Dumb question - Can you eat slightly incubated eggs?

[vpeterson]

If I put eggs immediatly into the incubator, and candle at 3 days, can I take the eggs that show no development out and put them in my fridge to eat? I have a lot of infertile eggs that never develop. I want chicks from every fertile egg to sell, but I don't want to waste all of the infertile eggs. Would you get sick from them? Is it any different from taking eggs from under a broody that are a couple of days old and eating them?

 

[KellyHM]

As long as the eggs haven't gone bad from the high heat I don't see why not. I would be slightly worried that they were bad though...like letting them sit in the sun for 3 days in FL. On top of that, you can't always see the embryo at 3 days (depending on where it is), so you may be throwing out/eating a lot of potentially viable eggs.

 

[Denninmi]

Actually, a number of other cultures, mostly Asian, eat eggs in various stages of development and also in various stages of "fermentation" (for lack of a better word, I don't know what the real process is). I know that in Vietnam and the Phillipines eggs are eaten at day 14 of incubation as a gourmet item, and I understand that the going rate for this product is about $6 an egg here in the States. So, I guess you could eat them if you really wanted to. I'd crack each one carefully into a bowl first and take a good look, to make sure it's not rotting, before putting it into the pan or into the recipe.

 

[vpeterson]

Anyway to tell if they have gone bad by candleing them? What would you look for?

 

[eggseroneous]

I wouldn't take the chance, but that's just me. I obsessively worry about food going bad. I mean after being incubated at near 100 degrees for a few days....yuck!!

 

[ninjascrub69]

put the eggs in a bucket of water and the ones that float are bad and the ones that sink are fine.

 

[Sunny Side Up]

I have heard other folks mention that they do this. Why waste good food? As with ANY egg, it's a good idea to crack it into a separate dish before adding it to the mixing bowl or pan, in case there is something inedible about it. This way you can also see if your candling skills are accurate.

 

[Supermommy486]

Good question! I wouldn't eat it personally but would however give it as a treat to my dogs. But I don't see why you couldn't eat it if they don't float?!

 

[jodief100]

When eggs are laid, there is a small air bubble in them. As the eggs age, the air bubble expands. That is why very fresh eggs are difficult to peel when you hard boil them. The air bubble needs to "age" enough to surround the egg when cooked for the shell to come off easily. When the air bubble is large, the eggs will float. Thus- eggs that float are too old to eat. I have using this method for over 30 years. When I was really little, I remember finding old nests of eggs out the the barn. We would bring the eggs in and my aunt would put them in a sink of water to test. I have never had a egg that stayed on the bottom be bad. They can lift off thier sides, but some part of the egg needs to touch bottom. I find an egg that stays on its side is too fresh to hard boil.

 

[jodief100]

Quote:
The ones that float are bad...... You can't eat them if the do float.