Storing a Glut of Eggs

Spring brings more eggs than most families can eat. Here is how to keep them safely, and how to bank the surplus, following US food safety advice.

A backyard flock lays hardest in spring and slows right down in winter, so most keepers swing from too many eggs to too few. The safe way to hold the spring surplus is cold: the fridge for weeks, the freezer for longer.

Keep eggs in the fridge at 40°F or below

The USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) and the FDA both say to store eggs in the refrigerator at 40°F or below, in their carton and in the coldest part of the fridge rather than the door. Eggs sold in US stores have been washed and must be kept refrigerated. FSIS gives 3 to 5 weeks in the fridge for raw shell eggs, and the FDA suggests using them within 3 weeks for best quality. Penn State Extension says eggs from a home flock keep safely in the fridge for at least a month.

You will read online that unwashed backyard eggs keep for weeks on the counter. US food safety agencies do not support that: their advice is to refrigerate eggs, and Penn State Extension does not recommend room-temperature storage for eggs from a home flock either.

To wash or not to wash

A hen coats each egg in a thin protective layer called the bloom. FSIS advises against washing store-bought eggs, because they were washed before sale. For your own eggs, the best start is a clean nest box and collecting often, so most eggs come in clean. Penn State Extension says washing is optional for home use; if you wash a dirty egg, use water at least 20°F warmer than the egg, wash one egg at a time without soaking it, and do not scrub. Washing removes the bloom, so dry washed eggs and refrigerate them straight away.

The float test checks age, not safety

An egg loses moisture as it ages and its air cell grows, so older eggs tilt up or float in a glass of water. That tells you roughly how old an egg is. It does not tell you whether it carries bacteria such as Salmonella, so it is no substitute for keeping eggs cold and cooking them until the yolk and white are firm, as the FDA advises.

Banking the surplus

What about waterglassing?

Waterglassing means storing unwashed eggs in a crock of lime water or sodium silicate, an old method that has become popular again online. Penn State Extension does not recommend it: the solution, and bacteria with it, can get into the egg through the pores in the shell, and the method was never shown to keep eggs safe at room temperature. Keep your surplus in the fridge or the freezer instead.

Sources we checked (October 2026): USDA FSIS, Shell Eggs from Farm to Table; FDA, What You Need to Know About Egg Safety; National Center for Home Food Preservation (freezing eggs and pickled eggs); Penn State Extension, How to Safely Handle and Store Eggs from Your Home Flock.