How old are store bought eggs?

[GreggsEggs]

Thats a question I'd like the answer to as well. How do you wash or remove the poop/stools, stuck on feathers, and dirt with out removing the protective bloom? I read that washing fresh laid eggs lessens their storage time because of washing off the bloom?!?

 

[WoodlandWoman]

What I do, when I occasionally get a dirty egg, is wash it and put it with the older eggs I will be using sooner, rather than putting it in with the clean eggs that were laid that same day.

 

[mdbucks]

I deliver to a egg packing plant. They no longer have chickens there. They get eggs every day so they have been layed within 48 hours they get eggs from various farms(using that term loosly) daily. They are ran on a conveyers in eggcup type flats, run through a dishwasher type spray washer, through light(candling) for dark spots/cracks bad ones seperated. then are weighed and placed into cartons 12/18 flats etc...
they do runs of white then brown, also organic .....depends where each batch came from. after packing they are put on refrigerated trucks to be shipped out that afternoon

So that being said most stores do not have storage room for month old eggs so most of your eggs on store shelves are fresh, maybe not fresh out of the chicken but fresh, but within a couple days of that.

 

[devora]

For the washing, I thought it was only undesirable if you washed them right away. ????

 

[WoodlandWoman]

Why, when I cracked store bought eggs into the fry pan, was some of the white so watery that it ran all over the pan? They were bought at the store the day before and were the "freshest" eggs at the store. I also looked at the date on the carton. I didn't buy them, I was just cooking with them.

Anyway, they didn't seem all that fresh to me.

 

[ruth]

I hate to be the only "odd-egg" here - pun intended. But I saw one of those 20/20 shows a couple of years ago that showed cartons of eggs that were out of date being picked up, rewashed and repackaged with new dates. According to the expose, some of the eggs in cartons in stores can be as old as six months. It showed the whole process being done and they were opening cartons, dumping them back into washing bins and repackaging them. The egg companies interviewed claimed the process "refreshened" the eggs and thus they could repackage them with new dates. If it wasn't on 20/20 it was Date Line or one of those shows and aired on prime time t.v. Now if you combine that show with the ones that tell you how the chickens were treated and what all was pumped into them to get those eggs...well...we can all be grateful for our real, farm-fresh, natural eggs. It's the reason I got chickens - now if they would just start laying. I'm checking every day - my black sex links are about 18-19 weeks with red floppy combs - each night I tell them "I want eggs tomorrow morning" but alas, no eggs yet. So, I just told them we were having a bunch of people over next weekend and the menu was either omelets or chicken - "you decide".

 

[joebwe25]

Old.

 

[Laskaland]

Quote:
Interestingly, the document also stated:

The first definition for "eggs of current production" was added to the regulations March 1, 1955, and included a 60-day requirement. At that time, the definition allowed buyers and sellers to differentiate between relatively fresh eggs and cold storage or storage eggs. The commercial cold storage of eggs began in the U.S. around 1890, when egg production was seasonal. Cold storage could hold the spring and summer production surplus (about 50 percent of the annual production) for release during periods of relative scarcity in autumn and winter, thus avoiding drastic supply and price fluctuation. Until the 1950s, it was common for eggs to be held in refrigerated storage for up to 6 months.

I also read an article from Mother Earth News, where they tested storage of eggs. Their conclusion was that eggs refrigerated as long as 7 months (when the experiment ended) were still good.​

Yuck....I love my Orps even more now

 

[Cheryl]

I ran out of eggs the other day, so had to buy them at the grocery store, since I figured they had a little bit of age to them, I hard boiled 6...well they were VERY fresh, no air pocket and a real beach to peel!!!! I think this time of year, with all the baking going on, eggs are pretty fresh!

 

[spatcher]

I seriously have my doubts about stores not having their own cold storage facilities. Given that, crack a store bought egg and one of your chickens' fresh laid eggs and tell me they are both "fresh" by looking at them! I am sure that there are stores that buy fresh eggs locally, just like they do produce at times...but I have my doubts about the major chains.