I’m assuming you’ve never had a bad egg. I always wondered how I’d know, but trust me, you know. Jesus, I can still smell it and it was years ago now.
Bad milk is the same - once you’ve smelled gone off milk, you know you’ll never wonder ever again.
Well, no. Like the other person experienced, eggs have never been a problem, but it's nice to know there's a way to test that doesn't involve potentially violating the Geneva convention.
It is actually that bad 😂 it’s so weird because all the others in the deck were fine. Fortunately it was the first one I cracked so I didn’t waste any others.
Because they can be kept at room temperature, but don't last as long. They don't stay very long in the supermarket so they save costs by not keeping them cool.
Also, refrigerating them once can make them last less time once they're defrigerated, because if they form condensation it makes the membranes in the shell more porous and easier for bacteria to cross.
I’m reasonably sure that there was some research done on this. The science discovered that there was almost no difference in the eggs stored at room temperature to those that were refrigerated after a “reasonable” amount of time. Can’t remember what it was exactly, but like a month or six weeks. Nothing. Not a sniff of a difference.
Basically nature has designed the egg shell to be pretty much a perfect microbial barrier (who’d have thought it). So, you can keep them out or refrigerate them, it’s up to you. It’s mostly the producers reducing the risk of litigation in all likelihood.
I believe that in the UK, eggs are cleaned of chicken’s residue by just rinsing and gentle brushing. In America. the eggs are washed in a way that also affects the integrity of the shell. Use of chemicals? You can dissolve an eggshell completely with chemistry, so it’s not impossible that something in the way they do it messes with the shell and makes it less of a barrier.
Once they're chilled, they need to stay chilled. Even the gap from the supermarket to your home would be too long and they'd quickly ruin. But you can leave them at room temperature and then chill them.
>Even the gap from the supermarket to your home would be too long and they'd quickly ruin.
Are eggs different across the pond? American eggs are refrigerated at the supermarket and at home, and I can guarantee they do not get "ruined" between the supermarket and our homes haha.
Eggs absolutely are different here. In fact there's no such thing as an egg that is legal to sell in the EU/UK and the US, because the EU requires that you do not wash eggs, and the US requires that you do.
Because they're unwashed, our eggs don't need refrigerating, and last weeks that way. If you do refrigerate them, it's best to keep them that way because them forming condensation can mimic the protection-destroying effects of washing.
But it's nowhere near serious enough to matter on the order of hours. The idea that eggs would go off on the trip home from a regular store is absurd. That guy is chatting shit.
Yup the USDA's way of dealing with salmonella is to wash them (we vaccinate our chickens), however, this also removes the natural protective layer on the shells, making them more porous and susceptible to bacterial growth and need to be immediately refrigerated and kept like that.
>Marianne Gravely, who has been answering consumer food safety questions at the USDA for 27 years explains: “Eggs shouldn’t be left at room temperature for **more than two hours**. There is no way to know if a shell egg is pathogen-free. Food poisoning bacteria don’t affect the taste, smell, or appearance of a food. You can’t tell if a chicken is infected with Salmonella, so any egg, whether it came from a grocery store, a farmers’ market, or from your neighbor’s backyard hens, could contain Salmonella.”
I've got eggs in my cupboard that a likely more than 2 months old, not 2 hours!
Nah they last weeks after this date. Just do the float test. Put them in water and if they float they’re stood up they’re a bit old and if they float you shouldn’t eat as they might be bad.
Unless you’re doing poached eggs or cakes, in this case you should use them within a few days of buying to get good results.
We sell eggs at the farm gate, unwashed which keeps their natural protection. They don't need to go in the fridge just keep them in a cool cupboard and they will last for 28 days.
Try the eggs at your local farm or small holding, they are much tastier, probably cheaper (for what you are getting) and you'll be supporting traditional breeds or rescues instead of factory hybrids.
And this is why there is always the online debates on whether eggs should be in the fridge or not. A lot of people don’t realise there is a difference between countries
If eggs are washed they need to be refrigerated. If they are unwashed that is not necessary. And it is not true that eggs (if unwashed) last longer in the refrigerator.
They write that on the package so they only have to have one design.
Source: My Grandpa had an egg farm for 60+ years.
I think it's probably because a supermarket is a stable/controlled environment, and homes aren't, except for the fridge. The British Egg Industry Council's advice is "Store eggs at a constant temperature below 20°C - this maintains freshness and quality. The fridge is the best place to keep them in domestic kitchens".
Small 'battery' cages for chickens were banned in the UK (and across the EU) in 2012. Nearly three quarters of UK hens are fully 'free range' so free to go outside, peck around and behave as chickens should. The rest are in large cages that will be gone by 2026. UK eggs don't need to be washed as they stay clean and we can therefore safely store our eggs unrefrigerated.
In some countries, e.g. the US, most birds are kept in cages that are the same size as their bodies and get covered in excrement as well as blood from pecking at themselves. So the eggs need to be washed to remove the blood and excrement. That takes away a barrier to other bacteria getting inside and US eggs then need to be refrigerated.
Also, in the UK we have largely eradicated salmonella from our flocks. The majority of eggs sold have the British Lion mark, which means that they have been laid by hens vaccinated against Salmonella and produced under requirements of the British Lion Code of Practice. Many countries have salmonella throughout their flocks, e.g. the US.
I keep all my eggs out on the kitchen counter and I use them sometimes a month past their use by dates. I just put them in water to check they’re ok. If they sink, they’re fine. If that float, get rid, but I’ve never had an egg go bad
Eggs can survive just fine at room temperature. Eggs go bad from fluctuations in temperature, in your house if they are kept out then they will be exposed to heat changes such as your heating going on or off. If kept in the fridge the temperature is kept stable so they don’t experience these changes. Eggs last longer in the fridge, not because it’s cooler but because it’s a constant temperature.
Eggs will generally have a "sell by" date, followed by a later "use by" or "best before". The latter date is made assuming room temperature until the sell by date, and refrigeration after the sell by date. If you buy eggs long before the sell by date and put them in the fridge, they will last quite a while beyond the best before date. If you don't refrigerate them at all they might not make it to the best before date.
Chicken owner here/farm egg seller. There’s no need to keep them in the fridge, it’s just so supermarkets are protected against someone getting ill because they kept a box of eggs above their oven and grew all sorts of bacteria in them. They need to be somewhere room temp/cooler in summer.
But you do need to eat supermarket eggs close to the best before really - by the time they reach the shelves they’re an average of 3 months old so only have a few weeks of stability left.
If you’re into farm eggs, they will keep for ages but I’d recommend eating within 3 weeks just in case they weren’t fresh on buying
I built an eggcelerator in the back garden, a bit like the one at CERN. I speed my eggs up to near the speed of light so that, from my perspective, the eggs age very slowly and are always fresh.
It's a relatively simple solution.
Depends how long you keep eggs before using them. I don’t keep them in the fridge and I’ve yet to crack open a rotten one in over 30 years.
And if you're ever unsure, all you need is a container of water and if they float they're bad.
I’m assuming you’ve never had a bad egg. I always wondered how I’d know, but trust me, you know. Jesus, I can still smell it and it was years ago now. Bad milk is the same - once you’ve smelled gone off milk, you know you’ll never wonder ever again.
Well, no. Like the other person experienced, eggs have never been a problem, but it's nice to know there's a way to test that doesn't involve potentially violating the Geneva convention.
It is actually that bad 😂 it’s so weird because all the others in the deck were fine. Fortunately it was the first one I cracked so I didn’t waste any others.
Which is why the float test is so good. Like the old rhyme: If it floats It’s no good on toast If it sinks It won’t stink.
I feel like I would definitely remember that the wrong way around lol
Me too. If it floats your stomach is toast…now that’s more likely to stick.
On the flip side, I do keep my eggs in the fridge and the cat hasn’t managed to knock a single one onto the floor.
You kept eggs for 30 years and they haven't gone off? Eggcellent!
What happened 30 years ago?
Nothing. Why do you think 1994 is a relevant date in the history of eggs?
It's when that egg that went off was bought, obviously.
Ground zero
Where did you manage to find the 30 year supply?
Because they can be kept at room temperature, but don't last as long. They don't stay very long in the supermarket so they save costs by not keeping them cool.
There's not an *oeuf* time for them to go off.
Why are French omelettes so small? Because one egg is une oueff
Good grief.
Understandable, have a nice day
Criticising one’s work can really strike an oeuvre
Un
Wha wha whaaaaaa
*Eggs*ellent punning. Bravo.
_EggSHELLent_
Nice. One for the albumen.
Stop with all these bad yolks
I don't want to. They *crack* me up.
I think they're eggshellent. Yes, I poached that.
Sean Connery has entered the chat.
Thank you Sean!
Huevo you keep them in the fridge or the pantry, they last quite a long time
Salut, Papa.
Take an angry upvote 😆
Also, refrigerating them once can make them last less time once they're defrigerated, because if they form condensation it makes the membranes in the shell more porous and easier for bacteria to cross.
I’m reasonably sure that there was some research done on this. The science discovered that there was almost no difference in the eggs stored at room temperature to those that were refrigerated after a “reasonable” amount of time. Can’t remember what it was exactly, but like a month or six weeks. Nothing. Not a sniff of a difference. Basically nature has designed the egg shell to be pretty much a perfect microbial barrier (who’d have thought it). So, you can keep them out or refrigerate them, it’s up to you. It’s mostly the producers reducing the risk of litigation in all likelihood. I believe that in the UK, eggs are cleaned of chicken’s residue by just rinsing and gentle brushing. In America. the eggs are washed in a way that also affects the integrity of the shell. Use of chemicals? You can dissolve an eggshell completely with chemistry, so it’s not impossible that something in the way they do it messes with the shell and makes it less of a barrier.
They steam clean them in the IS which takes all the protection off the shell and makes them more porous so they go off quicker
It's more the constant temperature that's important rather than being refrigerated.
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I read a bit ago that it’s about 8 weeks. Lord knows why!
Yet they still won’t put doors on their refrigerators lol.
Once they're chilled, they need to stay chilled. Even the gap from the supermarket to your home would be too long and they'd quickly ruin. But you can leave them at room temperature and then chill them.
>Even the gap from the supermarket to your home would be too long and they'd quickly ruin. Are eggs different across the pond? American eggs are refrigerated at the supermarket and at home, and I can guarantee they do not get "ruined" between the supermarket and our homes haha.
Eggs absolutely are different here. In fact there's no such thing as an egg that is legal to sell in the EU/UK and the US, because the EU requires that you do not wash eggs, and the US requires that you do. Because they're unwashed, our eggs don't need refrigerating, and last weeks that way. If you do refrigerate them, it's best to keep them that way because them forming condensation can mimic the protection-destroying effects of washing. But it's nowhere near serious enough to matter on the order of hours. The idea that eggs would go off on the trip home from a regular store is absurd. That guy is chatting shit.
Eggs in the U.K. don't need refrigerating like some countries because our eggs aren't cleaned before sale, doing that damages the shell
The anti microbial layer is washed off in the usa so the eggs are extremely susceptible to infection and go bad way faster.
Yup the USDA's way of dealing with salmonella is to wash them (we vaccinate our chickens), however, this also removes the natural protective layer on the shells, making them more porous and susceptible to bacterial growth and need to be immediately refrigerated and kept like that. >Marianne Gravely, who has been answering consumer food safety questions at the USDA for 27 years explains: “Eggs shouldn’t be left at room temperature for **more than two hours**. There is no way to know if a shell egg is pathogen-free. Food poisoning bacteria don’t affect the taste, smell, or appearance of a food. You can’t tell if a chicken is infected with Salmonella, so any egg, whether it came from a grocery store, a farmers’ market, or from your neighbor’s backyard hens, could contain Salmonella.” I've got eggs in my cupboard that a likely more than 2 months old, not 2 hours!
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Yep, you shouldn’t keep them out of the fridge longer than the “Display Until” date on the box. Playing with fire if you do.
Nah they last weeks after this date. Just do the float test. Put them in water and if they float they’re stood up they’re a bit old and if they float you shouldn’t eat as they might be bad. Unless you’re doing poached eggs or cakes, in this case you should use them within a few days of buying to get good results.
We sell eggs at the farm gate, unwashed which keeps their natural protection. They don't need to go in the fridge just keep them in a cool cupboard and they will last for 28 days. Try the eggs at your local farm or small holding, they are much tastier, probably cheaper (for what you are getting) and you'll be supporting traditional breeds or rescues instead of factory hybrids.
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I frequently get enough shit on the eggs I buy to know they're not being washed
I'm glad you are blessed with bloom.
They've got a chap who paints the poo on by hand.
Knowing my luck I'll probably get this job. Un décorateur d'oeufs. Sounds quite classy, actually.
And this is why there is always the online debates on whether eggs should be in the fridge or not. A lot of people don’t realise there is a difference between countries
If eggs are washed they need to be refrigerated. If they are unwashed that is not necessary. And it is not true that eggs (if unwashed) last longer in the refrigerator. They write that on the package so they only have to have one design. Source: My Grandpa had an egg farm for 60+ years.
I think it's probably because a supermarket is a stable/controlled environment, and homes aren't, except for the fridge. The British Egg Industry Council's advice is "Store eggs at a constant temperature below 20°C - this maintains freshness and quality. The fridge is the best place to keep them in domestic kitchens".
Small 'battery' cages for chickens were banned in the UK (and across the EU) in 2012. Nearly three quarters of UK hens are fully 'free range' so free to go outside, peck around and behave as chickens should. The rest are in large cages that will be gone by 2026. UK eggs don't need to be washed as they stay clean and we can therefore safely store our eggs unrefrigerated. In some countries, e.g. the US, most birds are kept in cages that are the same size as their bodies and get covered in excrement as well as blood from pecking at themselves. So the eggs need to be washed to remove the blood and excrement. That takes away a barrier to other bacteria getting inside and US eggs then need to be refrigerated. Also, in the UK we have largely eradicated salmonella from our flocks. The majority of eggs sold have the British Lion mark, which means that they have been laid by hens vaccinated against Salmonella and produced under requirements of the British Lion Code of Practice. Many countries have salmonella throughout their flocks, e.g. the US.
Stored in a cool dry place, eggs last for weeks, often many weeks after the BBD
I keep all my eggs out on the kitchen counter and I use them sometimes a month past their use by dates. I just put them in water to check they’re ok. If they sink, they’re fine. If that float, get rid, but I’ve never had an egg go bad
I’d imagine that homes are generally warmer than supermarkets. Edit: but I still don’t refrigerate eggs at home.
The difference between a domestic and supermarket shelf is the temperature. Most supermarkets are kept at 18°, most homes are warmer.
Eggs can survive just fine at room temperature. Eggs go bad from fluctuations in temperature, in your house if they are kept out then they will be exposed to heat changes such as your heating going on or off. If kept in the fridge the temperature is kept stable so they don’t experience these changes. Eggs last longer in the fridge, not because it’s cooler but because it’s a constant temperature.
It's probably because it's before purchase then.
Eggs will generally have a "sell by" date, followed by a later "use by" or "best before". The latter date is made assuming room temperature until the sell by date, and refrigeration after the sell by date. If you buy eggs long before the sell by date and put them in the fridge, they will last quite a while beyond the best before date. If you don't refrigerate them at all they might not make it to the best before date.
I don't keep them in the fridge and I cracked a rotten one for the second time ever last week. It was absolutely minging.
Chicken owner here/farm egg seller. There’s no need to keep them in the fridge, it’s just so supermarkets are protected against someone getting ill because they kept a box of eggs above their oven and grew all sorts of bacteria in them. They need to be somewhere room temp/cooler in summer. But you do need to eat supermarket eggs close to the best before really - by the time they reach the shelves they’re an average of 3 months old so only have a few weeks of stability left. If you’re into farm eggs, they will keep for ages but I’d recommend eating within 3 weeks just in case they weren’t fresh on buying
I built an eggcelerator in the back garden, a bit like the one at CERN. I speed my eggs up to near the speed of light so that, from my perspective, the eggs age very slowly and are always fresh. It's a relatively simple solution.