do eggs need to be refrigerated?

[rh71]

Because other places sell them off shelves. The containers say bacteria may grow if not refrigerated. For how long can they be safely consumed? They are fried, eventually.

 

[shortylickens]

I've accidentally left eggs out for a couple of days, then put them back in the fridge right before somebody wanted them.
When my dad cooked them he said they were bad.

 

[Arcadio]

Maybe this will answer your Q.

 

[moshquerade]

Originally posted by: rh71
Because other places sell them off shelves. The containers say bacteria may grow if not refrigerated. For how long can they be safely consumed? They are fried, eventually.

where do you buy/see them on non-refrigerated shelves?

 

[AmberClad]

Century eggs?

 

[rh71]

Originally posted by: AmberClad
Century eggs?

I eat that stuff once in a while. There are a lot of preservatives in them.

Originally posted by: moshquerade

Originally posted by: rh71
Because other places sell them off shelves. The containers say bacteria may grow if not refrigerated. For how long can they be safely consumed? They are fried, eventually.

where do you buy/see them on non-refrigerated shelves?

You can buy regular eggs off the shelves in many countries.

 

[waggy]

from what i understand it (was told by a guy who has like 100 chickens for eggs) is you don't need to put them in the fridge. but if you do they will last a lot longer.


:edit: to damn early in the morning..but hey i decided to fry up some bacon and eggs!

 

[xSauronx]

Originally posted by: moshquerade

Originally posted by: rh71
Because other places sell them off shelves. The containers say bacteria may grow if not refrigerated. For how long can they be safely consumed? They are fried, eventually.

where do you buy/see them on non-refrigerated shelves?

maybe farmers markets or something? eggs need to be chilled, always. this way they can be kept for a week or two, but the yolk will start to fall apart more and more. if you leave them out for a couple of hours or an afternoon, youd prolly be ok. anything longer than that and its time to throw em out. eggs are cheap.

my mom left eggs out on the counter overnight once and i pitched them when i saw them....she threw a fit. meh

 

[Sea Moose]

How to test if an egg is fresh
Firstly, fill a fairly deep bowl with water and carefully lower the egg into the water.

A very fresh egg will immediately sink to the bottom and lie flat on its side. This is because the air cell within the egg is very small. The egg should also feel quite heavy.

As the egg starts to lose its freshness and more air enters the egg, it will begin to float and stand upright. The smaller end will lie on the bottom of the bowl, whilst the broader end will point towards the surface. The egg will still be good enough to consume, however, if the egg fully floats in the water and does not touch the bottom of the bowl at all, it should be discarded, as it will most likely be bad.


A bad egg will also feel extremely light in weight and give off a pungent smell.




A simple way of testing the freshness of your eggs. Food lasts longer in refrigerated spaces, due to cold temp slowing down the enzymic action.

 

[waggy]

Originally posted by: xSauronx

Originally posted by: moshquerade

Originally posted by: rh71
Because other places sell them off shelves. The containers say bacteria may grow if not refrigerated. For how long can they be safely consumed? They are fried, eventually.

where do you buy/see them on non-refrigerated shelves?

maybe farmers markets or something? eggs need to be chilled, always. this way they can be kept for a week or two, but the yolk will start to fall apart more and more. if you leave them out for a couple of hours or an afternoon, youd prolly be ok. anything longer than that and its time to throw em out. eggs are cheap.

my mom left eggs out on the counter overnight once and i pitched them when i saw them....she threw a fit. meh

no you do NOT have to keep eggs chilled. reason we do is they last longer and for samnalia.

so yeah i see why she threw a fit. you threw out some good eggs.

Though it is recommended that if you buy eggs from store to chill them (some put a coating on the shells that will make them spoil faster) if you get them from a farmers market or such they are fine to leave on the counter.


edit: we been thinking about getting chickens for the kids to raise. i had a great site that had some guidlines on how to handle the eggs and tell if they were good or bad.

 

[seemingly random]

I had a case of eggs when I was in college. There was, of course, not enough room in the frig. They sat in a kitchen corner for 4-5 months. It was winter time. I'm still here. The quality did start to degrade after a while as stated above.

 

[Cogman]

Originally posted by: waggy

Originally posted by: xSauronx

Originally posted by: moshquerade

Originally posted by: rh71
Because other places sell them off shelves. The containers say bacteria may grow if not refrigerated. For how long can they be safely consumed? They are fried, eventually.

where do you buy/see them on non-refrigerated shelves?

maybe farmers markets or something? eggs need to be chilled, always. this way they can be kept for a week or two, but the yolk will start to fall apart more and more. if you leave them out for a couple of hours or an afternoon, youd prolly be ok. anything longer than that and its time to throw em out. eggs are cheap.

my mom left eggs out on the counter overnight once and i pitched them when i saw them....she threw a fit. meh

no you do NOT have to keep eggs chilled. reason we do is they last longer and for samnalia.

so yeah i see why she threw a fit. you threw out some good eggs.

Though it is recommended that if you buy eggs from store to chill them (some put a coating on the shells that will make them spoil faster) if you get them from a farmers market or such they are fine to leave on the counter.


edit: we been thinking about getting chickens for the kids to raise. i had a great site that had some guidlines on how to handle the eggs and tell if they were good or bad.

Agreed. As for the unrefrigerated eggs, In England pretty much every store doesn't chill their eggs. They keep the same eggs out for a week or more with no problems.

Eggs are great because they are pretty much a sealed environment, they spoil quickly when opened up, but as they are, they can last quite a long time without any sort of preserving techniques. I've eaten eggs that are months old, and had them taste just as if I bought them fresh from the store.

 

[SlitheryDee]

I remember a relative who raises chickens telling me that fresh eggs will keep for months with no refrigeration. Those were brown eggs though, I dunno about store-bought eggs.

 

[dullard]

No, eggs don't need to be refrigerated. When I was in Europe, many stores sold them out in the open away from fridges. As others have said, all that matters is how long you want them to be fresh.

Eggs last days/weeks at room temp.
Eggs last weeks/months at fridge temps.

It is that simple. They aren't at fridge temp while in the chicken or while under the chicken before the farmer collects them. Does that mean they are all bad? Of course not.

 

[ViviTheMage]

Originally posted by: moshquerade

Originally posted by: rh71
Because other places sell them off shelves. The containers say bacteria may grow if not refrigerated. For how long can they be safely consumed? They are fried, eventually.

where do you buy/see them on non-refrigerated shelves?

When I was in Europe, they just sit in the open air...it was odd.

 

[KeithTalent]

Nope, I leave mine on the counter and just place my live chicken on them so they don't get damaged. Never had a problem.

KT

 

[Gibson486]

For personal use, no.

For commercial use, yes.

 

[alkemyst]

Originally posted by: waggy

Originally posted by: xSauronx

Originally posted by: moshquerade

Originally posted by: rh71
Because other places sell them off shelves. The containers say bacteria may grow if not refrigerated. For how long can they be safely consumed? They are fried, eventually.

where do you buy/see them on non-refrigerated shelves?

maybe farmers markets or something? eggs need to be chilled, always. this way they can be kept for a week or two, but the yolk will start to fall apart more and more. if you leave them out for a couple of hours or an afternoon, youd prolly be ok. anything longer than that and its time to throw em out. eggs are cheap.

my mom left eggs out on the counter overnight once and i pitched them when i saw them....she threw a fit. meh

no you do NOT have to keep eggs chilled. reason we do is they last longer and for samnalia.

so yeah i see why she threw a fit. you threw out some good eggs.

Though it is recommended that if you buy eggs from store to chill them (some put a coating on the shells that will make them spoil faster) if you get them from a farmers market or such they are fine to leave on the counter.


edit: we been thinking about getting chickens for the kids to raise. i had a great site that had some guidlines on how to handle the eggs and tell if they were good or bad.

first, wow...chickens...hope you are zoned for those nuisances.

Good luck leaving eggs out if you live in S. Florida. A lot of northerners get sick not realizing when it's not constantly below 80 degrees and 50% humidity all sorts of stuff grows on food.

 

[LurkerSince2001]

Outdoor markets in India have stacks of eggs sitting on the counters. It was about 115 degrees when I saw that. Didn't buy any, but there were certainly plenty of Indian folks around that didn't look like they were dying.

 

[ghostman]

Originally posted by: AmberClad
Century eggs?

I just had that last night in a variation of the old-and-new egg dish mentioned in the wiki page.

 

[eplebnista]

I've always seen them chilled at the store so I just went ahead and kept them chilled at home too. I also throw them out when they get close to the exp date on the carton.

 

[waggy]

Originally posted by: alkemyst
first, wow...chickens...hope you are zoned for those nuisances.

Good luck leaving eggs out if you live in S. Florida. A lot of northerners get sick not realizing when it's not constantly below 80 degrees and 50% humidity all sorts of stuff grows on food.

I can even have a cow in the backyard if i wanted! though it would take up most of the room..

farm fresh eggs you can have sit on the counter for a few weeks. they will last longer if put in the fridge though.

ones you buy from the store usually are sprayed with chemicals that tend to break them down faster so you should put thime in the fridge to have them last.

as for stuff growing on the outside thats fine. since i don't eat the shells im not to worried on that. The only thing to worry about is salmonella and even that is rare and with safe handeling you can cut down the odds more.



we were going to get the chickens for the kids to raise. its not that expensive to buy them either or very hard to do. though i don't think we would eat enough eggs to justify the cost.

anyway i want to get fainting goats instead. =)

 

[OutHouse]

Originally posted by: xSauronx

Originally posted by: moshquerade

Originally posted by: rh71
Because other places sell them off shelves. The containers say bacteria may grow if not refrigerated. For how long can they be safely consumed? They are fried, eventually.

where do you buy/see them on non-refrigerated shelves?

maybe farmers markets or something? eggs need to be chilled, always. this way they can be kept for a week or two, but the yolk will start to fall apart more and more. if you leave them out for a couple of hours or an afternoon, youd prolly be ok. anything longer than that and its time to throw em out. eggs are cheap.

my mom left eggs out on the counter overnight once and i pitched them when i saw them....she threw a fit. meh

i would have pitched a fit as well. we never put our eggs in the fridge and have no problems.

 

[hanoverphist]

Originally posted by: waggy

Originally posted by: xSauronx

Originally posted by: moshquerade

Originally posted by: rh71
Because other places sell them off shelves. The containers say bacteria may grow if not refrigerated. For how long can they be safely consumed? They are fried, eventually.

where do you buy/see them on non-refrigerated shelves?

maybe farmers markets or something? eggs need to be chilled, always. this way they can be kept for a week or two, but the yolk will start to fall apart more and more. if you leave them out for a couple of hours or an afternoon, youd prolly be ok. anything longer than that and its time to throw em out. eggs are cheap.

my mom left eggs out on the counter overnight once and i pitched them when i saw them....she threw a fit. meh

no you do NOT have to keep eggs chilled. reason we do is they last longer and for samnalia.

so yeah i see why she threw a fit. you threw out some good eggs.

Though it is recommended that if you buy eggs from store to chill them (some put a coating on the shells that will make them spoil faster) if you get them from a farmers market or such they are fine to leave on the counter.


edit: we been thinking about getting chickens for the kids to raise. i had a great site that had some guidlines on how to handle the eggs and tell if they were good or bad.

my bro has 6 chickens and typically brings fresh eggs to every family gathering. not too bad. his kids have fun raising them too.

 

[alkemyst]

Originally posted by: LurkerSince2001
Outdoor markets in India have stacks of eggs sitting on the counters. It was about 115 degrees when I saw that. Didn't buy any, but there were certainly plenty of Indian folks around that didn't look like they were dying.

They have meat hanging too.