Egg life

[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 November 12, 2012 by liuzhou (log)

[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.

And used in beer making.

Edited November 13, 2012 by liuzhou (log)

[Kerry Beal]

So I had my first rotten egg in almost forever today.  

 

Was steaming half a dozen eggs in the thermomix for hard boiled eggs when a little explosion happened about 10 minutes in.  Didn't think anything of it until 'eau de abscess' started to waft through the kitchen.  Fished it out, took it out back and threw it in the ravine. It did have some interesting colours associated.   

[FeChef]

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.

Normally I dont agree with worry warts, but eggs are cheap, not worth getting sick for a few dollars.

[palo]

I have an unusual problem in that I am allergic to eggs. That being said I do buy eggs to use as a binder, wash or as part of a breading process, seems I can tolerate them in those instances. I end up using 2 eggs out of a dozen and tossing the rest due to expiration issues. I don't have a reliable "nose" to use as an evaluation discriminater. I would appreciate a definitive process to help me.

p

[AlaMoi]

eggs will keep in the fridge for many weeks - two months even - past their "date"

 

it's really simple:  when you want to use the egg, crack it into a separate bowl and sniff.

if there is any 'off odour' toss them.

 

as an aside, don't go with the popular floating egg theory. . . .

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I have an unusual problem in that I am allergic to eggs. That being said I do buy eggs to use as a binder, wash or as part of a breading process, seems I can tolerate them in those instances. I end up using 2 eggs out of a dozen and tossing the rest due to expiration issues. I don't have a reliable "nose" to use as an evaluation discriminater. I would appreciate a definitive process to help me.

p

 

Pasteurize the eggs after you bring them home if you are concerned.  That being said I've left raw eggs in the refrigerator for a very long time.

[Smithy]

I have an unusual problem in that I am allergic to eggs. That being said I do buy eggs to use as a binder, wash or as part of a breading process, seems I can tolerate them in those instances. I end up using 2 eggs out of a dozen and tossing the rest due to expiration issues. I don't have a reliable "nose" to use as an evaluation discriminater. I would appreciate a definitive process to help me.

p

I agree that eggs keep well past their 'expiration date', as others have noted; I take weeks to go through a dozen. I don't have a definitive "good/bad" test for you, but here are three more ways to avoid the problem:

* Buy only half a dozen at a time, if your stores offer that option (many do on this side of the border);

* Split a purchase with a friend;

* Separate the eggs and freeze the yolks and whites, to be thawed as you need them. This last idea is the most work, but for washes and bindings you should be able to keep excess eggs indefinitely. (It may be just as practical to freeze whole eggs after shelling them, but I haven't deliberately done it. Eggs that I've accidentally frozen have split their shells but been fine except for possible textural changes.)

[radtek]

In the fridge they appear to last quite a while but I keep mine just above freezing.

 

My friend with the MS in Biology eats a lot of eggs. He states that American "commercial" chicken including their eggs are rife with salmonella down to the DNA. So inescapable, that leaving unfertilized eggs out at room temp is obviously a bad idea as they are the ideal bacterial breeding ground which can end up comprising the bulk of an eggs' contents if left at room temp for too long.

 

I didn't find anything conclusive online except for a paper's reference to the egg's albumin rising pH possibly inhibiting further growth of the salmonella organism after the first 24 hours. So that might be the other side of the equation.