Aren’t eggs from you own hens the prettiest things? Even the basic brown egg isn’t so plain when you know who laid it. Of course you don’t want to break them, but, then again, you do want to eat them. Luckily, the expression, you can’t have your cake and eat it too, doesn’t apply to eggs. You can eat them, but still have the shells to keep.
When I was little my mother taught me to blow out eggs, using a big hole on one end, a small on the other, and lots of huffy breaths, which was fun when I was young, but I don’t want to do that now. Besides, I want the blown eggs to look as perfect as when they were laid, so I use an inexpensive German tool, the Blas-Fix Egg Blower.
First, I use the little pointy wand to drill a hole in one end.
Next, I insert the long needle into that hole and twist it around a bit to break up the yolk. Then I pump the bulb at the end to blow air into the egg. Out comes the egg white, saved into a clean bowl.
And out squishes the yolk.
Once the egg is empty, I go over to the sink, fill the tool with hot water and squirt that into the egg to rinse it out.
Then I set the egg in the holder, hole end down, to let it drain and dry.
From there it joins the other blown out eggs in my optimistic basket.
I’ll be getting some Ameracaunas this spring. I look forward to autumn when I’ll have blue eggs to add to the basket!
I love the two little ones in the back! How long can you keep the eggs after you have taken them out of the shells?
Sorry, three little ones! I haven’t had my coffee yet.
Covered, in a glass bowl in the fridge, they’re fine for 3 days.
Terry, where do you get that tool? We used to do it with pin holes, by the time we were done felt like yourhead would explode.
Thank you for this information.
Never mind last post I saw you had a link, wonder if michaels has it
I like the brown speckled eggs.
Terry, I do love that you have some of the eggs inscribed with the name of the responsible girl; little hen trophies!
I keep a sharpie pen in the coop, and if I spy a hen laying an egg, I write her name on it. I’m trying to get one from each hen, but Pearl has been elusive!
Thanks to you, Terry, I bought my egg blower tool a couple of years ago… from the USA!
I love being able to save some of my ladies’ beautiful eggshells too.
Got my two blue/green egg layers last year. Lulu (Lavender Araucana) gives me pale olive green eggs, whilst Pippa (Dorking cross) lays gorgeous pale blue ones.
I have yet to find a good way of hanging them though. Tried treasury tags, but too bulky. Tried sticking knotted thread in the hole, but fell off. :-((
Any ideas out there?
Lizzie
Re: hanging eggs, how about using ornament findings? You can buy them here: http://www.amazon.com/25-Ornaments-Findings-Supplies-Decorating/dp/B006E924WS/ref=pd_sim_k_4
I think you could use a glue gun to apply them to your eggs.
Thanks, Jaye! They look exactly what I’m needing!! My Easter branch will be beautiful this year!
;-)
Nice tool! My Easter Egger, Henny Penny, just laid her first egg since the beginning of Nov so I had to blow it to save. Such a pretty blue one! I also like saving the rare spotted ones from my Barred Rocks. Amelia’s sometimes have dark brown spots while Scarlet gave me one with white spots!
That is adorable…. Have you ever read “Rechenka’s Eggs” by Patricia Polacco? She makes “pysanky” (my spelling might be off) eggs in the book and paints them. Amazing! She blows the white and yolk out?
We used to do this when we made pysanki (sp?)–Ukrainian Easter Eggs. That’s a great gadget, btw. Blowing out those eggs is TIRING. Our jaws used to ache…
Missing the bunny.
The egg-blowing kit comes with an egg holder? Or is that another find?
Can you make a larger hole, so that the yolk comes out whole?
Oops, I took a second look and answered for myself where to purchase the holder…
What type of hen laid the pretty speckled eggs and the three little ones?
Jasper laid speckled eggs like that for a few months. Now they’re not as dramatically marked.
I did a farm-themed Christmas tree this year and made my own egg garland. I have never seen one, but thought it might work. Wow, it turned out better that I could have imagined! I started by blowing out the eggs and making the blow out holes big enough to get a rough garden twine threaded needle through (a tight knot at the end of the needle had to fit through the hole too.) Then to anchor the eggs in place I cut approx 4 inch lengths of twine and tied one on each end of the egg. I spaced my eggs about 12 or so inches apart from each other and in between each egg tied a knot with a strip (approx 5 inches) of cute fabric to add color and texture. I used two different patterns, one black with little white polka dots and a simple cranberry and beige plaid print. I alternated the fabric knots so that each egg had one of each color next to it. Cutest garland ever! And since I microwaved the eggs for 20 seconds after I blew them out, to “set” the shells, they are durable and stored for next year’s tree. The whole process only took approx 2 hours for 15-20 feet of garland. Nobody who saw my tree could believe that I made it.
Sounds absolutely charming. Can you email me a photo? I’ll post it for everyone to see.
Yes, I will Terry. After work today.
This unfortunately isn’t related to blowing out eggs, though I can’t wait to try that!
I just wanted to thank you Terry for all of the great information you share on your web site. I got to use the “Spa Treatment” for the first time this weekend, and I think it was very helpful. I always take couple of minutes each morning to watch the hens to make sure everyone is looking good. On Sunday morning, one of the hens was uninterested in the scratch I threw out, was walking around slowly in a daze, and eventually went back inside and laid down on the floor. My hens are less than 1 year old and this is was not typically behavior for any of them. I brought her inside for observation and offered her several things to eat but she was not interested. She remained listless for the next couple of hours so I made the decision to soak her in Epsom salts and dose her with olive oil. Almost immediately after the treatment, she perked up. Once I confirmed that she was pooping, we offered her more food and she ate. She remained chipper throughout the day and into the next morning, so I put her back outside. She has been doing well now for the last couple of days. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
The spa treatment..gotta love it!
i have a wire basket in the shape of a chiken. it is so neat i only have five girls but they are a happy group.
i have often wondered what a wire egg holder may be worth, it is quite nice a picture is available on request