OK, you've all been very helpful about eggwashing, but someone said that unwashed eggs don't need to be refridgerated. How long can they be left out and not go bad?? I'm so thankfulfor this forum. I feel like a psychotic Mom and they're only 2 weeks old.
In Europe, eggs are sold off the store shelf, never refrigerated. One way to make hard boiled farm fresh eggs easier to peel is leave them on the counter for a week before cooking. But they will keep longer if refrigerated, whether washed or unwashed. Mother Earth News did a great research project on different ways of storing eggs and how long they kept. You can find the results on their site.
Here is the deal....on the outside of the egg is the "bloom" it protects the egg. If you do not wash the egg, it will last longer on the counter...easily 3 - 4 weeks (except at higher temperatures then cut is down to 2 - 3 weeks). Once you wash it, the egg begins its natural degeneration process and will last a week or so safely on the counter...refrigerated 2 weeks is about it. All of my eggs stay as they are until ready for use or being sold. If there are a few exceptionally dirty eggs, I lightly clean them with a damp cloth but still do not "wash" them. Remember this simple thing...a hen lays one egg every 26 hours or one per day. she will sit on a clutch of 12 - 16 eggs...so those eggs are out, in the natural environment for 2 weeks...so it would be impossible for the eggs to go "bad" in less time or we would never have any babies. Unfertilized makes no real difference.
Cetawin and DDawn have their act together on this. Here's the article on storing eggs. http://www.motherearthnews.com/Sust...ggs-a-Year-or-More-Without-Refrigeration.aspx
I read the article, but still a bit confused. I don't wash the eggs we get, but they go straight into the fridge in their own little compartment. How long will they be ok in the fridge? We've bought, before chickens, 5 dozen eggs at a time and they'd stay in the fridge for like a month before they were all gone.
