Can You Freeze Eggs?

Yes, you can freeze eggs and cook them later, in whatever form you want. Eggs have almost all the nutrients and vitamins your body needs, which explains why they can effortlessly transform a single cell into a chick. They contain various nutrients, from Vitamin A to Vitamins B2, B5, and B12, folate, phosphorus, selenium proteins, calories, and fats.

Moreover, they taste fantastic and can accompany almost every dish – depending on how you prepare and serve them. Besides, you can have them at breakfast, lunch, or dinner, making them one of the world’s superfoods. But can you freeze eggs?

Amidst the soaring food prices globally and the incredible value of eggs, it is vital to get the most from every dollar you spend on eggs – to avoid food wastage. Unfortunately, most people are unaware of the most effective ways of storing their eggs, which sometimes leads to wastage when the eggs go bad.

Yes, it’s possible to freeze eggs – whole eggs, egg whites, yolks, and hard-boiled yolks. According to the United States Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), frozen eggs can last for up to 12 months.

This guide explains how to freeze and cook them later as frozen eggs. Remember to freeze eggs that are fresh and in date.

Freezing eggs is one of the easiest, safest, and most practical ways of keeping your eggs fresh longer. It is a suitable kitchen hack that comes in handy whenever you have a bunch of eggs to use up or want to prepare ahead. It is an excellent way to stretch your food budget in these challenging times.

However, you should ensure that you do it right. It isn’t very easy and goes beyond just tossing the egg carton in the freezer.

Besides whole eggs, you can freeze egg whites and yolks. As for the hard-boiled eggs, you can only freeze the yolks for later use as the entire hard-boiled eggs and whites become tough and watery in texture upon freezing.

Before freezing your eggs, you should ensure that they are fresh. Various ways of checking for egg freshness include the float test. This method requires you to fill a bowl with water and submerge the eggs. The fresh ones will sink while the spoilt ones will float.

How to Freeze Eggs?

Can you freeze eggs in the shell? Freezing eggs may seem like a simple hack for everyone: however, there is a trap – never freeze them whole (in the shell), as advised by a culinary expert. This guide explains what happens when you freeze eggs in their shell.

Eggshells expand and contract upon freezing, making them crack. Upon cracking, you should remove each egg from the shell before storing them in freezer-friendly containers such as ice cube trays and muffin tins.

After cracking the shells, you can freeze or separate your eggs. You should seal the containers tightly and label them correctly – date and contents.

Can You Freeze Egg Whites?

To freeze egg whites, you must break each egg at a time and separate the egg yolk from the white. You may be asking, ‘How long can you freeze egg white?’ With the egg whites separated from the yolks, pour them (whites) into a freezer-friendly container, seal them tightly, and label them with the date they were frozen and the number of whites inside.

Pro-Tip: When putting raw eggs into the container before freezing, leave about half an inch of room for expansion.

Can You Freeze Egg Yolks?

Can you freeze egg yolks for custard? It’s acceptable to freeze egg yolks. However, it requires some preparation since their (egg yolks) gelatinous nature causes them to thicken upon freezing. Their pre-freezing practice involves beating 1/8 teaspoon of salt or 1 ½ teaspoons of sugar or corn syrup for every ¼ cup of egg yolks (about four).

As usual, please put them in a freezer-safe container, tightly sealed, label them with the date and number of yolks inside, and stick them in the freezer.

Freezing Raw Eggs

Rather than freezing the egg whites and yolks separately, you can also freeze them together. Ensure you thoroughly beat yolks and whites until perfectly blended before pouring them into the freezer containers. Remember to label. This can keep the eggs fresh and edible for up to eight weeks.

Ice cube trays and muffin tins are perfect for freezing your eggs. They make thawing faster and measuring during cooking easier. Place the mixture, yolks, or white into the tin or tray for a couple of hours in the freezer before popping them out and transferring them into a re-sealable plastic bag or another freezer-friendly container for long-term storage.

Freezing Hard-Boiled Egg Yolks

You can freeze your hard-boiled egg yolks and use them as toppings and garnishes later. Freezing these yolks involves placing them carefully in one layer in a saucepan with adequate water to cover them – at least 1 inch above the yolks. Cover them and bring them to boiling quickly. Remove the pan from heat and allow the yolks to stand in hot water for about 12 minutes.

Remove them using a slotted spoon, drain them thoroughly, and package them for freezing.

How Long Can You Freeze Eggs?

You can freeze your eggs for up to one year. However, using them between three and six months is advisable for optimal freshness.

Defrosting Frozen Eggs

Planning ahead is a valuable tip for anyone cooking frozen eggs. It is not advisable to cook the eggs directly from the freezer. Allow adequate thawing time by transferring them from the freezer to the refrigerator for up to 24 hours, depending on the eggs you need.

You can use them – egg whole, white, or yolks – as soon as they are thawed. If you intend to use frozen egg whites, you can enjoy maximum volume by allowing the thawed ones to stay at room temperature for about half an hour after removing them from the freezer.

Pro-Tip: Always defrost the eggs carefully and never refreeze thawed eggs. The secret is getting precisely what you need for use, and nothing more.

Final Word on Freezing Eggs

Freezing is a fantastic way of keeping eggs fresh for longer. With a vast supply of fresh eggs, you can fry, bake, boil, or incorporate them as casseroles, among other recipes, creating variety in how you consume them while cutting your food budget significantly.

Eggs are also easy to prepare, and you can use them as an accompaniment to most dishes at any time of the day, for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, offering convenience. Besides, despite the skyrocketing food prices, they remain one of the most popular and affordable foods in most parts of the world.

Can You Freeze Eggs? | Little-Known Kitchen Tips