
I have had a couple people mention that they grew-up with their eggs always being stored in mineral oil and never had issues with getting sick.
mineral oil is actually a medical treatment for constipation. I have worked s a nurse for many years and have given mineral oil to patients, ordered by Dr’s and by the patient request. the usual dose is 1 tablespoon straight or mixed with orange juice. Mineral oil will in no way harm anyone if ingested.
Good to know! Thanks for sharing your experience.
Maybe, I’ll feed my 3 year old some mineral eggs and see if it helps with his constipation ; ) These eggs could maybe have some extra benefits!
Ooh, that brown egg is nasty! ugh!
I know, you should have seen me jump after I cracked it. I couldn’t even get it out of the carton!
Great post, Jamie! The sink/float thing was totally new to me. I have not heard that before. So, now, you should keep them at room temperature and see how long they last…..:) I wonder if they would make it a year.
That’s what I originally wanted to do, but I knew there was NO way I could keep them safe from my boys that long. Apparently, I couldn’t even keep them safe in the fridge with “Do Not Eat” written all over them :)
Here is a great little blurb about egg refrigeration.
http://www.thekitchn.com/is-refrigerating-eggs-necessary-176617
Only Americans put eggs in the fridge. I leave the eggs my chickens lay out on the counter in a basket and they are fine, even two months later.
Thanks so much for linking to the article. I’ve had a few people freaking out about not refrigerating their eggs :-)
if you do not wash your eggs fresh off farm they will keep on counter…. Also water glass ( you can get from Pharmacy under name of sodium silicate) was used to coat eggs… this is old stuff we used this years ago on farm
Thanks for the extra tips Walt.
How LONG would fresh eggs keep on the counter? Would they keep longer dipped in Mineral Oil?
Check-o oilut this post – http://prepared-housewives.com/preserve-eggs-with-mineral-oil/
yes, they keep longer if you have Mineral on them or leave the protective bloom layer on the egg.
I’m old and I forget a lot, but now I know why I used mineral oil on the eggs I stored in the basement last summer and fall (you). Since my “ladies” don’t lay in the winter, I wanted to preserve some eggs for the winter. I rubbed mineral oil on them and stored in the egg cartons and put them on the bottom shelf in the basement. It is usually about 65-68 degrees there. 6 months later I took some out. Most had the hairline cracks, so I took them to the critters and dropped them in the feeding trough. As you showed, when they broke from the fall, some were dark brown. This scared me, so I threw most of them to the piggys. Some that looked good from the carton, I tried to fry. When I cracked open the eggs, the yoke was attached to the shell. I have since read that for long term storage, you need to turn the cartons upside down, and rotate ever so often. I didn’t do this. I am now wondering if the temp in my basement and the temp in you fridge makes that much difference.
OH my, I just went back and reread your post on how to do the eggs. You said to flip the eggs, and I didn’t. I told you I was forgetful.
Just for future reference, the sink/float is only about 60-65% accurate and is generally related to freshness for unaltered eggs, obviously the mineral oil adds weight that sticks/penetrates the shell so it will help eggs sink as well – not if it’s “good” as older eggs are still good, just not fresh. Some eggs that are good will float if the embryo is a smaller one and some bad eggs will still sink because they were either bad to begin with or shifted from just bad to a gooey mess that is heavier (or a variance in between). So it’s slightly better than a 50/50 yes or no guess, it’s not as accurate and can lead to a lot of waste or false reassurance.
A surprisingly more accurate test once you know what you are “looking” for is the hearing test. If you hear sloshing, it’s bad. If there is no sound, it’s good. If the yolk broke when shaking vigorously? Also likely bad since the albumen and the whites would have thinned too much and the yolk barrier has thinned. If they are properly thick, they protect the yolk from breaking even during rough handling!
Good to know. Maybe I’ll try shaking some of the eggs I have left and check to see if I hear anything.
I was wondering….im just wanting to preserve eggs in my fridge for an extra month from purchase date…..what brand of mineral oil do I buy? And where can I buy it?
Hi Nicole~
Maybe this post will help – http://prepared-housewives.com/preserve-eggs-with-mineral-oil/
Also, I just got the CVS brand, and found it near the Pepto Bismal!
Good luck!
– Jamie
I raise chickens and some of mine float rigt away. So how can that test be for real?
Great test. Have often thought about testing this, but have never gotten around to it. Thanks!
Well I read this post a year ago and I tried it. Today I ate a year old egg that was store bought. I followed your directions, but I did keep them in my refrigerator as I had space. So far I have not gotten sick the egg smelled and looked exactly the same as a freshEgg. I did take the entire 12 egg carton and floated them in water 3 of the 12 eggs I threw away because they floated all the rest are fine.
I love that you tried it too! Not many people are patient enough to test this out. I may have had a few floaters too, but my babysitter ate most of my eggs. Apparently, she didn’t know what Experiment meant ;) She never got sick though.