how long can you leave eggs out unrefrigerated?

[1sttimr]

Wow, new to chickens here and ours are only 10 weeks old so no eggs yet. Learning so much. Thanks folks!

 

[janb1993]

This is sooooo helpful! I thought eggs had to be refrigerated right away too!

 

[hdmax]

It is always a good idea to refrigerate eggs that have been washed.
Freshly laid eggs have a protective coating, and once you wash it off, the egg will not store well, and even refrigerated, the egg will not keep nearly as long as an unwashed egg stored at room temperature.

If you do a little research about egg storage, you will see that many store eggs buried for up to a year and sometimes longer. (Before refrigeration, that was the way eggs were stored.) Eggs unwashed should store well for many months at 70*, But this will depend on humidity. (Very dry, or high humidity will shorten storage time.)

If you need to clean dirt/mud, or poop from an egg, just wipe it off with a dry towel, and if that doesn't work, wash it, then either use first, or refrigerate.

 

[Beekissed]

Oh, just had to share....ate some eggs with homemade bread for supper this evening and it was pure bliss! These eggs are so mild and sweet that it makes me feel rich to eat them!

What a wonderful flavor the FF gives the eggs, much like when giving the ACV all the time....takes out the sulfur smell and taste and leaves a wonderful clarity of taste behind.

 

[Arielle]

Was this a daily treat? OR all their feed was FF'd??

 

[appps]

Hmm what's the use by date on a carton of eggs? Over here they are still mostly sold off the shelf rather than in the fridge section so I guess easy three or four weeks unrefrigerated must be perfectly okay if they can sell them that way.

 

[Arielle]

Government intervention!!! lol THey know what is best for us!!!



I do keep mine refirgerated only because I noticed the whites change consistency. THey become runnier sooner.

 

[Mary Poopins]

By the way...fresh boiled eggs are VERY hard to peel...really almost impossible....unless you know the secret of how to cook them. A very kind and generous member of this forum posted the secret a few years ago and it works so well it's almost magic.... This even works on eggs right out of the nest!!!!

Get the water boiling first - rapid boil. Add a dash of salt. Gently lower room temperature eggs in with a ladle. 17 minutes later drain and put in ice water…allow them to sit in the ice water for another 17 minutes. Peel.

The eggs practically roll out of the shell. I have almost intact shells. Sooo easy.

Forgive me for being rude but those eggs must taste horrible!!!
17 minutes!!!!

The white must be like rubber and the yolks must be gray/green!

Yuk!

I just have a carton that I keep in the fridge specifically for hard boiled eggs. These are allowed to sit for a few weeks so they will peel easier.

I learned how to hard boil my eggs from Jacques Pepin (not directly, but through his PBS show "Fast Food My Way").

Put the eggs into room temperature water and bring the water to a boil.
start your timer = 10 minutes.
as soon as the timer goes off, rinse the eggs under cold water.
Bang the eggs around a bit to crack their shells and flush with more cold water until you are able to pick up the eggs under water.
Peel them and place them in cold water until they cool below cooking temperature.

The hard boiled eggs comes out perfect!
The white is delicate and soft and the yolk is bright yellow and crumbly.

Since learning this technique I haven't had a single tough white or gray/green yolk and I haven't looked back since!!!!


Sorry to be rude about the 17 minute "trick" but I cannot imagine those eggs tasting very good and it seems to be almost offensive to our chickens to hard boil their eggs like this.
~Mary

p.s I used to have a roommate who used to hard boil eggs using the technique BettyR suggests and you have to keep the eggs in the water for 17 minutes otherwise the yolks will not cook.
My roommate once tried keeping them in the water for only 14 minutes and the yolks were runny with a green rind.

 

[Lorree]

So, we have had eggs sitting on the counter for about a week, ten days at the most. I just asked my husband if they had been washed and he said yes. He is the egg-gatherer. So...my question is how long will they keep on the counter if they have been washed? I will certainly ask him to not wash them from now on.

 

[4mybcs]

Man you gotta love eggs. No one ever believes me that they practically don't go bad. Thanks for all the info. Also, I am going to try going back to the boil water first method of boiling eggs and use room temperature eggs. I love hard boiled eggs but peeling them is KILLING me.