Counter vs Fridge what are your rules?

[rosemarythyme]

and last newbie silly q: I’m guessing if I just soft boiled one & didnt wash it thats ok too? I hadnt thought about boiling before just cracking to cook.

That's fine too. Even a soft boil is still several minutes at boiling hot temperatures, which is well enough to kill anything questionable on the surface of the shell.

 

[thistlewick]

So, the bloom protects the egg from bacteria getting into the shell and also keeps the yolk intact and from evaporating. If you wash the bloom off, the porous (porous means it has holes. you cannot see them, but they are there) shell will let bacteria in and the yolk will slowly evaporate. So that's why a washed egg MUST be put in the fridge, to keep it safer from bacteria.

The bloom is so good (these animals have *hundreds of millions of years of evolution under their belts*) that unwashed eggs, when properly stored, can last A YEAR.

How do I know this? A heritage chef did an experiment with how we USED to store eggs in the old days.

Storing them in Lime or Wood Ash could last them for a year. A YEAR. The wood ash made them taste slightly smoky.

Just sitting on your shelf, unwashed, not in the sun or anything - 3 to 4 months.

Stick those *unwashed* eggs in your fridge and you get 6-7 months out of them.

When you wash an egg, it just kills shelf life entirely.

The reason why american factory farms wash their eggs before selling them to the public is simple; the farming methods are disgusting. The eggs are *covered* in poop and because of worried over salmonella, they are washed AND disinfected before packing and shipping. Its really rather gross and pathetic.

Everywhere else in the world has cleaner farming practices and they just sell their eggs with the bloom intact, on the shelf, unrefrigerated.

To all those people washing their eggs because they are like "ew it comes out of their butt, ew icky ew ew"

The bloom is a n t i b a c t e r i a l. That means it kills germs if you leave it alone.

If an egg has poop on it; (1) keep your nests cleaner (2) they ate something that didn't agree with them altogether and their poop is a little runny and so the little flap inside that is typically closed when the egg passes through is itself kind of dirty.

When I feed my chickens scratch, that tends to mess with their systems and they get runnier poop and sometimes a smudge will get on an egg.

Wash the eggs with poop on them, the bloom is damaged.

 

[Noraaaaa]

and last newbie silly q: I’m guessing if I just soft boiled one & didnt wash it thats ok too? I hadnt thought about boiling before just cracking to cook.

That definitely works!

 

[Apis mellifera]

For over 30 years I've given most eggs a rinse and put in the fridge. They last for at least 2 months, maybe more. Haven't died once yet.

 

[Apis mellifera]

The reason why american factory farms wash their eggs before selling them to the public is simple; the farming methods are disgusting. The eggs are *covered* in poop and because of worried over salmonella, they are washed AND disinfected before packing and shipping. Its really rather gross and pathetic.

Maybe in your area, but there's 2 hard working commercial outfits near me that do an excellent job at producing a quality product. They need to stay in business.

Everywhere else in the world has cleaner farming practices and they just sell their eggs with the bloom intact, on the shelf, unrefrigerated.

I don't think so, Australia, Japan, and Scandinavia wash and refrigerate. There are probably others as well. The UK vaccinates chickens for salmonella.

 

[Skyle]

I store my eggs (chickens and quails) out of the fridge, unwashed, all year long. In some periods of the year they produce way too many more than my family and I can eat, so in the fridge they would use too space. I found a dry and fresh space under the counter where I can store them; I put a little curtain to keep it even more fresh and dark. I bought some plastic egg-holders that can be stacked, the chicken egg ones can store 30 eggs, the quail ones 72.

 

[Ingrid_Grace]

up to 2 weeks on the counter unwashed and in the fridge after that. the eggs in the fridge always get used first because they were the oldest.

 

[TOMTE]

Haven't died once yet.

This made me lol

 

[Ridgerunner]

Our ladies have started laying & see lots of different info on unwashed counter & fridge lengths! What do you go by?

About the last thing a hen does when laying an egg is put a liquid coating on it that we call bloom. That bloom quickly dries and forms a layer that is extremely effective in keeping bacteria out of the egg. It is so effective a hen can lay eggs in a nest on the ground for two weeks and they incubate them for three more weeks without bacteria getting inside. Other fowl, like turkey or ducks, can go longer.

If you remove the bloom bacteria "can" enter the porous shell and ruin the egg. Bacteria has to be present to enter it but let's get realistic, bacteria can be anywhere. Washing, sandpapering, or just rubbing it with your thumb can remove bloom. I don't worry about an egg having a very light coat of dust or such but an egg with a glob of mud or poop means the bloom has been compromised.

If fertile eggs are kept warm they can develop. They do not have to be kept at incubation temperatures to develop some. if you want them to hatch they need incubation temperatures but I've read they can develop to the point they are noticeable above 80 F (27 C) but I'm not sure I believe that low a temperature. Still, my house temperature is below 80 F so I'm covered.

The longer an egg is stored the more moisture it looses through the porous shell. How much moisture it loses is dependent on the temperature and humidity of its surroundings, the porosity of the shell, and how long it is stored. Quality is a pretty nebulous criteria, we can each have our own definitions. I personally do not see any drop-off in quality even if the egg has lost a fair amount of moisture. I've seen the recommendation that you should store eggs at least two weeks if you are going to boil them so they are easier to peel.

So what are my rules:

Never set any egg, incubator or under a broody, that has the bloom removed. I understand commercial hatching operations wash their eggs before incubating. But they also go to great lengths to fumigate and sterilize the hatchers and hatching environment to keep bacteria out. I sterilize the incubator before I start but don't go to those extremes during incubation. I do not try to keep my broody hens sterile.

When gathering eggs I try to keep my hands clean. I'm not anal about it but don't have oily hands or use dirty containers to gather them.

If an egg is relatively clean, no more than a light coating of dust, I keep it on my kitchen counter. If I don't eat all of these I give them to friends, relatives, or a food bank. I try to remove these monthly. Not because I'm worried about them going bad but to keep the numbers manageable.

If an egg is dirty, I wash it. These are mainly the ones that may have a bit of mud or poop on them, dried or fresh. I've destroyed the bloom so these go in the refrigerator. These are the ones I eat. Since the bloom has been destroyed I don't give them to anybody. I don't know how they are going to store them.

When I wash an egg I use water a little warmer than the egg. If you use cold water that can cause the egg material inside the egg to shrink which can cause a suction and draw potentially dirty water inside the egg. Slightly warmer water doesn't do that.

Even with the bloom destroyed the eggs can last months in the fridge. Even if bacteria gets inside it doesn't grow at cool temperatures.

and last newbie silly q: I’m guessing if I just soft boiled one & didnt wash it thats ok too? I hadnt thought about boiling before just cracking to cook.

If you boil it you have destroyed the bloom so it would need refrigerating unless you eat it immediately.

When I crack an egg that has been stored on my kitchen counter I often rinse it under the kitchen faucet if it is a bit dusty. To be honest I don't worry about it that much. It is going to be immediately cooked which should kill anything on it.

 

[thistlewick]

Maybe in your area, but there's 2 hard working commercial outfits near me that do an excellent job at producing a quality product. They need to stay in business.

I don't think so, Australia, Japan, and Scandinavia wash and refrigerate. There are probably others as well. The UK vaccinates chickens for salmonella.

Japan does not wash and refrigerate. They sell like the UK, France, Germany, and every other European country.

Just google it.