How do you track how old your eggs are?

[shodack]

I agree, using a sharpie to write on your egg seems like a risk you don't need to take.
Pencil is safer.

 

[Blooie]

I almost quit writing the dates on the eggs...seemed like kind of a waste of time. Then one day an regular customer sent a new customer over here to ask about eggs. I got a carton out of the fridge and opened it up. She looked at the eggs and said, "Just like John said, they're nice and clean and I know exactly when they were laid. I like that." So the extra 10 seconds it takes to scrawl 11/19 on the top of an egg with pencil turned out to be well worth it for me....she's now also a regular. (And no, I don't wash eggs.)

 

[Ridgerunner]

I’ve seen ladders with a warning on it that if you step or climb on it there is a risk of falling. I take a lot of those warnings with a lot of salt. But do whatever you feel comfortable doing.

I don’t date my eggs at all. The pretty clean ones are stored on the kitchen counter unwashed. The dirty ones get washed and put in the fridge, these are generally the ones we use first.

Brokenknee, I take my excess eggs to a local “food bank” type place that provides food for those that need it. Not all food bank places will take our eggs for free but if you talk to a minister, they should know someone that will. If they don’t, get another minister. I take them in every two to three weeks so they just don’t get that old.

 

[MeepBeep]

I would never use a sharpie. www.Sharpie.com say that "we do not recommend using them on areas of items that may come in contact with food or the mouth".

Why the selective and slightly out of context quote, while intentionaly leaving out preface that they are 'AP-certified non-toxic' part?

http://www.sharpie.com/en-US/sharpie-faqs

Can I use Sharpie markers for mark on ceramic dishware?

While Sharpie markers are AP-certified non-toxic, we do not recommend using them on areas of items that may come in contact with food or the mouth (such as the rim of a coffee cup). Sharpie markers are only recommended for use on ceramic or glassware when the product is being used for decorative or display purposes and not intended to come in contact with food or the mouth. If you intend to design a mug or a cupusing Sharpie markers and then use the mug or cup, any such designs must be at least one inch below the rim where a person's lips could touch.

I'm guessing that if you contacted pencil manufactures (most are AP certified non-toxic as well) with the same question they would likely also recommend you not write on ceramic dishware or use on items in contact with the food or mouth, for legal reasons...

Be it a pencil or sharpie, the amount that will be used to write a date on an egg probably no risk greater then breathing the air at the end of the day...

 

[TheGonzo]

Why the selective and slightly out of context quote, while intentionaly leaving out preface that they are 'AP-certified non-toxic' part?

http://www.sharpie.com/en-US/sharpie-faqs
I'm guessing that if you contacted pencil manufactures (most are AP certified non-toxic as well) with the same question they would likely also recommend you not write on ceramic dishware or use on items in contact with the food or mouth, for legal reasons...

Be it a pencil or sharpie, the amount that will be used to write a date on an egg probably no risk greater then breathing the air at the end of the day...

I added the link, so you can read the whole text, which it sounds like you did so I would say you answered your own question.
About the non-toxic part: Cinnamon once was non-toxic, you now have to limit the intake. Smoking used to be perfectly healthy, but we all know how that story ended.
Would you empty 100 sharpies into a glass and drink it? I believe not. Would you even lick a sharpie? I believe not. I take it one step further and would not write on eggs that I plan to eat.
I try to avoid processed food, perfumes and parabens in shampoos, cream and so on, so it's more a general believe than a sharpie-phobia

 

[shodack]

The simple fact that sharpie uses a liquid ink that could leach through the thousands of pores on an eggshell should be reason enough, I'd think.

 

[ChickenMammX4]

The sharpie I use is very fine tipped, like a sharpened pencil. the amount of ink that could possibly leech into the egg would be so minuscule that I'm not worried.

 

[MeepBeep]

About the non-toxic part: Cinnamon once was non-toxic, you now have to limit the intake. Smoking used to be perfectly healthy, but we all know how that story ended.

Nearly everything has a known lethal dosage even water and oxygen that can both kill you in higher doses, as does a slew of common foods we eat everyday so yes like Cinnamon one should keep in mind the limits... No one is says soak your eggs in Sharpie ink overnight or whatever, writing a date is a minute amount of exposure, and even less when you consider what might actually make it inside the egg if any...

As for smoking, lets focus on the subject at hand, writing on an egg with a Sharpie is not equivalent to smoking in any regards, that is just a silly highly exaggerated comparison...

Would you empty 100 sharpies into a glass and drink it? I believe not. Would you even lick a sharpie? I believe not.

Would you grind up the graphite/clay/binders in 100 pencils into your glass and drink it? Lets, be realistic here, focus on the application and hand and avoid the hyperbole extremes, OK?

We are talking about writing the date on an egg nothing more... So can we stick to the relevant subject and exposure potentials of that taskalone, while avoiding absurd exaggerations and hyperbole of unrelated topics and substances?

I take it one step further and would not write on eggs that I plan to eat.
I try to avoid processed food, perfumes and parabens in shampoos, cream and so on, so it's more a general believe than a sharpie-phobia

And that is your choice, doesn't mean those who do differently are wrong...

 

[MeepBeep]

The simple fact that sharpie uses a liquid ink that could leach through the thousands of pores on an eggshell should be reason enough, I'd think.

Can you provide statistics on how much of that certified non-toxic ink is leaching though the shell, if any? If we are going to talk about eliminating any minute exposure even pencils are out of the question, as skin contact with graphite is considered a slightly hazardous irritant, so don't handle those eggs after writing on them

If you choose not to do it, that is your choice, doesn't mean those that don't follow your ideals are causing themselves any measurable amount of harm...

 

[chickmomma03]

I date each egg individually with a pencil. I put them in order of date laid too. Right now I have over 2 dozen in my fridge. The newest full dozen is on bottom so I don't use it first, second is in the middle, and partial is on top. Once the partial is full it will move to bottom.