Post here if you DON'T wash clean-looking eggs

[R_Chickens]

We wipe off any bedding or the occasional "dirt' or other substance on the shells.

For those of you who don't wash...

Do you reuse your cartons? Don't they get dirty? I would be concerned about making a breeding ground for nasties in the cartons.

Here in PA you are supposed to wash in mild bleach and keep refrigerated if you are going to sell eggs. We are very small, only family and friends, so it's optional for us.

We do refrigerate, however. I read the eggs rapidly lose their "goodness" at room temp. Ref: Grading of the eggs and such.

- JC

 

[IttyBiddy]

I only wash eggs before I use them if they are poopy and use them within 24 hours, which is rarely! Ain't died yet!

 

[gale65]

Quote:
Ours sit on the counter until there's enough for a dozen, and then they go in the refrigerator in a carton. If there is dirt, I wipe it off with a paper towel wet with hot water right before putting them in the fridge. So far none have had visible poop-just muddy streaks when it's been raining. I've started adding a label to the cartons explaining that they are not washed and if they want to, to wash just before using and use warm water. We only give our eggs to family so far. We don't plan to reuse cartons at all so that won't be an issue. If you use foam or plastic ones they can be cleaned with bleach water.

 

[nomadathart]

I thought if you washed them, you wash off a protective film and they do not keep as long, not that I keep them very long as it is. Occasionally I wash dirty eggs but not very often. Guess I am in the majority then.

 

[Spotsyltucky]

Just knock off occasional feathers and bedding.

 

[chicken danz]

People in Europe and Asia never wash eggs. There is no reason if they are collected regularly before they get dirty. Nature provides all the protection you need. Why taint the contents with cleaners and other toxins that can be absorbed through the shell?

 

[CheerioLounge]

I wipe off any poop with a damp sponge reserved only for that purpose. If they are clean (in my opinion) they go straight in to a basket on the counter in the coolest part of the kitchen. I don't think I have ever refrigerated an egg since we started keeping chickens. As we only have 5 hens, the eggs are usually eaten within a day or two after they are collected.

I used to crack them one at a time into a small bowl before combining them into a larger bowl for scrambling, etc., for fear that I would get a bad egg. After about a month of beautiful, bright yolks and never finding a bad egg I stopped dirtying that extra bowl. I have enough dishes to wash!!!

 

[jodyjkendrick]

I usually only wash our eggs is if there's a bit of poop on them, and that will mostly just scrape right off. But sometimes I'll wash them if they're going to my mother- she's kind of particular about that!

 

[billfields]

This is a very interesting conversation! So far (hens have been laying for a couple of months) I only have issues when one of them---I think the same one each time, I suspect Crazy Muriel, our "special' Campine---lays outside the nest, usually right beside the pop door so the others track muck in on it. It looks even worse because it's a white egg (more evidence against Muriel). I have washed a couple of those that were not too bad but a couple were so muddy I just scrambled them for the bassets. I make sure we use the washed ones rather than giving them away. My family had hens growing up and my mom only washed the soiled eggs. I store all my eggs in the fridge as soon as I gather them. I did read somewhere that it's not a good idea to wash the bloom off and that if you do to replace it by rubbing the egg with cooking oil. I'm not sue why one would wash a clean egg from backyard type hens. I do see why large egg factories need to do it but I got my chickens in the first place so we would never have to eat eggs from those places again.

 

[ozark hen]

I only wash them if they have poo on them and only if I am about to use the egg. Never, never wash my eggs if they are clean looking.