Post here if you DON'T wash clean-looking eggs

[triplepurpose]

Sorry for the stupid question, but I figure I had better ask. 

You mention about not washing, and if you do wash to refrigerate.  Just curious - how wet would you consider "washing"?   With all this rain we've been having, my hands are wet by the time I pick up the eggs.  Is that ok, or should I put those into the fridge? 

When its really wet out i do try to dry off my hands a little, with a hanky or on my clothes, before picking them up. Seems to me like just touching them with wet hands to pick them up wouldnt be enough to remove or damage the bloom much, but i too like to be as careful as i can. I trynot to let them get rained on too while bringing them in....

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Huh?! That threshold of 80.6 just makes no sense to me. we've kept chickens in Hawaii for almost 30 years and never refrigerated our (fertile) eggs. They are good for a couple of weekst sitting out on the counter, yearround, without so much as a blood spot at over 80 F in summer, night and day...

I'm sorry, I can only tell you what the research shows. Cell division can happen above 80.6.
I keep my eggs unrefrigerated as well if I don't wash them
I do know that in summer, if I don't collect daily, I see development. But here it can reach 110 during the day (which would kill embryos) and sometimes doesn't drop out of the 90s at night. So 2 days in the 90s would surely see cell division.

 

[Beekissed]

How far does that "development" get, exactly?

Because, if it's that easy, folks can just throw away all those 'bators. The bull's eye might get a little larger but as for blood vessels and whatnot, I'm highly skeptical. I've seen no evidence of anything other than an enlarged bull's eye when keeping eggs on the counter in the summer months and not even that enlarged, so it's a pretty moot point.

 

[chickadiana]

Why wash it if it's clean? /img/smilies/wink.png  I have enough things to wash around here...

I agree!

 

[carlsaSC]

The South Carolina Dept of Ag does not impose many restrictions on selling eggs from backyard chickens except that they should be sold from the site or delivered directly to the customer. Not sold at farmer's markets or sold to wholesale outlets. They also insist that eggs be refrigerated to 45 degrees or below after gathering. They also recommend, at a minimum, the eggs be washed in a 200 ppm bleach solution. Now, I have been selling my eggs. I do refrigerate, but have never washed them unless they show signs of mud or poo. I do personally make a smoothie with a raw egg, and have never suffered bad consequences, but I don't recommend that to the buyers who can make their own choices. (I would not consume a raw commercial egg even though it has been washed and refrigerated)

 

[Beekissed]

Neither would I...I don't even like to use them in baking.

 

[FlyWheel]

Neither would I...I don't even like to use them in baking.

Amazing how spoiled a person can get once they've tasted home grown eggs, isn't it?

 

[Beekissed]

Very much so. Every once in a great while I have breakfast in a restaurant and the bland, insipid flavor and color of the eggs is distressing. I keep thinking these folks wouldn't know a real egg if it hit them on the head, but I'm betting if they had the chance to see and taste one of mine they would cringe every time they cracked one of those pale runny things in the skillet.

 

[Katareshka]

they always clean.i never wash them and never keep in fridge.

 

[BlackCoffee]

I never wash them unless they have "mess" on them. Lol!

Amazing how spoiled a person can get once they've tasted home grown eggs, isn't it?

Totally agree!! My family won't touch store bought eggs anymore unless we sneak them into baked goods!