How Accurate is the floating water test for eggs?

[natyvidal]

I want to share an experiment I did today.

I had hen eggs left over from April 1. I was apprehensive as to were they still good. So I floated the 4 dozens and the eggs in the picture are the ones that floated. I candled them and except for the one in the picture, their yolks in the egg looked bigger than normal. Once I cracked the eggs, the yolks where whole, but they where not cohesive, or looked good when scrambled. So I would said the test was accurate.

I did the same with some quail eggs that were almost a month old, but although a lot floated when I cracked them a lot of those that floated actually looked good.
So it was not as accurate with the quail eggs. (I threw them away anyway since they floated,).

As a safety precautions, (just in case), all the good hen and quail eggs that did not float and were clear when candled were boiled to give back to the hens.

My question is. Do other people use the floatation test, was it accurate to them? Did you ever verified the goat test was accurate?

Just wondering and wanting to know what other think.

 

[1muttsfan]

As eggs age they lose water through the pores and contain more air. The float test simply shows which eggs have more air (a gas) which will at some point make them start floating. This shows that they are older eggs. It doesn't necessarily detect only bad eggs, which also contain gas, but it's evil smelly rotten gas.
I have a bowl full of eggs on my counter, some of them several years old, that have completely dehydrated. They never went rotten, they just dried out completely.

 

[natyvidal]

Ok, thank you for the explanation. Then how do I make sure the egg is bad and should be discarded? I collect on the same day, weight them to separate large and mediums and refrigerate after the weeks collection. How do I make sure I am not selling bad eggs?

 

[1muttsfan]

There isn't any way to be 100% sure without cracking them open, which obviously means that egg can't be sold. Most bad eggs will either develop a bad odor, or you may notice small beads of amber material weeping out of the pores.

Best practices for selling only fresh eggs are to make sure you're collecting all of your eggs every day, washing them if necessary, and refrigerating them immediately after washing. If you are washing eggs and leaving them out, then you are going to get bad eggs, as you have washed the bloom that protects the eggs off.

If you find a hidden stash, those eggs should never be sold, although if you want to use them yourself that's fine.
If you're using eggs that you're not certain about, make sure to always crack them open in a separate container and not into your cake mix, since if they're bad or developing they'll spoil the whole thing.