A friend gives me eggs from their chickens. My wife won't eat them as she doesn't know how they were washed. Is washing or cleaning the eggs necessary? Mikeh**63
We do not wash our eggs unless a customer (we have 2 out of many) requests we do it for them or if there is visible waste on it for some reason. They will keep longer not washed as the hen puts a coating on them when laid to help protect them. If she would like them washed you can do it before using.... Edit to fix spelling yet again
Virtually 100% of the eggs sold in stores are washed, of course. They last 5-8 weeks in the food chain distribution system. Washing is only necessary if the customer wishes to receive spotlessly clean eggs. ALL my customers are such people. We rarely wash the eggs we eat ourselves, unless, as southerndesert says, there is an obvious mess on them.
Dont wash mine until right before I use them, sometimes not even then. My girls never lay outside the box and I have only had one with any mess on it.
I only wash mine on those rare instances that there is mess on them. I don't sell many but so far haven't been asked to wash them.
I've never washed an egg, but then again our eggs have always been spotless. If they're very dirty, wash them.
If the birds are kept clean then the eggs should be clean. I will wipe dirt/poo off an egg with a damp cloth if it needs it. My friend got salmanella from a tiny piece of eggshell breaking off into the egg contents. Now she pours boiling water over them just before breaking them open to kill any bacteria on the sehell. Only if she plans on making them with runny yokes or into a mousse (aka not cooking them 'properly'). If you are going to cook the eggs thoroughly I would not worry about it as the high heat should kill any bacteria.