Calling all "Egg-sperts"! (cooking, eggs, expiration, fresh)

[LKJ1988]

Originally Posted by elnina

Stuck... Like how?

If they are cracked they ooose out and get stuck to the carton.

[don6170]

Originally Posted by saibot

Stuck to the cardboard carton. I buy eggs by the dozen from Trader Joe's, and I always open the lid, check for obvious big cracks or breaks (not worried about microscopic "lines") and wiggle each egg slightly to make sure it is not stuck to the carton. If it's stuck, that means there is a crack underneath that I can't see and some egg white has leaked and glued the shell down.

Saw a quote where a Gen-XYZ-er was asking why people would open their egg cartons to count the eggs.

There's a great show on PBS (Nova ?) on eggs. One of the things that surprised me is how porous an egg shell actually is.

[KaraG]

Originally Posted by Mink57

Freezing may slow the production, but not necessarily KILL what may be already there.

I learned this the hard way when I was homeless. One day I ate at the Mission. Usually good food. I ate a pre-packaged dessert (some apple thing). The expiration date on the package was the DAY I ate it. I figured it was still "safe".

Boy, was I WRO'NG. It LOOKED fine, SMELLED fine, TASTED fine. But it wasn't. I ended up with a SERIOUS case of....well...the "runs." Lasted for 10 days. Found out later on that mold etc. starts from WITHIN yeast products. In other words, it starts as WHITE mold from the CENTER of the bread-product. Not as blue/green mold.

After that, I went to a food pantry. Saw they had bread. All excited. Then I saw that the bread expired 2 days earlier. I was like, "Dude...do you KNOW this already expired?" He said, "Why do you care? It's FREE!"

Yeah, um....no......

So, in a nutshell, I try to be very careful about what I eat....Egg-specially....

I've volunteered at food banks and the federal government provides a handout stating how long AFTER the printed expiration date the foods are still good and perfectly safe to eat.

As for your egg mishap, I would've cooked and eaten the unbroken ones and not really think twice about it.

[elnina]

Many people touch the eggs leaving all kind of germs on the shells...
In the US the eggs are washed in warm water and a detergent. After washing, they are rinsed and cleaned with a sanitizer to remove any remaining bacteria. The eggs are then dried to remove moisture from the surface.
Sounds pointless to me.
They should be left alone. Eggs that aren't cleaned have natural protective coating that stays intact, lowering the chances of salmonella entering the egg. As they pass through the hen, the eggs are coated by the thin membrane called cuticle, which is permeable to the air, but not for the various microbes.
It makes much more sense to vaccinate hens against salmonella because chickens are major source of salmonella.

Some people open the cartons to replace smaller eggs with bigger.

[heavymind]

In Europe and other parts of the world eggs aren't refrigerated at the store, they're just kept on a shelf.

I read about a storage experiment where someone coated unwashed eggs with, I believe, olive oil, and stored them in a carton in a dark, cool cupboard for something like nine months and they were still fine. No rotten eggs.

[staystill]

Originally Posted by Mink57

Hi folks!

Went to the grocery store today. Bought (among other things) 18 eggs. Brought a tote bag with me. Put the heavier items on the bottom and the eggs on top.

Went to the bus stop. Placed the tote on the seat next to me and bent down to tie my shoe...

Ka-BOOM! Tote slips off the seat onto the sidewalk...with the heavier stuff crushing the poor little embryos. I didn't want to look...couldn't bear to look...I HAD to look.

Yup. Nine were destroyed (a moment of silence, please...)

My question is: Even though the other nine don't LOOK like they have any cracks in them, is there a sure-fire way to determine if there may be any hairline cracks?

I'm usually a stickler when it comes to food-safety. But by the same token, I'd HATE to throw something away, if it's perfectly fine.

Any suggestions?

To the Bold Ah ha ha ha ha ha that was funny.

If you want to be sure hold them up to a light and look for a hair line crack or just wait to see if the whites ooze out slowly. You could also just make egg salad with this batch and buy more eggs for frying.

The other answer you were given was absolutely right to see if they float or sink. I told this to some of my doctors and they were surprised to hear that and all said they never heard of that before and never knew how to check if eggs are fresh before cooking. I felt so smart and that felt good knowing they are much smarter than me with their medical education.

[springfieldva]

Cook them and eat them. There's only 3 so you'll use them up in a hurry.

[GotHereQuickAsICould]

Originally Posted by springfieldva

Cook them and eat them. There's only 3 so you'll use them up in a hurry.

That was my thought.

3 eggs. Cook them and be done with them.

[GotHereQuickAsICould]

BTW, to cook "hard boiled" eggs that are easy to peel, steam them.

Place them over steaming water for 20 minutes, then in an ice bath for 20 minutes. Oeel.

Even very fresh eggs will peel easily with this method.

And if they have any cracks, some of the whites will trickle out, and you can chose whether to use them are not. As they just recently cracked, I wouldn't worry about the build up of bacteria, etc/

[Cida]

Well, boil them. If anything seeps out, there was a crack.

However, I have to say, I have kept eggs even with slight cracks, used them within two or three days, and they were fine.

I know, it's so infuriating to lose eggs that way.