Can You Freeze Egg Yolks?

3 minutes

All home bakers are likely to have been faced with a recipe that calls for egg whites only! So, at the end of your prep, you have a bowl full of egg yolks and no immediate use for them. So, what do you do with them?

How to Freeze Egg Yolks

Freezing egg yolks is a great way of ensuring this delicious part of the egg doesn’t go to waste when not required in a particular recipe.

Unfortunately, if you were to freeze egg yolks as they are, they would thicken and take on a gelatinous texture in the freezer, which would render them useless in a range of recipes.

Below are the steps required to freeze leftover egg yolks. 

1. Beat
   Place your egg yolks in a bowl and beat them until smooth. You should then whip them for a minute until you’re happy they’re nice and runny. 

2. Add Salt
   Add a pinch of salt to the egg yolks and stir one last time. If you know you’re going to use them in a sweet dish then you could also use a pinch of sugar to stabilise them.

3. Pour Into a Freezer-Safe Container
   You’re now ready to pour your egg yolks into a freezer-safe bag or container. If using a bag, make sure it’s relatively firm, as you don’t want your bag of egg yolk to split in the freezer! 

4. Label and Freeze
   Write the date that you prepared the eggs on the front of the freezer-safe bag or container. It’s also helpful to make a note of how many egg yolks are in the bag, as it’s not easy to tell once they’ve been beaten. Then you can freeze them.

How Long Can You Freeze Egg Yolks?

You can freeze egg yolks for up to 6 months. For the best results, freeze your egg yolks as soon as you have cracked the shells. These are not the sort of things you want sitting in your fridge for a day before deciding to freeze them.

Chances are, they will be fine beyond the 6-month window but this is when their quality will begin to degrade.

How Do You Defrost Egg Yolks?

When you’re ready to enjoy your frozen egg yolks, transfer them from the freezer into the fridge and allow them to thaw for several hours.

The more egg yolks you have frozen, the longer it will take them to thaw, so bear this in mind when planning your prep time.

You should never defrost egg yolks at room temperature, as doing so can cause them to spoil.

Can You Refreeze Egg Yolks?

You should only freeze egg yolks once.

If you don’t think you will use all of your frozen egg yolks in one go, you should consider splitting them into smaller portion sizes before freezing them. This ensures you can easily remove the required egg yolks at any given time, so you don’t have to worry as much about wastage.

Do Egg Yolks Freeze Well?

It’s fair to say that egg yolks freeze reasonably well if you beat and whisk them before bagging them up. If you freeze them as they are, they will thicken and be useless in most recipes.

But given that egg yolks can be frozen for up to 6 months, it’s a great way to prevent wastage and keep yolks on hand in your kitchen whenever you need them for a particular recipe.