How many really wash eggs just before use?

[redhen]

I'm afraid if i wash them that i'll wash the bloom off, and then when we go to eat them a week or so later we'll get sick...
Honestly, i'd rather wash them...but i'm not really sure which is safe or not...

 

[Warfrost]

Quote:
washing them removes the protective "bloom" that keeps bacteria from invading the egg.

That means bacteria can't get into the egg...but what about the germs sitting on the outside of it? We do wash ours immediately (with cool water, and a tiny drop of dish soap if they are really dirty) when we've brought them in, before they go into the carton, then the fridge. It isn't very likely for them to get new contamination if they are sitting in a clean carton and put away quickly, and the cold of the refrigerator should prevent anything from growing.

I will say that it sounds to me like a "whatever floats your boat" kind of situation.

 

[Amethyste]

I get my eggs, date them, and put them in the egg bowl on my counter. Only wash them before i use em.

My boxes are very clean, and I dont have issues about how clean the eggs are. If the eggs are very dirty then those get given to the birds as their treat <cooked of course>

In the UK, most people dont refrigerate the eggs....they are bought right off the shelves. So on my counter they sit out of direct light and when i use them they get washed.

 

[JewellFarm]

Quote:
I don't wash mine and I'm glad I don't, especially after reading info from the above link.

 

[redhen]

I'm still confused.. I want to wash them..but i'm nervous to remove that bloom....

 

[Equus5O]

My question hasn't really been answered. After washing, do they have to be refrigerated?

I don't normally wash or refrigerate them. But, I don't want to bring in eggs to sell that are covered with dirt, because they were collected with muddy hands.

 

[meme9726]

Quote:
If you wash them, wash in hot water then you should refridgerate them. Unwashed eggs do not need to be refridgerated.

 

[ArizonaDesertChicks]

I don't wash my eggs because I don't want to remove the protective bloom. My chickens do not soil their nests, so I just brush off the shavings and an occasional feather and the eggs are ready for the carton.


This is an exact quote from the USDA site:

"Why Do Hard-Cooked Eggs Spoil Faster than Fresh Eggs?
When shell eggs are hard cooked, the protective coating is washed away, leaving bare the pores in the shell for bacteria to enter and contaminate it. Hard-cooked eggs should be refrigerated within 2 hours of cooking and used within a week."
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Factsheets/Focus_On_Shell_Eggs/index.asp


Storebought, USDA eggs have been sanitized, but afterwards, the plant applies a protective mineral coating to the eggs to replace the natural bloom that was removed with washing.

I think if you really must wash your eggs, do it right before using -- unless, they are poopy. If they are consistently dirty, then you might want to start training the chickens not to sleep in their nest.

 

[StupidBird]

All this cootie talk made me snort coffee. Very amusing. And here's my two cents worth: I ate a lot of dirt as a kid, enough so even now I can look at the ground and imagine what it'd taste/feel like. I have no idea why I did this, but I have numerous chronic health problems/digestive/allergy/asthma/nerve/immune... Guess I was one that'd been weeded out along the way.
Nope, don't wash eggs unless I'm going to crack open a dirty one. My favorite is soft boiled anyway, so I figure that'll clean it up. Clean ones are the majority anyway, and if DH would stop giving them away I'd have enough around here for eggsalad, deviled eggs, and all.
Cooties are much more a hazard out there in stores or the doc's office. And that's a terribly funny illustrative about the finger. Another coffee snorting.

 

[PlymouthRocker]

Today I talked with a stranger about chickens (not sure what I had to talk about before we got chickens, but it's all I talk about now - even with strangers) and she mentioned the bloom to me. A couple of hours later a friend told me that 30 years ago when she raised chickens, she asked a farmer about washing eggs and he gave her a piece of sand paper to remove any icky thing. So that's what I'm gonna do if need be.