We freeze all sorts of things to keep them for later. Why don’t people know that we can freeze eggs too?
(eggs courtesy of the Damsel’s Freerange Flightless Female Flock.)
It’s okay. You can do it. It’s not illegal. The knowledge of this secret can now sweep the earth.
Now, calmly realize you aren’t going to be able to thaw a frozen egg and then cook it sunny side up. But you can use them quite happily in baked things, and even scrambled eggs.
Most professional egg-freezers say to do it like this: Crack the eggs into a bowl, and lightly mix them. Break up the yolks and so on, but don’t beat a lot of air into the eggs.
The Damsel wonders why, but although many people share the air warning, no one seems to know the reason.
Then pour the eggs into an ice cube tray. Freeze, then pop them out into a ziplock bag. One cube = one egg.
Some people have had trouble getting the egg cubes to pop out. One person even said they broke the ice cube tray because they tried so very hard. So, you may want to spray the ice cube tray with cooking spray and see if that helps.
Others like to freeze the whites and yolks separately.
Yolks, whether separate or part of a whole egg, will become lumpy after freezing, but this can be avoided by stirring in a 1/2-teaspoon salt per 1-cup of egg or yolks. If using for desserts, use 1-tablespoon sugar or corn syrup per 1-cup yolks or whole eggs.
Why are they called “yolks?” Yolk. Yolk. What a funny word.
You can just freeze the eggs in a freezer container instead of the ice cube tray, and then measure out the amount you want. (Thaw by putting in the refrigerator the day before you want to use them) Here is a handy chart for that:
Whole Eggs
3 whole eggs = 1/2 cup
1 whole egg = 3 tablespoons
Yolks
6-7 yolks = 1/2 cup
1 yolk = 1 tablespoon
Whites
4-6 whites = 1/2 cup
1 white = 2 tablespoons
One reader (Hi Caleb!) has a good suggestion: crack the eggs directly into a freezer bag. He prefers making bags of two eggs since that’s what most of his recipes call for. He doesn’t mix the eggs or fool around with salt or sugar. He lays them flat in the freezer so they take up very little space.
Or, go walk on the wild side. This will sound heretical, but you could just Put The Egg In The Freezer. Just as it is. Shell and all. It won’t explode. It may crack, and while this is disturbing, you may decide you feel ok about it. Cracked eggs aren’t a great idea because eggs can harbor salmonella. But if the egg is frozen, and then thawed and cooked thoroughly, you may decide the chances of contamination are pretty small. Your mileage may vary.
Be aware that thawed eggs will seem watery, but will cook up just fine.
