Has anyone ever tried storing eggs at room temperature?

[ruth]

Like Ms. Prissy - I leave my unwashed eggs in a basket on counter in kitchen till they are used or given away. If neither has taken place within 3-4 weeks I put them in cool storage and use them to feed back to chickens/ducks/cats/dogs. They taste so much better without being refrigerated.

Eggs have a natural protective coating on them. They are pourus, breathing objects. If you wash them you wash away their protective layer then you put them in frig and kill the freshness and they start to pick up every odor and the dampness in there penetrates the egg.

It's true that in Europe they don't refrigerate eggs.

 

[ChelC]

Okay, deep breathing... it's going to take some getting used to leaving eggs out, but I do want to try it to see for myself. If hens can save up their broods for a week and they don't start decomposing then it makes sense, it's just that we've always refrigerated eggs and been paranoid about food poisoning.

I guess I need to finish reading my Storey's guide, lol. I have that book and had no idea it has anything on egg storage!

 

[MissPrissy]

As long as the eggs are clean of any debris - bedding, poop, feathers, etc and kept in an airy basket on your counter in a cool area - not in a hot window- they will be fine. You will be very surprised. Eggs do not go rotten that fast. Do not wash them. Taking the bloom off will cause them to spoil very quick. They can sit there for 5 -6 weeks but you really want to rotate them out at least every 2 weeks to make suer you are getting the best eggs on your table and in your own personal nutrition.

If you get an egg that is really yucky and you have wash it make sure you use water warmer than the egg. Dry it off. Put it in the frig and use it ASAP. Removing the bloom allows for bacteria to pass through the shell and into the egg.

I never wash eggs for this reason unless I ablsolutely have to. They are put right into the frig and used the very next time I need eggs.

 

[Barnyard Dawg]

We do not refrigerate our eggs, the only time we would is when we go on vacation, we have eggs when we get back. The person we have taking care of our animals benefit from the fresh eggs, plus my wife doesn't like the all grain fed chicken eggs she prefers feeding them rice and a small amount of grains, while they eat vegetables and free-range. We keep the eggs in a cool, shaded area. We will never wash the eggs, just brush off the bedding, and very seldom will they be dirty. This is a practice as mentioned in a previous post of many countries that don't have the benefits we have here in this country but I prefer the un-refrigerated eggs myself.

 

[conny63malies]

my granny never put them in the fridge. She lived in a old farmhouse that had a food storage that was unheated of the kitchen . Thats where the eggs were stored in baskets. When someone asked for eggs she'd put them in boxes, never heard a single person complain.

 

[curliet]

I've been reading this one with interest. As I read, I see that many of you here feel that it's perfectly safe to keep eggs at room temp for a short time, and other info I get from the web suggests that you should never do that. But the other info also seems to be referring to eggs that are coming from the store and have already been refrigerated. I think that I trust you all when you say that with care and proper handling these eggs are fine without cold storage. I do believe that I'll set my own arbitrary time limit on unrefrigerated eggs, especially during hot months. I think a few days should be enough for me, and after that I'll have to bake, or cook or freeze. But I thank you all for your input.

 

[supermom1]

I have read somewhere that eggs can be dehydrated. I have found alot of sites that says you have to cook them first, but one time I found one that said you can dehydrate raw eggs. At least that is what it implied. Does anyone know if this is true or not. I want to dehydrate raw eggs so I can still use them for baking purposes. I'd like to store them up so we can take them to the deer lease to keep for when we go up there.

 

[halo]

Since Ive been getting eggs, from August or so, Ive never refrigerated eggs. They dont last too long around here, either I sell them or use them; I think the longest Ive had eggs on the counter that I eventually ate was about a week.

 

[BettyR]

I don't refrigerate my eggs either...we use them up fairly quickly and I just sort of push the older eggs to the front of the bowl and lay the newer eggs at the back.

I always break my eggs in a separate bowl before adding them to what I'm cooking....if an egg has gone bad you can tell it by looking at it.

 

[ORChick]

According to my husband my German MIL never refrigerated her eggs. And the grocery stores didn't either. When I lived in Germany, when I was first married, I always did, but that is what I was used to from home. From what I have read unrefrigerated eggs have a much shorter lifespan than refrigerated eggs, but, on the other hand, if they are fresh from your own hens they probably will be eaten before they have a chance to go bad. I refrigerate my girls' eggs, I must admit, but probably they would be fine if I didn't. Miss Prissy says they taste better too, so perhaps I should give it a try - though, IMO, they taste pretty d**n fine as they are

. This is not an experiment that I would make in summer though - even my 5 girls give me more eggs than my family of 2 can eat quickly.