Egg Handling?

[canaday413]

One of my hens started laying last Saturday and has laid an egg everyday since! Yay!! So today will be our 8th egg. We have just been taking the eggs from the nest and putting them in a basket on our counter. Is this okay? We haven't washed them or anything. I know people have different opinions. Not sure why we didn't just put them in the fridge in the first place? We haven't eaten any of them so the oldest has been on the counter for a week. Thoughts? Thanks!

 

[sunny & the 5 egg layers]

Hello there! Congratulations on the first egg, that must be so exciting!

I prefer to wash my chicken eggs with some soap and water and store them in the fridge. I do this because I read in my favorite chicken book (barnyard in your backyard by Gail damerow) that an egg kept at room temperature ages more in a day than an egg kept in the fridge ages in one week.

I understand that others do not wash their eggs, and/or do not store them in the fridge. In my opinion, the healthiest choice (for my family) is to wash and store in fridge.

Enjoy!

 

[mucduc]

I have been doing the samething. I work at a different place all the time, and heard going from refrigerated to not refrigerated is bad for them, so I just leave them out. Haven't had any problems so far. I also don't wash them til I use them. And when I do I use warm water instead of cold.

From what I have read, they do stay fresher longer in the fridge, but if you eat them regularly and timely, you shouldn't notice any difference (I have no proof of this). If you may be worried about an egg going bad from sitting on the counter, then crack the egg into a cup first. If it's good use it, if its bad then you haven't wasted the rest of the recipe by dumping a bad egg ontop of everything.

1 theory that I came up with about the refrigerating and then not refrigerating being bad is because of condensation. I noticed that when I got to work all of my cold eggs were sweating. And since its not warm water, the condensation may let bacteria from the outside she'll get into the egg. ****I have NO proof that this is the reason, just a thought of mine.****

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Unwashed eggs that have not been refrigerated at any point are safe to store on counter top. The cleansing and refrigeration of eggs is most common in the US. Refrigeration is necessary for commercial eggs due to the processing they are put through prior to arrival at a retailer.

 

[sjturner79]

One of my hens started laying last Saturday and has laid an egg everyday since! Yay!! So today will be our 8th egg. We have just been taking the eggs from the nest and putting them in a basket on our counter. Is this okay? We haven't washed them or anything. I know people have different opinions. Not sure why we didn't just put them in the fridge in the first place? We haven't eaten any of them so the oldest has been on the counter for a week. Thoughts? Thanks!

If they have not been washed then they can be kept at room temp for 6-8 weeks. They can be refrigerated for approx 6 months.
Washed eggs will go bad after about 7 days at room temp or 8-10 weeks in fridge, as they have a natural preservative on the shells that comes off in water.