Left out hardboiled eggs

[Kezzie]

They will last at least 24 hours if the shell is still intact.

 

[cmom]

I have eaten eggs that have been left out for a few hours and I'm still here.

 

[charsbird]

I think they're fine too.

 

[beepbeepinajeep]

Thank you I hate to waste eggs

 

[Eggs4Sale]

I left a dozen hard-boiled eggs out on the counter overnight (after having been refrigerated for three weeks) and when I opened one, there was no off smell, just a very light fresh egg smell. I gave them to my lucky chickens.

 

[la dee da]

Mom has left boiled eggs on the counter for an entire day, and dad ate them for the next week or so and he never got sick.

It will be interesting to see if people have input on this. In the past, I have heard (no guarantee of correctness) that any food left out at room temperature for 2 hours should be tossed. Lately I have heard rumor it is now 4 hours. Still this is all rumor and in general, not specific to eggs...I suppose there are a lot of factors involved... be cautious.

We're pretty bad at putting food away quickly here, and frequently meat (of all kinds) gets left out for 2-4 hours, especally pizza. Once I left chicken out for 6 hours, ate it the next couple days and nothing bad happened (it was good, too).​

 

[thechickenchick]

I would have eaten them too!

I worked in a college food service for over 15 years. The guidelines were constantly changing, drove me nuts! So you would think I would be extra cautious, nope! Just the opposite. I saw a lot of perfectly good food "thrown away". Just before it was "thrown away" it found its way to my car.

Where it sat until the end of my shift after all ready deemed "inedible". I was a single mom and this was our "grocery shopping". We never got sick. So now I have that, oh its OK attitude. My DH thinks I am nuts sometimes but I have been right... so far!!

I would say, as in any situation, follow your gut. If you feel nervous eating something or feeding it to your family, then don't. Besides, I figure if the chickens get it, it is not wasting! At $15 a bag for feed, its cheaper to feed them all the leftovers I can.

 

[GreenGoddess]

Just my $.02.. When I was a kid, we would dye eggs for Easter every year and they NEVER went into the fridge.. We would boil them, let them cool, color them and then sit them out on the table in a tray and of course a few would be put into the baskets.. If they were still there the following Saturday night (1 week) then we would throw them out... Normally would start with between 1 1/2 - 2 dozen eggs and would only throw out maybe 3 or 4... This included cracked and intact eggs.. Ummm... I've lasted 34 1/2 years so far.. So, apparently it didn't kill me... LOL... That being said.... I am now a mother myself and if anything stays out of the fridge for more than a few hours, I throw it to the chickens.. lol..

Goddess

 

[Puck-Puck]

All that being said, that we all think they're fine...if you're going to be second-guessing yourself anyhow and tremulously and tentatively sniffing before every cautious nibble...checking your temperature and your pulse...and not enjoying a morsel...you'd be better off giving them to the chickens who won't worry at all! And start fresh.

 

[feckless_son]

Eat the eggs.
Harmful pathogens will take a long time to take over those hardboiled.
They come with their own package.
Protein-rich foods are less vulnerable to dangerous bacteria than something like rice or other starchy foods with moisture in them.

Trust your nose above all else.
I eat soup, fish, meats, many things that are "left out".
Depending on weather, they will take shorter or longer times to "go sour."
This is just fermenting, y'all.
Some of it tastes spectacular.

How long have refrigerators been around, anyway???????
Almost everything you buy in a can or jar or package now says,
"REFRIGERATE IMMEDIATELY AFTER OPENING."

Why??
My grandmother never put peanut butter or jelly in the fridge.

I smell a white goods manufacturer somewhere near the food packer's marketing department...