Selling Eggs in a Cooler Question

[Feathers n Fur]

Ok, up until now I've been giving eggs away to friends and family and they have finally convinced me to sell them. They felt silly just taking them from me so I just started taking small "donations" for them in order to buy yummy treats for girls. I've seen a few people in the area with coolers at the end of their driveways selling eggs but never stopped to take a peek.

Do you put an icepack in there? Will they get too hot? Do you refrigerate them each evening and put them out each morning? Do you wash the bloom off?

Now that I've added 6 more girls (and one accidental Marans roo) to my flock of 7 I will soon have close to a dozen a day so I need to know how to do this cooler thing.

Thanks for your advice

 

[OldGuy43]

Been selling our excess for a couple of years now. We do not wash the eggs and just explain to our customers why. Never been a problem.

Yes, we do carry eggs around in a cooler. No, we don't add ice. When hatching the egg is sat on by a hen whose body temperature is 107° F. for 21 days. A few hours in a cooler won't hurt. The 41° thing is a rule for stores from the USDA.

 

[A.T. Hagan]

If I were going to sell this way I'd use an ice bottle in the cooler. No big deal to fill a one or two liter bottle with water and freeze it. Swap it out twice a day if necessary. The cooler the eggs are kept the longer they maintain quality. Winter, early spring, late fall this isn't so important (depending on the region of the country). Summertime when the weather is hot it is.

 

[OldGuy43]

Not so sure about the "frozen" thing. There's the possibility of freezing at least some of the eggs.

 

[Feathers n Fur]

Maybe just keeping the cooler in the shade with the lid propped a bit for air circulation would be the answer? I just don't want to risk selling spoiled eggs and someone getting sick but I also don't want to freeze the eggs either. Such a quandry.

 

[OldGuy43]

Maybe just keeping the cooler in the shade with the lid propped a bit for air circulation would be the answer? I just don't want to risk selling spoiled eggs and someone getting sick but I also don't want to freeze the eggs either. Such a quandry.

We've waited in a Texas parking lot for over 2 hours with the temp at 100° plus with never a problem. If it really worries you keep most of the eggs in the 'fridge, and only a couple of dozen in the cooler at a time.

 

[A.T. Hagan]

The eggs will not freeze. I use an ice bottle in a cooler to keep eggs all the time. Have fifteen dozen in a cooler with an ice bottle out in the truck right now to be delivered this evening. Have another ten dozen in another cooler in the house with another ice bottle to be delivered tomorrow. I do this often when I have more eggs than fridge space. The eggs will not freeze or be damaged, but will maintain their quality longer than they would stored in a hot environment.

 

[Feathers n Fur]

Thank you for your input. I feel more confident now that I have feedback from experienced egg sellers

 

[OldGuy43]

Chicken eggs do freeze in the shell. Freezing will cause the egg to expand and crack open. Frozen eggs in the shell change consistency and will not cook, taste or have the same texture as a fresh egg.

 

[A.T. Hagan]

Chicken eggs do freeze in the shell. At temperatures below 32 degrees Fahrenheit. An ordinary bottle of water ice in a cooler is not going to lower the temperature within the cooler even to 32 degrees much less sufficiently low enough to freeze the eggs. Not even if you put the bottle directly on top of the carton. I do this often and have for some time now. As I said I have twenty six dozen eggs in coolers with bottles of ice right now. None of them will freeze.

As an aside if you are using pulp cartons do put the ice bottle in the cooler in such a way that the condensation won't soak into the carton. Less of a concern with Stryrofoam or plastic cartons.