Eating Eggs

[thaiturkey]

We have a few eggs that are full of fluid after the due hatching time and clearly won't produce any DLT's. My wife took two intending to boil them. One remains in the water and she must have eaten the other before going off to town. I suppose that if I don't get a call from the hospital the egg was OK to eat but after 28 days and more in the heat out there I have my doubts.

What is the general rule, please, for eating non-hatching eggs? Are they safe for me to eat or should I keep them until I have a visitor for tea who outstays his welcome?

 

[OmaBird]

You are kidding right?

 

[thaiturkey]

Quote:
Nope.

I buy eggs from the store, assume that they are well within the shelf life limit and keep them in the fridge. If someone offered me an egg that had been out in the heat under a hen for 28 or more days I would think that it was no good to eat. As far as I know, my wife ate one and is still alive out there somewhere so perhaps my belief is wrong. It's the first time that I've considered the matter. That's why i ask.

 

[OmaBird]

I don't eat anything that has been sat on. I only collect fresh eggs no more than a few hours old to eat. I know some cultures eat duck eggs that have been incubated and somehow they don't die. But they are like little baby ducks. Here is a site that sells them. http://www.metzerfarms.com/Eggs.cfm?CustID=78047&EggType=Balut

 

[thaiturkey]

I'm talking about eggs with only yolk and white inside. Unfertilised eggs. I don't know of anyone who would eat an unhatched chick! My concern is regarding their freshness after so long in a warm environment.

 

[OmaBird]

Tell your wife to only eat fresh eggs or fresh eggs that are refigerated. Most people collect eggs several times a day to make sure they are fresh and never sat on. Google Egg Safety. You should see lots of information on it.

 

[Jaguaress]

From what I understand after reading posts on this site, if left unwashed so that the bloom is intact, eggs are easily good for a month sitting on the counter - if not longer. Put in the fridge, unwashed, they last for months. Your wife will be fine.

I do recommend putting them in the fridge after boiling, however, so the one she left in the pot probably shouldn't be eaten the next day. Cooking eggs changes the rules, and they must be in the fridge at that point. I think it's something like putting up meat and eggs within the hour after cooking...

The difference between store-bought eggs and those that you get from the backyard is that the store-bought ones have been washed. (Unless they say otherwise.) Washing eggs destroys the protective "bloom" on them, thus allowing bacteria to enter them. That's why store-bought eggs are refrigerated, and that's why there's a sell by date.

As for most people who gather eggs several times a day, typically that is done so that there is no risk of the hen breaking the egg in the nest. (And to discourage any predator that is attracted to eggs.) Yes, apparently many people also like the freshness of just-laid eggs, too, but it's not necessary to eat them that way as long as they're unwashed.

Hope this helps. Certainly, do some searches with the search feature to find the threads that back me up, if you wish.

 

[thaiturkey]

Thanks for the advice, folks.

The boiled egg is now out of the water and in the fridge!

Thai people have stronger stomachs than do Westerners so I wouldn't necessarily follow their example and shall keep to my old ways.

Eggs in shops are always on a shelf rather than in a chiller. The same applies in the UK where some people also keep them in a basket on the kitchen counter at home and not in a fridge. It always seemed risky to me. From what you say, Jaguaress, those washed eggs in the shops should also be kept chilled. I once had food poisoning from either eggs or poultry in a restaurant in England just before a salmonella scandal was revealed by a prominent politician . She lost her job as a result of exposing a secret kept for the benefit of the producers. We also had a big scare over cooked and raw meat being displayed side by side in butchers' shops. Since then I have been very careful. Full blown food poisoning is no joke.

We have to decide with the next batch whether to collect them for the incubator soon after they are laid and candle them at the appropriate time or again let nature take its course.

 

[Jaguaress]

I'm sorry that you know what full blown food poisoning feels like. Agreed, it's absolutely no joke. I have a bit of OCD about germs, so can be too stringent in my quest to never have food poisoning again. From your descriptions, it seems that either I would have to cook my own meals, or be very vigilant in some of the places you've been. lol I, too, contracted food poisoning, but prior to a huge recall of raw spinach from across the U.S.. Unfortunately, my body seems to be sensitive to anything "off" that way, and there are plenty of things like spinach and lettuce that can bother me too easily. In the past it has hit me first, and then we've heard about "suspect" produce or whatever. Just call me the canary in the coal mines. lol

Reading here that unwashed eggs could sit out on the counter hit me for a loop. I talked with my dad about it, and found out that he raised chickens as a child and they never put the eggs in the fridge. It'll be a different way of doing things when I get some hens to lay, that's for sure. In the past, I've even used one of those metallic bags that keep things cold just to get store-bought eggs home "safely."

From what I hear, Thai people have iron-clad stomachs. My brother sometimes threatens to get me "real" Thai food to eat, since I'm such a wimp.

Good luck on your next hatching.

 

[thaiturkey]

Quote:
Ta!

I agree with you about food hygiene. I avoid taking chances and would rather throw stuff out from even the fridge and freezer if I'm not sure.

'Real' Thai food! That can be difficult to define. In the country, home cooked food may be very different from restaurant food. Our meat is limited to pork, poultry and sea food. I eat beef but my wife has an aversion to it. Cattle and buffalo were valuable assets on her parents' farm and to eat them would have been to lose the motive power behind the plough and other machinery in those days. Some folk eat many things that we wouldn't consider to be food and we go nowhere near the stuff. Food in a good restaurant can be out of this world and very healthy. Our local market has wonderful fresh meat, fruit and vegetable and that is where we buy most of our food. Many local farms use only natural fertiliser and supply fresh to the market. It's only the big buyers such as supermarkets that make a fuss about yield and appearance and I doubt whether their stock is very fresh. I think that a lot of food problems in the West come from the use of nitrates and pesticides. You have nothing to fear from Thai food provided that you know what the meat is!

I have never been ill from food here but at home I'm as careful as I was back in England. If I visit a home that has no fridge I lose my appetite!

Here are two websites that you may find interesting:

http://www.thaitable.com/

http://www.thaiwebsites.com/cooking.asp