Basic Egg Considerations

I'm a "breakfast" kind of person. I love breakfast foods. There is a local family restaurant that has a menu choice that requires a pizza pan to hold it all. Yeah, I've ordered it and cleaned the pan. But when I'm cooking eggs, I don't always use the dozen before the expiration date, so I have to throw some away. Is like flushing money down the toilet. I found a simple solution about freezing eggs to increase their shelf and shell life.

Below is a summary from Incredible Edible Egg and Frugal Living. But some explanation is needed. You can't simply put the whole egg in the shell in the freezer. Why? Just like making ice cubes from water, as it freezes, it expands. So, guess what would happen if you did put a whole egg in the freezer? Right...it would expand, so it would break the shell. Now you ask "Okay, so what do I do?"

Whole Eggs
Mix the yolks and egg whites together. Pour the egg mixture into a container, seal tightly, and freeze. Using an ice cube tray (sealed in a freezer bag) is an AWESOME idea. 2 cubes = 1 whole egg.
 
Egg Yolks
To prevent thickening, stir in 1/2 teaspoon of salt (or 1.5 tablespoons of sugar, if the eggs will be used for baking) for every one cup of yolks. Pour into a container, seal tightly, and freeze.  
If you use the ice cube tray suggestion from above, 1 cube = 2 egg yolks.

Egg Whites
No special prep is required. Just pour the whites into a container, seal tightly, and freeze. 
If you use the ice cube tray suggestion from above, 1 cube = 1 egg white.

Using Frozen Eggs 
Thaw in the refrigerator for a day/overnight or in the microwave before using. Eggs will keep in the freezer for up to a year. 

Observations 

• Sunny side up eggs disappear because you've mixed & frozen the whole eggs, but scrambled eggs or omelettes are tasty too
• Scrambled eggs (with bacon & cheese) or omelettes are delicious & simple when wrapped in a tortilla
• Freezing hard boiled eggs isn't recommended since the whites become tough & watery when thawed
• Labeling with a Sharpie & the date helps you keep the NEW expiration date in mind
• Frozen eggs should not be used in a recipe unless they are completely cooked

Coffee Thoughts

I am still "old school" about coffee, to the point that I still use a percolator to make it (refer to my Percolated Coffee entry for more info). But, I came across an Instructable entry for Coffee Cubes that struck my fancy enough to post a follow up to that entry. I mention in the other entry that I let the mug sit for about 15 mins to cool off before I drink it. I worked construction and remodeling for nearly 2 decades, so I got used to room temperature coffee. Now, when I am in a hurry for that first mug in the morning, I started adding ice cubes to the coffee to cool it off.

I don't add any milk, cream, sugar or anything to the mug before I drink it, but the Instructable entry struck me. Instead of watering down my coffee by using just frozen water, I'm going to make the ice cubes from coffee. I don't have an ice maker, I use the old fashioned ice cube trays (the plastic ones like in the pic, not the metal ones but I am considering getting them too from the thrift store). The Instructable entry explains how to use whatever you normally put into your coffee for flavor as well, and it just makes sense to do it. I'm posting the picture from that site as an example. My cubes will look like the 6 cubes on the right of the picture.

Further research indicates that I can make the ice cubes from tea as well, to cool the tea without sacrificing flavor. I'll be using one ice cube tray with coffee and one tray with Earl Grey for the tea. I'm also considering making some ice cubes from some RC cola, but I'm sure the carbonated bubbles will be gone by the time it freezes, but to save the flavor, I'm going to try it. Stay tuned for another entry about that too.

Happy drinking...savor the flavor, not the temp...