28 replies to this topic

[bonkboo]

Okay, Hurricane is over and during this N'oreaster we've been cleaning the fridge. For a variety of reasons, we ended up with 3 dozen uncooked eggs and a dozen hardboiled eggs that were kept in the fridge with minimal openings for the 6 days without power. I suggested to my wife they would be okay, based on nothing more than something I seem to remember about carbonara sauce being the product of long-lived produce, including eggs. My wife, with a very strong sense of smell, says they shouldn't be eaten. But they don't smell. We've lost a bunch of food, so would love to minimize losses as possible. Thoughts?

[Mjx]

In a lot of places in the EU, they still keep eggs on the kitchen counter (for up to a couple of weeks, in some cases), wthout any apparent ill effects (salmonellosis is not one of those easily missed subtle things).

In your place, I'd use the raw eggs in cooked recipes, even though I tend to be laughably neurotic about the possibility of food-borne illness. Hard boiled, I don't know; i think they always smell funny.

[GeneMachine]

Salmonella contamination of eggs is almost always on the outside of the shell. The eggwhite has active proteins like avidin and lysozyme which inhibit bacterial growth. So in almost all cases, storing eggs warm is no problem for up to three weeks after they have been laid. As mjx said, here in Europe, eggs are mostly sold unrefrigerated and kept so at home. Yours should be fine to eat. Same for the hard-boiled.

[Ashen]

Fairly easy thing to test for the raw eggs.. Just place them in a container of water, any that float should be tossed , any that sink and stay at the bottom will be fine. . Really fresh lay on their side , slightly older will stand on end on bottom of the container.

[rod rock]

Do some test, brake one egg and if it smells bad, it's not ok. Simple! That is the way how i check them if they sitting some time in the fridge, and yes im keeping them in fridge.

[sparrowgrass]

No, no, no, no. I am an eggspert--used to work for USDA as a poultry grader. 1) Salmonella is INSIDE the egg--it is endemic in hen houses (in the US--some other countries vaccinate) and hens pass it right along inside the egg. Don't eat them raw if you are immune compromised. Commercial eggs are also sanitized by washing in a sanitizing solution, to avoid fecal contamination on the shell. (They do come out of a chicken's butt, ya know.) 2) Floaty eggs are stale, not spoiled. As the egg ages, the moisture inside evaporates, and the air bubble gets bigger. The higher they float, the older and dryer they are. The whites will spread out, and flavor may suffer, but it does not mean they are spoiled. Back before refrigeration, in the Gold Rush days, crates of eggs would be shipped by sea to California--they would be months old before they were ever sold. 3) Eggs are pretty hardy--by nature, they have to last at least 21 days without refrigeration--even at 99 degrees, which is incubation temp for chicken eggs. If they spoiled before that, a rotten egg in a clutch would probably infect all the eggs, and would certainly attract predators with its smell. I have incubated many a dozen eggs, and there are always some that don't hatch. I break them, and they look and smell just fine. I don't eat them, but the dogs love them.

I would toss the boiled eggs, and keep the uncooked ones. Breaking them into a separate dish is wise-- if one is icky it would ruin a whole batch of chocolate chip cookie dough--that would be a crime.

Edited by sparrowgrass, 08 November 2012 - 06:08 AM.

[GeneMachine]

Checked a few more sources - it seems like salmonella infections of poultry, which lead to inside-the-egg contamination are more rare here in Germany, so my original German sources give the shell as main contamination path. The EU has a vaccination program for poultry to keep infection rates at bay. The situation may differ in the US.

[NancyH]

When in doubt, throw it out. No egg is worth days worshiping the porcelain god. You've been through enough already - don't ask for trouble.

[Darienne]

Quick reply: I know little about eggs per se, but I do recall and earlier eG topic in which it was established that European egg sources do not wash the egg shells before sale, and that's why they can be kept sitting out. North American sources wash the protective coating off the egg, thus leaving it open, so to speak, to problems and we must keep them in the fridge.

[Porthos]

Quick reply: I know little about eggs per se, but I do recall and earlier eG topic in which it was established that European egg sources do not wash the egg shells before sale, and that's why they can be kept sitting out. North American sources wash the protective coating off the egg, thus leaving it open, so to speak, to problems and we must keep them in the fridge.

Here in the US they replace the natural coating with an oil (I believe it's oil) to restore the coating after the sanitizing operation. When you hard-boil eggs this coating comes back off and that is why HB eggs are only good for a week after cooking. I'm choosing to be guided by sparrowgrass' expertise, along with other things that have helped educate me along the way.

[Joe Blowe]

Quick reply: I know little about eggs per se, but I do recall and earlier eG topic in which it was established that European egg sources do not wash the egg shells before sale, and that's why they can be kept sitting out. North American sources wash the protective coating off the egg, thus leaving it open, so to speak, to problems and we must keep them in the fridge.

Here's that topic, oh-so-conveniently linked to my contribution :

http://egullet.org/p1782841


P.S. http://wiki.answers....nt_of_a_chicken

What is the vent of a chicken?

The outside opening of the cloaca, through which a chicken emits eggs and droppings from separate channels.

Close, but no cigar!

[aberwacky]

We always keep our eggs from our chickens out on the counter. They stay fresh for a long time that way. And, I always crack them into a separate bowl, just in case one is bad. (Learned that after cracking the 14th egg into a bowl for a big batch of scrambled eggs and ruining it all when it turned out to be bad.)

I'd keep the uncooked eggs and toss the boiled ones.

[radtek]

I'd eat the boiled eggs right away after a sniff test- they should have been sterilized by the boiling and if they have been kept cool then should still be ok. Earlier- as in right away would have been better and I also subscribe to the "when in doubt" philosophy. It's been a week already.

The juxtaposition is are you lacking for food or is this ultimately a waste issue?

[Porthos]

I'd found a reputable source online saying eggs got a new coating while researching how long HB eggs last but I can not locate it now. Without that information I'll qualify my post up thread as as "as I recall"

[pacman1978]

I'm amazed sometimes how the US food industry seems to manipulate food. If what you say that they boil them then try and replace it with an oil coating is true I find that ridiculous as clearly it must be a preservation exercise to maximise profits...

Here in the UK all eggs are sold just on a shelf and never refridgerated. In fact to use eggs most of the time they need to be room temp anyway as if you just simply boil them the shell will crack.

[Porthos]

Sorry I wasn't clear. The article I can no longer find said that a new coating was put on the eggs while still at the producer before being shipped to stores. When you boil the eggs you purchased this previously applied coating comes off.

I did more research this afternoon and now I'm thinking that not all of the coating is removed during the wash and sanitize operation. No matter. I live where it gets really hot so my eggs are almost always in the refrigerator anyway. The exception is when I buy eggs specifically for hard-boiling - they get left out a day or two to speed up the aging process, After countless flats over the last four years I've never,repeat never, had a problem with those eggs.

[Ashen]

2) Floaty eggs are stale, not spoiled. As the egg ages, the moisture inside evaporates, and the air bubble gets bigger. The higher they float, the older and dryer they are. The whites will spread out, and flavor may suffer, but it does not mean they are spoiled

Harold Mcgee on egg freshnes

http://books.google.ca/books?id=bKVCtH4AjwgC&pg=PA82&lpg=PA82&dq=harold+mcgee+egg+freshness&source=bl&ots=qWLEgfR8nf&sig=NuzpYsv0lbc4EqW27aEeGVv3yHY&hl=en&sa=X&ei=f5icUI7sCOeq2gXM-4B4&ved=0CB0Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=harold%20mcgee%20egg%20freshness&f=false


The floaters may or may not be spoiled , but the sinkers are good , so I just err on side of tossing all floaters.

[liuzhou]

I live where it gets really hot so my eggs are almost always in the refrigerator anyway.

I live in the tropics and no one refrigerates eggs.

[rod rock]

Too many different informations, @Sparrowgrass gived good ones which i didn't know. For me personally is strange to hear that someone not keeping eggs in fridge, that is the way when bacterie can appear faster.

[liuzhou]

For me personally is strange to hear that someone not keeping eggs in fridge

Eggs are eaten virtually everywhere and have been for millennia. Most people don't have refrigeration.

Refrigeration is strange.

[Ashen]

on a slightly tangent topic, before refrigeration something known as liquidglass or waterglass Aka Sodium Silicate was used to preserve eggs for many months. You can still buy it from lehmans non-electric . I have been wanting to try it out for awhile now since reading about it in one of the very old cookbooks I collect. You can actually download it or read it online from the gutenberg project because the copyright is out of date now. published in 1914. pg 61 is where they talk about preserving eggs .

http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/8542

[Kerry Beal]

on a slightly tangent topic, before refrigeration something known as liquidglass or waterglass Aka Sodium Silicate was used to preserve eggs for many months. You can still buy it from lehmans non-electric . I have been wanting to try it out for awhile now since reading about it in one of the very old cookbooks I collect. You can actually download it or read it online from the gutenberg project because the copyright is out of date now. published in 1914. pg 61 is where they talk about preserving eggs .

http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/8542

I played with it many years ago.

[SylviaLovegren]

on a slightly tangent topic, before refrigeration something known as liquidglass or waterglass Aka Sodium Silicate was used to preserve eggs for many months. You can still buy it from lehmans non-electric . I have been wanting to try it out for awhile now since reading about it in one of the very old cookbooks I collect. You can actually download it or read it online from the gutenberg project because the copyright is out of date now. published in 1914. pg 61 is where they talk about preserving eggs .

http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/8542

I played with it many years ago.

on a slightly tangent topic, before refrigeration something known as liquidglass or waterglass Aka Sodium Silicate was used to preserve eggs for many months. You can still buy it from lehmans non-electric . I have been wanting to try it out for awhile now since reading about it in one of the very old cookbooks I collect. You can actually download it or read it online from the gutenberg project because the copyright is out of date now. published in 1914. pg 61 is where they talk about preserving eggs .

http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/8542

I played with it many years ago.

And?

[Kerry Beal]

on a slightly tangent topic, before refrigeration something known as liquidglass or waterglass Aka Sodium Silicate was used to preserve eggs for many months. You can still buy it from lehmans non-electric . I have been wanting to try it out for awhile now since reading about it in one of the very old cookbooks I collect. You can actually download it or read it online from the gutenberg project because the copyright is out of date now. published in 1914. pg 61 is where they talk about preserving eggs .

http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/8542

I played with it many years ago.

on a slightly tangent topic, before refrigeration something known as liquidglass or waterglass Aka Sodium Silicate was used to preserve eggs for many months. You can still buy it from lehmans non-electric . I have been wanting to try it out for awhile now since reading about it in one of the very old cookbooks I collect. You can actually download it or read it online from the gutenberg project because the copyright is out of date now. published in 1914. pg 61 is where they talk about preserving eggs .

http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/8542

I played with it many years ago.

And?

I would have been a teenager - for some reason I had a bottle of isinglass around the house. Painted it on some eggs and kept them at room temperature (or warmer) in the boat for the summer. None went rotten - but then really didn't do a double blind study to compare to eggs that I hadn't treated.

I think I got the isinglass originally to grow a 'magic rocks' garden - I had copper sulfate crystals and some other chemicals and I'd put them in the isinglass and the chemicals would form little stalagmites of different colours. I was a bit of a geek even then!

Edited by Kerry Beal, 09 November 2012 - 06:31 PM.

[pacman1978]

You could make 100 year eggs - an ancient Chinese recipe where you bury them in the ground for months. I can only imagine how bad they must smell!!

[liuzhou]

You could make 100 year eggs - an ancient Chinese recipe where you bury them in the ground for months. I can only imagine how bad they must smell!!

First, they aren't buried in the ground for months. They aren't buried in the ground at all.

Second, they don't smell any more than any boiled egg. Probably less.

http://liuzhou.co.uk...-food-41-pidan/

Edited by liuzhou, 12 November 2012 - 08:30 AM.

[SylviaLovegren]

I would have been a teenager - for some reason I had a bottle of isinglass around the house. Painted it on some eggs and kept them at room temperature (or warmer) in the boat for the summer. None went rotten - but then really didn't do a double blind study to compare to eggs that I hadn't treated.

I think I got the isinglass originally to grow a 'magic rocks' garden - I had copper sulfate crystals and some other chemicals and I'd put them in the isinglass and the chemicals would form little stalagmites of different colours. I was a bit of a geek even then!

Hah! I've always wondered about it -- old household books always talk about keeping the eggs in isinglass.

[sparrowgrass]

In the US, all commercial eggs are washed--some get an oil coating after washing to help preserve freshness. (I can't think of the brand name right now, but the eggs that have a little EB stamped on them in red ink are oiled. Eggland's Best!)

I have an old tin of waterglass somewhere around the house--I have never opened it, and from the looks of it, it is probably 75 years old. I am not sure isinglass and waterglass are the same thing.

(Brief foray into wikipedia) Isinglass is a type a gelatin made from fish bladders, but sodium silicate (waterglass) is also referred to as isinglass. To add to the confusion, thin sheets of mica are also referred to as isinglass, and were used as windows in stoves and furnaces.

There, did ya learn anything?

[liuzhou]

Isinglass is a type a gelatin made from fish bladders

Just to clarify slightly, that is fish swim bladders as opposed to anything urinary. They are like floats which which enable the fish to rise and fall in the water and also keeps them the right way up.



Also, known as fish maw, they are eaten in Chinese cuisine.

http://forums.egullet.org/topic/142326-fish-maw-for-chinese-soup/

And used in beer making.

Edited by liuzhou, 13 November 2012 - 09:43 AM.