How To Store Eggs For Camping So They Actually Stay Fresh The Whole Trip

Eggs are some of the easiest foods to cook and a great source of protein that you can take with you on your next trip to the campsite. Buuuut getting them there can be a little bit tricky. I’ve got some fun hacks to show you how to store eggs for camping that you are going to love.

If eggs aren’t stored in the right way, they could spoil in transit or become contaminated with bacteria. To make sure your eggs stay safe to eat while camping, it’s important to think about how and where you store them before heading out.

Before you decide how to take them with you, you should think about how you want to eat them. Do you want to have them raw so you can scramble them for breakfast or make french toast? Or are you ok with eating hard-boiled eggs for the week so you don’t have to worry about cracked eggs? There is a lot you can still do with pre-cooked eggs.

Whatever you decide don’t stress about it. You will get all the tips you need for storing eggs for camping trips, including choosing the right container, packing them in an insulated cooler, and the best temperature that is best to keep eggs so you don’t get bacterial growth.

With these simple ideas, I am going to show you how to store eggs for camping so you can enjoy delicious egg dishes without worrying about food-borne illnesses or waste from spoiled eggs.

How To Store Farm-Fresh Eggs

First, let’s talk about the most important thing…. temperature.

How do you keep eggs cold when camping?

On a hot summer day, you are going to have to keep them in a cooler or refrigerator if you are using a camper.

If you are taking a cooler to keep your food cold listen up. One thing I will say is that using actual ice will secure your eggs much better than ice packs because the ice goes in around everything in the cooler. Almost like those packing beans do in a shipping package. So if your travel time is long and you don’t mind using ice I would recommend ice over a pack.

But!!! Make sure the egg carton is a styrofoam one or you get one of these plastic reusable cartons. A paper carton will get soft and you don’t want to pick up your eggs out of the cooler and have the eggs go everywhere because the carton disintegrated.

How long can eggs last at room temperature?

I personally have left our farm fresh eggs out on the counter for 1-2 weeks in the summer and they have not gone bad. In the winter I have left them on the counter for as much as 3 weeks and still had nice fresh eggs.

Here are some simple tips to help keep your eggs fresh and avoid salmonella poisoning.

In either situation, you want to make sure the eggs are out of direct sunlight even if they are in the topical egg container.

Do eggs need to be refrigerated for camping?

The short answer is yes. It’s unlikely that you are caping in cool enough temperatures to keep eggs out on the picnic table.

Keeping eggs at a cool temperature (around 50 degrees) will get you the longest life out of your eggs. While they can last in slightly warmer temperatures like 65-70 degrees you are going to get a shorter shelf life.

Store-bought eggs are going to have a much shorter shelf life. The store-bought eggs can take as long as 2 months to get to the customer and they have been sanitized and washed. That protective film I talked about has been washed off by the time the eggs get to the grocery stores.

If you have roosters. Now here is a warning that could gross you out but I would be remiss if I didn’t warn you. If you leave eggs out of the refrigerator during the summer months and there is a rooster that has access to the flock. It is totally possible that the egg may start to form a chick if the conditions are right. It doesn’t have to have a hen sitting on it to start developing. It doesn’t mean they are viable and will hatch but I have seen it happen.

Ok gross situation over.

How To Store Raw Eggs In The Shell

Ok, let’s assume you want to keep the eggs in their shell. The best way to store whole eggs on the go is in the egg carton, in a cooler, with ice packed around them.

If you don’t have egg cartons here is another great egg holder option you can buy.

If you get farm fresh eggs or you have chickens yourself and you get your own eggs. DO NOT wash them right away. Eggs are laid with a protective coating that keeps bacteria and infection from egging in through the eggshell pores. And if you wash the eggs to get any debris off you have just washed off that protective layer.

Another way you would go about taking eggs on your next camping trip in the egg shells is to put the eggs in a container and put paper towels around them for stabilization. I don’t recommend cold water because that will wash away the protective film like I said before.

How To Store Eggs Without The Shell

Can you pre-crack eggs for camping? YEP!

Here are some ideas you can do to travel with liquid eggs already cracked and ready to cook in an airtight container.

I would also say that if you decide to pack eggs this way you will only have about 3-5 days before they could start to go bad. So keep that in mind. When the eggs are out of the shell they no longer have their protective barrier that stops the growth of bacteria.

I can hear the questions now. What if I only want a few eggs and not all of them? Eggs pour easily and the egg whites adhere to the egg yolks. There is very little egg white that is free floating. You should be able to pour out as many eggs as you need.

#1 is to use a water bottle with a screw-on lid. – This is going to be the best travel container to use that won’t open by surprise or leak like a plastic bag would. I would recommend that the resealable plastic bottle you use be clear so everyone that is with you doesn’t take a swig of a bottle full of eggs.

#2 Would be to use a wide mouth mason jar to store your eggs in. – The only issue I have with this one is you can only get about half a dozen eggs in a pint-size jar and you also have an issue of traveling with glass in your cooler. There is no dropping that and expecting it to survive.

#3 is a very strong plastic container with a stiff lid. You don’t want something sliding in the cooler and loosening the lid. These have always don’t well for us.

#4 Another idea is to take frozen eggs. – This does take a little more planning ahead but you can take a cupcake pan. Spray cooking oil in the pan first. Then crack one egg per space in the pan. Freeze them ahead of time and pop them out of the pan and store them in a zip lock bag when you travel. If you plan to cook your eggs soon after arrival this may not be the best option because you will then have to let your eggs thaw.

Other Travel Ideas

If you are going on a long-term camping trip for say a hiking trip here are some other types of eggs you can take with you. While I don’t think they will taste as good as fresh eggs they are still one of the most nutritious foods.

• Dehydrated eggs
• Powdered eggs
• Hardboiled eggs

How to tell if an egg is bad?

If you are suspicious if the eggs are bad here are a few ways you can tell if you can still eat the eggs.

Floating The Egg

If you don’t want to crack the eggs to see if it’s good there is really only one way to do that and that is to put the egg in water.

• If the egg floats then it is bad.
• If it is somewhere in the middle then it needs to be eaten ASAP
• If the egg sinks then it is good and fresh.

BUT I have one caviot that most people don’t think about.

The reason the egg floats is because there is enough gas built up in the egg shell to make it float. So it is very possible for the egg to be bad and still not float.

That is when you need to just crack the egg and see what you find on the inside.

Sight and Smell

When you crack the egg you should find a nice solid yolk (assuming you didn’t break it while cracking the egg) it shouldn’t be oldly shaped or runny.

If there is an off smell coming from the egg you should throw it out to be safe.

If an egg is extremely rotten you will know. You may even be able to sniff the egg shell before cracking to see if you can smell some rottenness.

Eggs are a great way to take healthy food with you on your camping trip. Most importantly make sure to store your eggs in a dark place and you will have great food for your camping trips.