Is canning pickled eggs safe? - Ask Extension
I Have a pickling book from 1975 with a few recipes for pickled eggs that calls for canning in a water bath. The book doesn't give any special warning...
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Is canning pickled eggs safe? #645597
Asked June 03, 2020, 6:05 PM EDT
I Have a pickling book from 1975 with a few recipes for pickled eggs that calls for canning in a water bath. The book doesn't give any special warnings, but the internet seems to think that canning pickled eggs is unsafe. Blog blog posts and articles point to an instance in the 90s where a man got botulism from pickled eggs, but no one has before or since. I've also read the brine doesn't penetrate the whole egg so the center's ph allows bacteria to grow. Would cutting the eggs in half eliminate this risk? How safe is it to can pickled eggs?
Washington County Oregon
Expert Response
At this time we do not have safe instructions for canning pickled eggs. You note that the brine has a difficult time penetrating the dense, cooked egg, but the necessary acidity of the brine to bring the pH of the egg down enough to be safe is another unknown. The speed at which acid penetration would occur, even in sliced eggs in an anaerobic condition (sealed jar) is not likely very fast, allowing time for pathogen production to occur. This is not a safety concern in an unsealed jar at refrigerator temperatures.
In addition, adequate processing temperatures and time to destroy botulism spores, if present, would likely result in a product of undesirable quality (really tough eggs!)
Refrigerating the final product is the only method of extending their shelf-life is the only method we recommend.
This website has several brine recipes.
https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can_06/pickled_eggs.html
In addition, adequate processing temperatures and time to destroy botulism spores, if present, would likely result in a product of undesirable quality (really tough eggs!)
Refrigerating the final product is the only method of extending their shelf-life is the only method we recommend.
This website has several brine recipes.
https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can_06/pickled_eggs.html
