One of the ladies at work asked how long the eggs I sell are good for. I told her we never have eggs older than a week or so around our house, but they should be good for 3 weeks or so in their unwashed condition, refrigerated. She then said she heard that turning eggs helps prolong their freshness. This sounds like an old wive's tale to me. Any truth to it?
I've never heard the bit about turning them. I can't imagine it would do much for them in terms of longevity for use as food. I wonder if she has heard of turning hatching eggs in storage prior to incubation, which of course IS important to do, and somehow must got confused and thought it referred to storage of food eggs. I keep eggs for as long as 6 weeks. I eat the freshest ones for egg dishes -- scrambled, fried, etc. But, I don't like to boil them until they're at least about 3 weeks old -- fresher ones are so much harder to peel. The oldest eggs are still perfectly good for baking and cooking as an ingredient in things. I have heard that the typical commercial production egg doesn't even get to the grocery store until about 3 weeks to a month after it has been laid, and that it typically sits in the grocery store's facilities on average about a week before it is sold.
The store bought ones in my refrigerator (ugh) are good for 44 days from the date they were collected. Mother Earth News did a study a while back and they are good under refrigeration for a good deal longer -- you can look it up -- they were actually safe to eat for about 6 months.
Quote:Yes and that is why when you bring home eggs from a store, you can boil them right then and not have a problem pealing the shells off. I don't wash my eggs until I get ready to put them int the frig, but once I wash them I always refrigerate as soon and they dry. They sit on the counter in the egg bucket for up to 3 days before I wash them as a rule, sometimes i wash them right the same day and every once in while it might be four days before I get to it. I never heard of that turning trick either, except for eggs for the incubator. Eggs don't last long around here before some one comes along and buys them.
I have personally used store bought eggs almost 2 months after their "expiration date" on the carton. Not a rotton one amoung them....however I did vow to rotate my stock a little more faithfully. As I understand it, sailors crossing the Atlantic brought eggs with them, coated in grease, for their 3 month trip. Early settlers and the like. Of course they ate them, didn't try to hatch them. In most countries they don't refridgerate their eggs, so I would imagine they would last even longer in the fridge.
