Re: Eggs - Good for how long?

On 20 Feb 2005 16:15:50 -0800, "Neil" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Eggs don't go bad quickly, unless they have punctures (however small)
in them, although the viscosity of the whites may deteriorate, such
that they will not rate at as high a grade. It is probably even
unnecessary to refrigerate them.

Three weeks . . . four weeks . . . two months . . . ?? . . . I've never
thrown an egg out due to age.

Neil

Howdy,

Well, it all depends on what we mean by "good."

They may still be reasonably healthful, but they certainly
won't have the delicious taste of fresh eggs.

All the best,

--
Kenneth

If you email... Please remove the "SPAMLESS."

In article <[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

Eggs don't go bad quickly, unless they have punctures (however small)
in them, although the viscosity of the whites may deteriorate, such
that they will not rate at as high a grade. It is probably even
unnecessary to refrigerate them.

Three weeks . . . four weeks . . . two months . . . ?? . . . I've never
thrown an egg out due to age.

Eggs around here are usually used before the expiration date.

What really killed me is when the SO brought home fresh eggs and placed
them on the top shelf of the fridge.

The problem is that top shelf gets VERY cold, as in freezing point cold.
The damned eggs were all cracked and very frozen.

"Tony P." <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

In article <[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

Eggs don't go bad quickly, unless they have punctures (however small)
in them, although the viscosity of the whites may deteriorate, such
that they will not rate at as high a grade. It is probably even
unnecessary to refrigerate them.

Three weeks . . . four weeks . . . two months . . . ?? . . . I've never
thrown an egg out due to age.

Eggs around here are usually used before the expiration date.

What really killed me is when the SO brought home fresh eggs and placed
them on the top shelf of the fridge.

The problem is that top shelf gets VERY cold, as in freezing point cold.
The damned eggs were all cracked and very frozen.

The top shelf in a side-by-side refrigerator is the warmest area in the
refrigerator. I try to avoid putting meat and eggs there, and instead keep
them near the bottom where it is the coldest.

"Vox Humana" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Tony P." <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

In article <[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

Eggs don't go bad quickly, unless they have punctures (however small)
in them, although the viscosity of the whites may deteriorate, such
that they will not rate at as high a grade. It is probably even
unnecessary to refrigerate them.

Three weeks . . . four weeks . . . two months . . . ?? . . . I've never
thrown an egg out due to age.

Eggs around here are usually used before the expiration date.

What really killed me is when the SO brought home fresh eggs and placed
them on the top shelf of the fridge.

The problem is that top shelf gets VERY cold, as in freezing point cold.
The damned eggs were all cracked and very frozen.

The top shelf in a side-by-side refrigerator is the warmest area in the
refrigerator. I try to avoid putting meat and eggs there, and instead
keep
them near the bottom where it is the coldest.

I'm glad someone brought this question up.

I have the opportunity to buy fresh eggs where I'm currently living. I've
kind of refrained from it because a) I don't know how long they are good
for; b) I didn't know if there was a way to test for freshness; c) Would
have to come up with some way to track how long I've had each batch of eggs
(ok, minor deal) and d) I've always purchased eggs in the cardboard crates
from the store. Wait, there's an e) as well; We don't use all that many
eggs. We go through periods where we'll use several dozen eggs one week and
then not use a single egg for a month or so.

Any thoughts on this people?

TIA,
Bret

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Maverick said:

Any thoughts on this people?

TIA,
Bret

Hi Bret,

Let me get this right...

You avoid buying eggs that you know to be fresh because you
don't know how long they will last.

But, instead, you buy eggs that you know to be older when
you purchase?

Help me out... Please.

All the best,

--
Kenneth

If you email... Please remove the "SPAMLESS."

Maverick said:

I'm glad someone brought this question up.

I have the opportunity to buy fresh eggs where I'm currently living. I've
kind of refrained from it because a) I don't know how long they are good
for; b) I didn't know if there was a way to test for freshness; c) Would
have to come up with some way to track how long I've had each batch of eggs
(ok, minor deal) and d) I've always purchased eggs in the cardboard crates
from the store. Wait, there's an e) as well; We don't use all that many
eggs. We go through periods where we'll use several dozen eggs one week and
then not use a single egg for a month or so.

If you're getting actual fresh eggs from a decent, clean flock, and you
store them at the proper temperature (which is below 40 degrees) they
should last for weeks and weeks and weeks. I buy eggs from Costco in large
batches, and I'm still using them several weeks past the "use by" date.

You don't need a fancy system for keeping track of dates here. You fill a
deep bowl with cold water and gently place an egg on the bottom of the
bowl (don't drop it in, actually place it on the bottom of the bowl) if the
egg floats to the top don't use it. If it turns up on end but touches the
bottom you can still use it. I usually don't use them if no part of the
shell touches the bottom of the bowl.

--
Siobhan Perricone
Humans wrote the bible,
God wrote the rocks
-- Word of God by Kathy Mar

Maverick said:

I have the opportunity to buy fresh eggs where I'm currently living.

I've

Quoted message said:

kind of refrained from it because a) I don't know how long they are

good

Quoted message said:

for; b) I didn't know if there was a way to test for freshness; c)

Would

Quoted message said:

have to come up with some way to track how long I've had each batch

of eggs

Quoted message said:

(ok, minor deal) and d) I've always purchased eggs in the cardboard

crates

Quoted message said:

from the store. Wait, there's an e) as well; We don't use all that

many

Quoted message said:

eggs. We go through periods where we'll use several dozen eggs one

week and

Quoted message said:

then not use a single egg for a month or so.

I'm going to assume you mean you can get eggs from a non-commericial
grower. If that means the chickens are allowed to roam around the
ground and eat more than commercial chicken feed, you should definitely
go for it. These could be the best eggs you've ever had: bright,
vividly colored yolks that stand high, richer tasting. If the farmer
has a mix of chicken varieties the eggshells could be white, brown, or
green, and the sizes could vary from smaller than you've seen in a
store to quite large. Fun.

a: now you know they keep well.
b: ask the farmer how fresh they are; tall-standing yolks mean really
fresh; placed in cold water, the freshest eggs will lie down, older
ones will want to let one end rise.
c: or, hard cook the oldest ones
d: save the carton the next time you buy eggs from the store
e: you may eat more when you find out how big the difference is.

-aem

Siobhan Perricone said:

If you're getting actual fresh eggs from a decent, clean flock, and you
store them at the proper temperature (which is below 40 degrees) they
should last for weeks and weeks and weeks.

....but they will certainly not taste like fresh eggs.

All the best,

--
Kenneth

If you email... Please remove the "SPAMLESS."

In article <[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

Siobhan Perricone said:

If you're getting actual fresh eggs from a decent, clean flock, and you
store them at the proper temperature (which is below 40 degrees) they
should last for weeks and weeks and weeks.

...but they will certainly not taste like fresh eggs.

All the best,

It's funny but I don't notice any difference between the store bought
eggs and the fresh ones that were brought home.

Probably because we New Englanders pretty much insist that our eggs be
brown, well more tan than brown. But still, white eggs look funny to us.

Most of those brown eggs come from local vendors. Matter of fact, I have
one carton of eggs in the fridge right now that was packed in Foster, RI
about a week ago. Can't get too much better than that.

Tony P. said:

In article <[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

Siobhan Perricone said:

If you're getting actual fresh eggs from a decent, clean flock, and you
store them at the proper temperature (which is below 40 degrees) they
should last for weeks and weeks and weeks.

...but they will certainly not taste like fresh eggs.

All the best,

It's funny but I don't notice any difference between the store bought
eggs and the fresh ones that were brought home.

Probably because we New Englanders pretty much insist that our eggs be
brown, well more tan than brown. But still, white eggs look funny to us.

Most of those brown eggs come from local vendors. Matter of fact, I have
one carton of eggs in the fridge right now that was packed in Foster, RI
about a week ago. Can't get too much better than that.

Howdy,

I, too, am from New England (NH), and would love to know:

How did you determine when your eggs were packed?

Also, other than the influence of advertising, what do you
take to be the advantage of brown eggs?

Sincere thanks,

--
Kenneth

If you email... Please remove the "SPAMLESS."

"Kenneth" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Maverick said:

Any thoughts on this people?

TIA,
Bret

Hi Bret,

Let me get this right...

You avoid buying eggs that you know to be fresh because you
don't know how long they will last.

But, instead, you buy eggs that you know to be older when
you purchase?

Help me out... Please.

All the best,

--
Kenneth

*shamefully* It's pretty simple really. The store bought eggs come in the
cardboard crates with expiration/best by/use by/whatever-the-hell-it-is
date. Once the eggs go past that date, they're in the trash. Of course,
they are way past that date before I get around to checking them if we
haven't been using eggs a whole lot.

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"Siobhan Perricone" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Maverick said:

I'm glad someone brought this question up.

I have the opportunity to buy fresh eggs where I'm currently living. I've
kind of refrained from it because a) I don't know how long they are good
for; b) I didn't know if there was a way to test for freshness; c) Would
have to come up with some way to track how long I've had each batch of
eggs
(ok, minor deal) and d) I've always purchased eggs in the cardboard crates
from the store. Wait, there's an e) as well; We don't use all that many
eggs. We go through periods where we'll use several dozen eggs one week
and
then not use a single egg for a month or so.

If you're getting actual fresh eggs from a decent, clean flock, and you
store them at the proper temperature (which is below 40 degrees) they
should last for weeks and weeks and weeks. I buy eggs from Costco in large
batches, and I'm still using them several weeks past the "use by" date.

You don't need a fancy system for keeping track of dates here. You fill a
deep bowl with cold water and gently place an egg on the bottom of the
bowl (don't drop it in, actually place it on the bottom of the bowl) if
the
egg floats to the top don't use it. If it turns up on end but touches the
bottom you can still use it. I usually don't use them if no part of the
shell touches the bottom of the bowl.

--
Siobhan Perricone

Thanks so much! This will let me have fresh eggs all the time now.

Bret
<now needs to save some egg cartons...>

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"aem" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Maverick said:

I have the opportunity to buy fresh eggs where I'm currently living.

I've

Quoted message said:

kind of refrained from it because a) I don't know how long they are

good

Quoted message said:

for; b) I didn't know if there was a way to test for freshness; c)

Would

Quoted message said:

have to come up with some way to track how long I've had each batch

of eggs

Quoted message said:

(ok, minor deal) and d) I've always purchased eggs in the cardboard

crates

Quoted message said:

from the store. Wait, there's an e) as well; We don't use all that

many

Quoted message said:

eggs. We go through periods where we'll use several dozen eggs one

week and

Quoted message said:

then not use a single egg for a month or so.

I'm going to assume you mean you can get eggs from a non-commericial
grower. If that means the chickens are allowed to roam around the
ground and eat more than commercial chicken feed, you should definitely
go for it. These could be the best eggs you've ever had: bright,
vividly colored yolks that stand high, richer tasting. If the farmer
has a mix of chicken varieties the eggshells could be white, brown, or
green, and the sizes could vary from smaller than you've seen in a
store to quite large. Fun.

a: now you know they keep well.
b: ask the farmer how fresh they are; tall-standing yolks mean really
fresh; placed in cold water, the freshest eggs will lie down, older
ones will want to let one end rise.
c: or, hard cook the oldest ones
d: save the carton the next time you buy eggs from the store
e: you may eat more when you find out how big the difference is.

-aem

Thanks, aem! These are non-commercial people. Hell, four of them are
co-workers. They sell a lot of eggs though to other co-workers but being a
big city born and raised guy I have no idea what the "shelf-life" is for an
egg so the date on the carton was my guide. Now that I have a way to test
them, I can act accordingly and not just throw them away.

Thanks again All!

Bret

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----= East and West-Coast Server Farms - Total Privacy via Encryption =----

Kenneth said:

Siobhan Perricone said:

If you're getting actual fresh eggs from a decent, clean flock, and you
store them at the proper temperature (which is below 40 degrees) they
should last for weeks and weeks and weeks.

...but they will certainly not taste like fresh eggs.

They are fine for cooking or baking. The OP wasn't asking "can I keep eggs
that taste fresh indefinitely". Just "how long can I store eggs".

--
Siobhan Perricone
Humans wrote the bible,
God wrote the rocks
-- Word of God by Kathy Mar

Maverick said:

*shamefully* It's pretty simple really. The store bought eggs come in the
cardboard crates with expiration/best by/use by/whatever-the-hell-it-is
date. Once the eggs go past that date, they're in the trash. Of course,
they are way past that date before I get around to checking them if we
haven't been using eggs a whole lot.

You must waste a lot of eggs that way. I use the water test, it works fine
and I don't have to give in to the supermarket paranoia and waste eggs. 🙂

--
Siobhan Perricone
Humans wrote the bible,
God wrote the rocks
-- Word of God by Kathy Mar

Maverick said:

I'm glad someone brought this question up.

I have the opportunity to buy fresh eggs where I'm currently living. I've
kind of refrained from it because a) I don't know how long they are good
for; b) I didn't know if there was a way to test for freshness; c) Would
have to come up with some way to track how long I've had each batch of eggs
(ok, minor deal) and d) I've always purchased eggs in the cardboard crates
from the store. Wait, there's an e) as well; We don't use all that many
eggs. We go through periods where we'll use several dozen eggs one week and
then not use a single egg for a month or so.

I just looked at a couple of egg cartons sitting here. There is a 3
digit code which is the day of the year that the eggs were packed.
Then there is the use by date. On one box the code is 003 (January 3)
and the use by is Feb.. 16. The is about 6 weeks. All the cartons
had about the same "good" period. The code is on all egg cartons.

--
Susan N.

"Moral indignation is in most cases two percent moral, 48 percent indignation, and 50 percent envy."
Vittorio De Sica, Italian movie director (1901-1974)

In article <[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

Tony P. said:

In article <[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

On Mon, 21 Feb 2005 14:00:02 GMT, Siobhan Perricone
<[email hidden]> wrote:

>If you're getting actual fresh eggs from a decent, clean flock, and you
>store them at the proper temperature (which is below 40 degrees) they
>should last for weeks and weeks and weeks.

...but they will certainly not taste like fresh eggs.

All the best,

It's funny but I don't notice any difference between the store bought
eggs and the fresh ones that were brought home.

Probably because we New Englanders pretty much insist that our eggs be
brown, well more tan than brown. But still, white eggs look funny to us.

Most of those brown eggs come from local vendors. Matter of fact, I have
one carton of eggs in the fridge right now that was packed in Foster, RI
about a week ago. Can't get too much better than that.

Howdy,

I, too, am from New England (NH), and would love to know:

How did you determine when your eggs were packed?

There's a Julian date code on the package that says when it got packed.

Quoted message said:

Also, other than the influence of advertising, what do you
take to be the advantage of brown eggs?

Probably the campaign several years ago that the egg producers of New
England put out.

"Brown eggs are local eggs and local eggs are fresh."

New England is a relatively compact area so it's not inconceivable that
the browns will be fresher. Yes, they do produce the white variety too
but brown is a New England thing.

On Tue 22 Feb 2005 06:31:22a, Tony P. wrote in rec.food.cooking:

Quoted message said:

In article <[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

Tony P. said:

In article <[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] says...
> On Mon, 21 Feb 2005 14:00:02 GMT, Siobhan Perricone
> <[email hidden]> wrote:
>
> >If you're getting actual fresh eggs from a decent, clean flock, and
> >you store them at the proper temperature (which is below 40
> >degrees) they should last for weeks and weeks and weeks.
>
> ...but they will certainly not taste like fresh eggs.
>
> All the best,

It's funny but I don't notice any difference between the store bought
eggs and the fresh ones that were brought home.

Probably because we New Englanders pretty much insist that our eggs be
brown, well more tan than brown. But still, white eggs look funny to
us.

Most of those brown eggs come from local vendors. Matter of fact, I
have one carton of eggs in the fridge right now that was packed in
Foster, RI about a week ago. Can't get too much better than that.

Howdy,

I, too, am from New England (NH), and would love to know:

How did you determine when your eggs were packed?

There's a Julian date code on the package that says when it got packed.

Quoted message said:

Also, other than the influence of advertising, what do you take to be
the advantage of brown eggs?

Probably the campaign several years ago that the egg producers of New
England put out.

"Brown eggs are local eggs and local eggs are fresh."

New England is a relatively compact area so it's not inconceivable that
the browns will be fresher. Yes, they do produce the white variety too
but brown is a New England thing.

Funny, how brown eggs show up in Arizona, too.

Wayne

Siobhan Perricone said:

You don't need a fancy system for keeping track of dates here. You fill a
deep bowl with cold water and gently place an egg on the bottom of the
bowl (don't drop it in, actually place it on the bottom of the bowl) if the
egg floats to the top don't use it. If it turns up on end but touches the
bottom you can still use it. I usually don't use them if no part of the
shell touches the bottom of the bowl.

Any idea of the mechanism involved? As in - why DOES this work.