CANDLING EGGS AT HOME

If you purchase the eggs that are to be stored it is safer to candle them.  Examining eggs to determine their quality is called “candling.”  Every one knows that some eggs are better than others, but the ease with which the good ones can be picked out is not generally understood.  The better the quality of eggs, the surer the housewife can be that they will keep satisfactorily.

HOMEMADE CANDLER

The equipment for candling usually consists of either a wooden, a metal, or a cardboard box and a kerosene lamp or an electric light.  A very inexpensive egg candler for home use can be made from a large shoe-box or similar cardboard box.  Remove the ends of the box, and cut a hole about the size of a half-dollar in one side.  Slip the box over the lamp or electric bulb, darken the room, hold the egg, with the large end up, before the opening in the box and its quality can easily be judged.

SIGNS OF A GOOD EGG

When held before the opening of the candle, good eggs will look clear and firm.  The air cell (the white spot at the large end of the eggs) should be small, not larger than a dime, and the yolk may be dimly seen in the center of the egg.  A large air cell and a dark, freely moving yolk indicate that the egg is stale.

If the shell contents appear black or very dark, the egg is absolutely unfit for food.  If you are in doubt about the quality of any eggs you are candling break a few of them into a dish and examine them.  This is an excellent way to learn to know how good and bad eggs look when they are being candled.

Discard all eggs that have shrunken, loose contents, a watery appearance, cracked and thin shells.  Eggs of this description will not keep and are apt to spoil the eggs close around them.  Any egg that floats in the solution should be discarded.

When packing eggs whether in salt, oats, or in solution place them with small end down.  When packing them in salt, oats, etc., do not allow any two eggs to touch.

PACKING THE EGGS

One gallon of water glass as purchased will make enough preservative to preserve from 75 to 100 dozen eggs.

Three gallons of either water glass solution or limewater solution will preserve from 200 to 240 dozen eggs according to the size of the eggs and the shape of the container.

The cost of preserving eggs by the water glass method is about one cent per dozen eggs, not considering the cost of the container.  The lime water method is still cheaper.

The following gives the sizes of jars with approximate capacity for eggs and the amount of water glass solution required to cover the eggs: 

1 gallon jar—­40 eggs, 31/2 pints of solution or 13/4 qt.