Last Updated on 27th January 2023 by
Vinegar has many uses, but have you heard about cleaning eggs with vinegar? How do you clean the eggs you collect from your poultry house?
If you rear chicken you frequently come across dirty eggs soiled in mud, chicken droppings, nesting material, and potentially invisible bacteria among other things.
Cleaning eggs is not just for the germaphobes. It helps maintain hygiene and make improve the aesthetic appeal of the eggs. These reasons are good enough to clean your eggs spotlessly.
While you can do the cleaning using plain water, sandpaper, and cleaning brushes to tidy eggs, they are not effective. These methods come with pros and cons. The best approach is cleaning eggs with vinegar. It is not just effective, it is also more cost-effective.
Isn’t vinegar used widely as a domestic and even commercial cleaning agent? That being so, how do you use it to restore the shine on your eggs? The results of using vinegar to clean your eggs will surprise you. How do you do it?
Considerations Before Cleaning Eggs With Vinegar
1) Cleaning The Egg Has Nothing To Do With It’s Contents
What really matters in an egg is its contents, in other words, the egg’s freshness. The contents are protected by the bloom – a protective cover that you have to break through before you pour the egg fresh for cooking (if you intend to cook the egg anyway).
However, due to salmonella concerns, some jurisdictions require all eggs to be cleaned before use. Other than following the law, it looks better to clean your eggs and you avoid contamination during breaking it.
2) What Vinegar Should You Use to Clean Eggs
There is variety when it comes to vinegar. There’s cleaning vinegar, white vinegar, and industrial vinegar. Which one should you use for cleaning eggs?
Cleaning vinegar boasts of 6% while white vinegar has 5 % acidity. Does 1% make a difference? Yes, it does. The 1% makes the product a whole 20% stronger.
The one percent makes cleaning vinegar a much stronger option to use for your cleaning purposes.
Industrial vinegar, on the other hand, has up to 20% acidity levels. So why not use it? The reason is simple. This last category is so strong and dangerous for a layperson that it’s only used by professionals to kill weeds, making it a bad option for cleaning eggs.
It’s important that you are aware of this fact. Failure to know the difference and respective use of these different types of vinegar you can easily end up with some not-so-good or even dangerous results altogether.
The Requirements for Cleaning Eggs With Vinegar
- Some quantity of cleaning vinegar depending on the number of eggs you want to clean. The more the number of eggs, the higher the amount of vinegar you need.
- A relevant source of heat to warm the vinegar.
- A cleaner (cloth or any other relevant cleaning material).
- A place to put your eggs
How To Clean Eggs with Vinegar
Armed with this info, what is next?
Warm the vinegar’s temperature to a level slightly above that of your freshly laid eggs. That means a few degrees above 102 degrees Fahrenheit. Why?
The temperature of the cleaning agent has an impact on the contents of the egg. Cold vinegar makes the egg contents to shrink.
This creates a vacuum inside the egg which in turn sucks in the vinegar and possibly any bacteria that might be on the outer side of the shell. Remember, the egg’s shell is porous.
Warm vinegar, on the other hand, causes the egg’s contents to expand and press against the wall. This action makes the contents to form a barrier against intrusive bacteria.
With temperature issues sorted, out what next?
- Pour the bits of the warm vinegar onto the cleaner till its moderately wet.
- Hold each egg gently and wipe off the dirt and stains using the wet the cleaner. DON’T soak all the eggs in the vinegar.
- Keep wetting the cleaner with the warm vinegar and wipe the egg till all the spots, particles and sticking substances disappear from the eggshell.
- After washing the eggs store them in a rack or carton with the eggs’ pointed side facing downwards. This makes them remain fresh longer.
If you do the above, you are on your way to a cost-effective, efficient, and dependable method of cleaning eggs with vinegar. A natural question is, “Why clean with vinegar?”
Why Cleaning Eggs With Vinegar Such a Great Idea?
Though there are many methods one can use to clean eggs many, cleaning eggs with vinegar is more appealing.
The following are some of the compelling reasons why these people opt for this method.
It Quickly Gets Rid Of Stubborn Stains
When you have to contend with stubborn stains such as dry chicken droppings the acidic nature of vinegar does wonders.
It Helps You Get Rid Of Germs And Harmful Bacteria
One of the dreaded bacteria in poultry farming is salmonella. This bacterium is a darling of the poultry house and is known to cause devastating human-health challenges. The good thing about vinegar is its acidity.
The acid level of this cleaning agent gets rid of salmonella and a host of other disease-causing bacteria from the shells of your eggs. No wonder the US government makes egg-cleaning a legal requirement.
It Is Affordable
For one, vinegar is inexpensive. It’s a low-cost commodity that is regularly in many homes at a low cost.
Using it to clean your eggs will not drill a hole in your pocket. What’s even better, compared to the benefits you get by using this method, cleaning eggs using vinegar is comparatively more affordable than using water, sandpaper, brushes or any other alternative method.
It Is Environmentally Safe
Using vinegar to clean eggs contributes immensely to environmental protection and conservation.
Vinegar is a safe and biodegradable substance. Once used the remaining bit and whatever holds on to the eggshells does no harm to the natural environment.
How You Can Save Costs by Preventing the Eggs From Getting Dirty
In as much as using vinegar is one of the best ways to clean your eggs, you can still lower the costs of these poultry products by adopting measures that will ensure your eggs are much cleaner every time you collect them from your poultry house.
Think in this direction:
- Locate your nesting boxes away from the chicken’s roosting area. This way you reduce the amount of chicken poo reaching the eggs.
- Locate the nesting boxes some distance from the coop door. This minimises the dirt and mud carried by the chicken on their feet to the door.
So, whatever helps you minimise the need to clean your eggs without compromising the number and quality of the eggs is a welcome idea.
Nevertheless, you will always have some eggs to clean and the best way is to know how you should be cleaning eggs with vinegar.
It’s an affordable, effective and environmentally friendly way to achieve your eggs-cleaning objectives.
I'm Pauline, a mother of four grown children, my passion for cooking stemmed from the joy i get cooking for my family. I love to try new dishes, especially when dining out but creating and sharing my own recipes is my favourite thing to do!
