# Egg Washer?



## buckskinner (Dec 17, 2010)

Does someone know of a source for an egg washer that is fairly inexpensive? I intend on selling at the Farmer's Market having around 100 hens. I can also feed the surplus eggs that don't sell to my hogs. Thanks,
Robert


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## Firefly (Dec 7, 2005)

Are you aware that eggs are much safer to eat if they are NOT washed? They have a protective film that blocks bacteria, and this film is removed by washing. Chickens (unlike ducks, yikes!) are not too messy; if you gather them regularly and keep the nesting material clean you should not have a problem. Give any very dirty eggs to the pigs eat the slightly dirty ones yourself. I won't buy washed farm eggs. Store eggs are always washed, of course, but then they're coated in oil(?) to protect them a little.


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## Guest (Jan 31, 2011)

For just a hundred hens I'd wash them by hand.

As for what equipment and methods you can use you'll need to consult with your farmer's market. Many have regulations about egg selling which requires licensing. If they don't have any regulations then I'd wash them under warm running water and dry in a basket or colander.


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## buckskinner (Dec 17, 2010)

Thanks all, A T Hagen, do you mean with no soap of any kind. Just want a pretty product to sale.


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## Guest (Jan 31, 2011)

I use soap on mine. I pour a bucket of hot soapy water over them while they're in the egg basket then wash clean under warm, running water. It needs to be at least twenty degrees warmer than the egg to keep from drawing water inside of the shell. I put them in a colander to drain then dry them with a clean paper towel before packing into the cartons.

I only sanitize hatching eggs.


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## praieri winds (Apr 16, 2010)

buckskinner if you are still interested in a washer I found one in a catalog I got today from www.farmtek.com cool site lots of stuff for lots of things related to farming and gardening and animals


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## buckskinner (Dec 17, 2010)

Thanks praieri winds, that one looks interesting.


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## liddledoggie (Feb 6, 2007)

i have used a portable dishwasher. had to disconect the heating element. hooked to garden hose, drained on the ground. joe


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## lvmychickens (Oct 12, 2008)

I made my own egg washer and only use water, no soap. I take an egg basket, hooked up an aquarium air pump then run the air hose under the basket. It gives me the bubbles for agitation and removes the debris. Then dry with a clean cloth. For me this works very well. Currently I have 136 hens and getting 8-9 dozen with the cold temps and snowy skies. I also sell my eggs and have had no complaints from customers. Good luck with your eggs.


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## barefootflowers (Jun 3, 2010)

Ok, liddledoggie- disconnecting the heating element was a fabulous idea. One time I thought I'd use our Hobart dishwasher for the eggs. I checked the temp that commercial egg washers were set at & then took a reading off our dishwasher. Everything looked great. I put a dozen eggs in the flat rack, removed the soap tube & let her go. Cracked open a clean egg & discovered I'd poached it. I've washed eggs by hand ever since.
lvmychickens- I've heard of using the aquarium air pump but was gun shy after the poached eggs incident.


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## Buffy in Dallas (May 10, 2002)

I was looking at egg washers awhile back and think I remember the Mcmurray Hatchery one was cheaper than the one at Farmtek. I'd double check that but the website is down for maintenance.

http://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/incredible_egg_washer.html


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## jwellington (Feb 26, 2013)

The simple and inexpensive egg washer we use can be found here... http://www.wellingtonfamilyfarm.com/egg-washer


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## ribbonevt (Oct 17, 2017)

We have had chickens and getting eggs for a few years now and we are tired of washing eggs. I have been looking for an egg washer for a while now and found this one online. It says it will wash a dozen a minute. Its a bit pricy at $239, but we get 2 to 3 dozen egg a day and after washing all of them my back is killing me. I think I am going to get one and let you all know how it goes.

www.thelittleeggscrubber.com


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## Bellyman (Jul 6, 2013)

I'll be curious to know how you like it. It does look like it would work to scrub the eggs. 

Something I did wonder about, though, was just how much time it would save. It still looks like you have a lot of manual things to do before and after the scrubber. Maybe it matters how dirty the eggs are to start with.


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## ribbonevt (Oct 17, 2017)

buckskinner said:


> Does someone know of a source for an egg washer that is fairly inexpensive? I intend on selling at the Farmer's Market having around 100 hens. I can also feed the surplus eggs that don't sell to my hogs. Thanks,
> Robert


Hello Buckskinner, have you looked at The Little Egg Scrubber, it's not too expensive, hope this helps, Chris


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## Fire-Man (Apr 30, 2005)

ribbonevt said:


> Hello Buckskinner, have you looked at The Little Egg Scrubber, it's not too expensive, hope this helps, Chris


Buckskinner posted this post 8 years ago, Just for info.


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## TinaF (Apr 15, 2018)

An old thread, but always a dilemna. We just went through this same exercise.... I got tired of hand washing dozens of eggs every day. Understanding the importance of the bloom on the shell for protection, not many people want to purchase dirty or "barn smell" eggs. So we rinse with warm water, no soap or bleach, and recommend refrigeration.

If you search homemade egg washer, you will find tons of ideas for using a 5 gallon pail with PVC tubing and an air compressor. Just fill a basket with eggs, set it in warm (not hot) water in the pail and turn on the air to bubble through and clean the eggs for 5 mins. You have to play around a bit with the air pressure to find the setting that works best for cleaning without damaging or cracking the eggs. If you already have an air compressor, this set up can be built for under $25. Works great!


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## ribbonevt (Oct 17, 2017)

TinaF said:


> An old thread, but always a dilemna. We just went through this same exercise.... I got tired of hand washing dozens of eggs every day. Understanding the importance of the bloom on the shell for protection, not many people want to purchase dirty or "barn smell" eggs. So we rinse with warm water, no soap or bleach, and recommend refrigeration.
> 
> If you search homemade egg washer, you will find tons of ideas for using a 5 gallon pail with PVC tubing and an air compressor. Just fill a basket with eggs, set it in warm (not hot) water in the pail and turn on the air to bubble through and clean the eggs for 5 mins. You have to play around a bit with the air pressure to find the setting that works best for cleaning without damaging or cracking the eggs. If you already have an air compressor, this set up can be built for under $25. Works great!


We have made one of these bucket cleaners. They work ok, if you turn up the air bubbles, so they actually clean the eggs, you get lots of cracked eggs, if you turn the air down, so that the eggs don't crack, then you have to hand re-wash about half of these eggs. Thanks for the information, Chris.


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## aart (Oct 20, 2012)

ribbonevt said:


> have you looked at The Little Egg Scrubber,


Have you used this device @ribbonevt ?


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## BaldwinCreek (May 17, 2018)

I picked one up from EggCartons.com that worked pretty well. I only used it for eggs I was selling to the public as a business. Now, I don't bother washing them. As someone mentioned, they stay fresh longer.


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## ribbonevt (Oct 17, 2017)

aart said:


> Have you used this device @ribbonevt ?


Yes, it works well, I see their price has gone up,  hope this helps, thanks.


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## dyrne (Feb 22, 2015)

If you're finding the eggs are often in a bad condition it may be better to address it at the source. We have one of those nest boxes that the eggs roll down to a separate area. Some of the hens never took to it but for those that did, it made the unwashed eggs quite a bit cleaner.


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## aart (Oct 20, 2012)

dyrne said:


> If you're finding the eggs are often in a bad condition it may be better to address it at the source. We have one of those nest boxes that the eggs roll down to a separate area. Some of the hens never took to it but for those that did, it made the unwashed eggs quite a bit cleaner.


But OP has a hundred birds, and sells to the public so they may _have_ to be 'washed'.


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## kotori (Nov 15, 2014)

one that uses the bubbler can also be used to wash salad things. learned that from the market gardener website, though obviously the one they used was way larger.


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## NChemungGuy (Sep 5, 2004)

I had one that I bought from egg cartons.com. It was more of a sanitizer than anything, and I only used it when selling to the general public. Now it sits in the toolshed, unused. 

If the eggs are really filthy and covered in crap, I just toss them out in the field. The crows enjoy them. Otherwise we don't watch them, and anyone I sell to now knows that in advance.


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