Counter vs Fridge what are your rules?

[Apis mellifera]

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

Just google it.

Great tip! I did, and like I said, Japan, Australia, Canada, and Scandanavia wash eggs. They all must have commercial operations like you describe. The UK VACCINATES chickens for salmonella, the other countries may as well.

 

[Yardmom]

We store eggs on the counter unless we have more than we are going to eat and sell in a month. When we are in the peek of the egg season especially the warmer months they go in the fridge. Once in the fridge we continue to store them there. We are currently eating eggs laid midsummer. Clean eggs with good bloom and no cracks last more than 6 months in the refrigerator. This time of year I give a quick candle to the older eggs before cracking.

 

[HollowOfWisps]

Store them wherever you have space whether that is your fridge or on the counter. Everyone has their own way of doing things and that’s okay. All I recommend is cracking your eggs into a small clear bowl just in case so you don’t ruin whatever you are making. A bad egg you will notice immediately by the smell or if it looks off toss it. If you are worried about bacteria or salmonella make sure you fully cook your eggs problem solved. I personally only collect clean eggs that I then store on my kitchen counter and I don’t count how long they have been there. I crack my eggs into a separate bowl, fully cook them and have never had a bad egg.

 

[Chickaducy]

Hi!
Our ladies have started laying & see lots of different info on unwashed counter & fridge lengths! What do you go by? we won’t have the volume to jar preserve & plan to give away half cartons when we hit peak laying.

A few from this week for ref—I think today’s egg is from a new lady laying as color is different! So far this week 5 from our cinnamin queen & think today’s is from our wheaten maran?

Thanks!

This is my 4th yr. I keep eggs on the the counter 2 - 3 wks and in the fridge up to 4 months unwashed. Yes the older ones float but have had only about 1\2 dozen bad eggs in 4 yrs

 

[ChookaPete]

I rinse my eggs in cold water (currently summer time), leave to dry in the dish rack, then I place them on a large plate in the middle of my kitchen table. When I have more than three dozen I give away a dozen, or crack them into simmering water and cook them to feed back to the chickens, so at least the protein is recycled.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

All my eggs go into the fridge immdiately, after I have written the date on the big end - I have a spare small refrigerator for this purpose. They go in one-quart square Rubbermaid containers that hold about a dozen each. I don't have counter space for eggs, lol! When I have about six dozen eggs, I wash them in running water, let them air dry and put them in cartons, as they take less space. I hard cook a dozen of the oldest eggs for DH's breakfasts (because, as another poster said, older eggs peel better) and keep what we need for our own use in plastic holders (two dozen a week). Then I sell or give away what we don't need.

 

[Scooter1A]

Hi!
Our ladies have started laying & see lots of different info on unwashed counter & fridge lengths! What do you go by? we won’t have the volume to jar preserve & plan to give away half cartons when we hit peak laying.

A few from this week for ref—I think today’s egg is from a new lady laying as color is different! So far this week 5 from our cinnamin queen & think today’s is from our wheaten maran?

Thanks!

if there is any debris i rinse them, dry them and put them in cardboard IN THE FRIDGE. I would not buy any eggs left on the counter but that's just me.

 

[Vicker]

A fresh egg will keep 2-3 weeks at a mild room temperature, but I have a garage fridge to keep mine in for much longer. I wipe off any debris before storing and don't wash before using them, unless I'm making mayo where they're not cooked. I tried various methods of freezing uncooked eggs, with less than spectacular results. I'm not into water-glassing but did try the oiling method. I rubbed a thin coating of food-grade mineral oil on them, put them back in their cartons, and stored in the fridge. Every couple of weeks or so, I'd turn the cartons over to keep the yolks from settling. You don't have to refrigerate these, but I did. If stored in a cool location, they can last several months. In the fridge, I've read 9 mos. I used mine at around 6 months and didn't notice much difference from fresh eggs.

 

[Rick589]

I know this was touched on ridgerunner, but how does the fertile issue factor into how you store your eggs. We’ve been simply placing them in the fridge unwashed.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I know this was touched on ridgerunner, but how does the fertile issue factor into how you store your eggs. We’ve been simply placing them in the fridge unwashed.

I don't know what the magic temperature is. I've read several different things and don't always believe everything I read.

A fertile egg is always developing. It if stops developing it is dead. How fast it develops depends on the temperature. Below a certain temperature that development is so slow it does not affect hatch date nor does anything visual show up in the egg. It's not technically suspended animation but it is pretty darn close. A hen hiding a nest may lay an egg two full weeks or more before she starts incubating them. Even with those two weeks of "development" it is so slow that the egg will hatch at the same time the other later eggs do.

Unless they are stored at incubation temperature, these eggs will never hatch. If they are stored pretty warm but less than incubation temperature they may develop enough so you could see something before they die. I've read that temperature could be as low as the mid 80's Fahrenheit (30 C) but I don't believe it. I think they may have been talking about storing eggs for hatching, not eating.

Still, there is a limit, whatever it may be. I store my hatching eggs and eating eggs at room temperature, which for me means below the upper 70's. In the summer the AC is set on 78. And I limit how long I store hatching eggs to one week. The ideal temperature to store hatching eggs is about 55 F (13 C). 78 F is a long way from that but it still works for me.

Our eggs can have meat spots or egg spots in them. Those have nothing to do with a rooster or fertility, they have other causes. I occasionally get blood or meat spots but I've never seen development from fertility. Fertility development would mean blood vessels running through the whites.

If you store them in the fridge fertile eggs will not develop. The closer you are to freezing and the longer you store them that cold the less likely the eggs are to hatch but many will still hatch even if you store them pretty cold. Close to freezing is not ideal but neither is my 78.

In case I've confused you with all this, putting your fertile eggs straight in the fridge will work great.