Getting Eggs to Room Temperature

[Shel_B]

Although I don't bake much, I often bake on the spur of the moment, and need to bring eggs to room temp. Is it acceptable to do that with eggs that have been broken into a bowl, or is it better to let the eggs come up to temp in the unbroken shells?

And yes, I know about using a warm water bath for eggs in the shell. I just want to know if eggs that have been broken into a bowl can be allowed to come to room temp. Has abyone ever done this? Is there a downside? Thanks!

Edited January 17, 2014 by Shel_B (log)

[liuzhou]

Is this "need" to keep eggs refrigerated mostly an American custom?

Definitely.

Eggs have been used by almost every culture since millenia ago, long before refrigeration.

They are still used in places which don't have refrigeration. Most of the world.

I live in the tropics and while the cities have refrigeration, people seldom keep their eggs in the fridge, Eggs are not refrigerated in supermarkets in Asia or in most of Europe, so far as I know. I certainly don't remember seeing eggs in fridges in England or France.

My work requires that I spend a lot of time in poor rural areas in tropical China. No one has a fridge. They all use eggs.

Then we have the question "What is 'room temperature?'"

Edited January 16, 2014 by liuzhou (log)

[HungryC]

When you do bake, it is easy to avoid leaving cracked eggs laying around. Put your whole, in-shell eggs into a bowl of hot tap water. The chill will be off in just a few minutes. No risk, no mess.

[Lisa Shock]

There are big differences between US eggs sold in supermarkets and eggs sold elsewhere in the world. Eggs in the US have the protective coating, called bloom, washed off with chemicals. Without that barrier, those eggs are much more susceptible to becoming infected with bacteria especially if they get wet in any way. (like, say, the fine 2ft+ diameter spray of water and salmonella that washing a chicken in the sink creates) Eggs in other countries are still sealed by the bloom and need less care in handling.

[mkayahara]

I'm with HungryC: just put the shell-on eggs into hot tap water. They'll be ambient temperature in no time.

[Shel_B]

I'm with HungryC: just put the shell-on eggs into hot tap water. They'll be ambient temperature in no time.

I am familiar with that technique, but your comment, and HungryC's, does not answer my question.

Edited January 16, 2014 by Shel_B (log)

[Shel_B]

There are big differences between US eggs sold in supermarkets and eggs sold elsewhere in the world.

Great article =explains a lot. Thanks for the pointer!

[Joe Blowe]

http://forums.egullet.org/topic/136690-egg-storage-the-world-over/

[jmacnaughtan]

Although I don't bake much, I often bake on the spur of the moment, and need to bring eggs to room temp. Is it acceptable to do that with eggs that have been broken into a bowl, or is it better to let the eggs come up to temp in the unbroken shells?

And yes, I know about using a warm water bath for eggs in the shell. I just want to know if eggs that have been broken into a bowl can be allowed to come to room temp. Has abyone ever done this? Is there a downside? Thanks!

It depends how long you're going to leave them out for. Just put them over a bain marie for a couple of minutes, whisking occasionally until you can't feel a chill when you dip your finger in.

If you don't want to do that, just cover it with cling film and leave to come to room temperature. Most baking techniques will take the temperature up to around 80-90°C anyway, easily enough to kill salmonella.

And for keeping eggs in the fridge or not, it's definitely better to do so. It's not essential, but it'll keep them fresher for longer and will reduce evaporation from the white. Also, they take up less counter space and are less likely to be broken by clumsy cooks (myself included).

[mkayahara]

I'm with HungryC: just put the shell-on eggs into hot tap water. They'll be ambient temperature in no time.

I am familiar with that technique, but your comment, and HungryC's, does not answer my question.

Then I'm afraid I don't understand the question. I was assuming you were thinking that taking them out of the shell would allow them to warm faster and, on the basis of your comment "I often bake on the spur of the moment", that speed was the issue here. If that's not the case, why would it matter whether they're in the shell or out?

[ElaineK]

Then I'm afraid I don't understand the question. I was assuming you were thinking that taking them out of the shell would allow them to warm faster and, on the basis of your comment "I often bake on the spur of the moment", that speed was the issue here. If that's not the case, why would it matter whether they're in the shell or out?

I'm not Shel_B, but when I bake on the spur of the moment, I sometimes forget that my eggs are supposed to be at room temp. I take them out of the fridge, crack them into a bowl, then go "Oh shoot - those are -cold- eggs!" At which point "Is it safe to let these sit out until they're warm, or do I have to warm other eggs and turn these into breakfast?" becomes relevant.

[liuzhou]

Storing eggs in the closed environment of a fridge can also lead to them absorbing flavors / scents from other inhabitants of the fridge. This is less likely on a counter top.

Edited January 17, 2014 by liuzhou (log)

[Shel_B]

Then I'm afraid I don't understand the question. I was assuming you were thinking that taking them out of the shell would allow them to warm faster and, on the basis of your comment "I often bake on the spur of the moment", that speed was the issue here. If that's not the case, why would it matter whether they're in the shell or out?

I'm not Shel_B, but when I bake on the spur of the moment, I sometimes forget that my eggs are supposed to be at room temp. I take them out of the fridge, crack them into a bowl, then go "Oh shoot - those are -cold- eggs!" At which point "Is it safe to let these sit out until they're warm, or do I have to warm other eggs and turn these into breakfast?" becomes relevant.

That's exactly what happened recently when I was making a batch of popovers. And that's what prompted my question. Thank you, Elaine. It's nice to know that I'm not the only one that has had this experience.

Edited January 17, 2014 by Shel_B (log)

[Shel_B]

Storing eggs in the closed environment of a fridge can also lead to them absorbing flavors / scents from other inhabitants of the fridge. This is less likely on a counter top.

And since I use eggs infrequently, I sometimes forget that I have eggs stored in the fridge, especially if the carton works its way to the back of the shelf and other items are placed in front of it, and if I forget long enough, the quality of the eggs definitely suffers.

[rotuts]

if youve already cracked the cold eggs into a small bowl, and are keen on them getting to room temp, just put that bowl into an inch or two of warm tap water for a few minutes.

Ive left cracked eggs out for ' a bit ' and Im still here.

then again, perhaps Ive never gotten a ' bad egg '

[Shel_B]

if youve already cracked the cold eggs into a small bowl, and are keen on them getting to room temp, just put that bowl into an inch or two of warm tap water for a few minutes.

My concern, and apparently it's unfounded, is that putting eggs into warm water would cook them to some degree. I guess that's not the case. Thanks ... great idea.

Edited January 17, 2014 by Shel_B (log)

[Ttogull]

FWIW in my state in the US I can buy eggs at farmers markets that have not been cleaned. The vendors have all told me that the eggs do not need refrigeration unless I wash them.

[Lisa Shock]

Storing eggs in the closed environment of a fridge can also lead to them absorbing flavors / scents from other inhabitants of the fridge. This is less likely on a counter top.

And since I use eggs infrequently, I sometimes forget that I have eggs stored in the fridge, especially if the carton works its way to the back of the shelf and other items are placed in front of it, and if I forget long enough, the quality of the eggs definitely suffers.

BTW, old eggs don't make very good popovers, they don't rise as well as fresh eggs -you're more likely to get hockey pucks. Al Sicherman did a series of popover experiments for his newspaper column which eventually wound up in his very wonderful cookbook, Caramel Knowledge.

[Shel_B]

BTW, old eggs don't make very good popovers, they don't rise as well as fresh eggs -you're more likely to get hockey pucks. Al Sicherman did a series of popover experiments for his newspaper column which eventually wound up in his very wonderful cookbook, Caramel Knowledge.

That's good to know, although, when using eggs, I generally by fresh ones. Thanks!

[Blether]

The sous vide guys on eG have gone in to in exact detail, but if I remember right, yolk cooks from about 62C, and white from a temperature close to that - anyway, both temperatures in the 60's centigrade. Here's my first result from Google.

60C is far too hot for hands. Any hot water you can hold your hand in for 5 seconds, won't cook your eggs.