To refrigerate, or not to refrigerate?

[EJPedrazzi]

I'm just curious as to how people store their eggs. I have never kept eggs in the fridge, always keeping them in an egg crate at room temperature and they've always been fine. Some people however think this is wrong and I should keep them in the fridge.
I keep them at room temp as I poach them a lot, and they stay together better when at room temp, rather than going from being refrigerated to going straight into hot water. Also, a lot of baking recipes call for the eggs to be room temp.

Any advice as to why you would keep eggs refrigerated?

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

I wash mine with Egg Washer Pro and thus want them in the refrigerator as I have washed off the bloom.

We boil eggs a lot and I don't want dirty eggs in my cooking pot.

 

[Den in Penn]

They last longer. If you have a small flock and eat eggs a lot I doubt you have them long enough on the counter to go bad.

 

[SkyWarrior]

Sometimes when I'm out of room in the refrigerator, I'll leave eggs out. I read a study by Mother Earth News that showed eggs with the bloom lasted 3-6 months unrefrigerated. I think that's a little long, but a week or so is fine.

If you wash them, you have to refrigerate them. JMO.

 

[mandelyn]

My oldest are in the fridge, freshest on the counter. We use them from the fridge out of numbered plastic cartons. When one is empty, I load it and add it to the stack in the fridge. A rotation of cartons. None of the eggs on the counter are older than 2 weeks.

I have like 5 dozen eggs at any given time. LOL When I get more than that, the dogs, cat, chickens, and turkeys all get scrambled eggs.

If I find a less than perfect egg in the coop, I crack it open and give it to the girls right there. They drink it down and bicker over it, and it hasn't caused them to eat the eggs themselves.

I find numbered cartons to work really well, or dating the eggs. We don't wash them until we use them.

You can also freeze them, by cracking them into an ice tray, separating the yolk from the white, then putting the egg cubes into zip lock bags. I haven't had any long enough to have to do that with them, but it's my plan if I get totally bogged down with eggs.

 

[EJPedrazzi]

What a great idea to freeze them!

We never have eggs longer than a week so I think it's fine to keep them out. I don't wash them till I use them either - but out of interest, why, if you wash them do you have to refrigerate them? If we get a surplus we're not going to use, the dogs and neighbours get them so they're always the freshest eggs around love them!

 

[ducklucky]

If washed, refrigerate. Just think that a hen sits on eggs for 28 days, and they don't "spoil" the babe. And that's some intense heat under there! In Europe, you buy eggs at room temp next to flour and baking goods. We keep eating eggs on the counter for weeks, but use them before it's even a concern. The refrigerated, those that had to be cleaned from poo, we hard boil, they seem to peel a little easier, but still need to be boiled in salted water and peeled under cold running water, they're still so super fresh even after several weeks. So yes, unwashed eggs can be kept out for a long, long time, some say even months, but ours are never around long enough. Just make sure they are free of cracks or dents.

 

[ourgirls]

A friend of mine who is a restaurant/food inspector said that it's okay to leave them out, but if you put them in the fridge, keep them in the fridge. Do not leave refridgerated eggs sitting on the counter. I think she said a change in temperature could cause some kind of bacteria to grow. We keep them on the counter for a week or so, and if they are not eaten we put them in the fridge and keep them in there.

 

[mississippifarmboy]

We never refrigerate our own eating eggs. No need to. If they are not cracked or dirty they'll keep for weeks.
In the old days they would wipe fresh eggs with oil to seal them and I've read they would last months if oiled just sitting at room temperature.

Our selling eggs we refrigerate and date the cartons as per state regs.

 

[NTBugtraq]

No great wealth of expertise here, but if there is bacteria in the beginning, chilling or freezing and slow or stop that bacteria growth. When something is thawed or warmed, that bacteria may then continue its growth. IOWs, if it isn't there to start with, chilling then warming isn't going to create any bacteria. If it is there to start with, chilling then warming isn't going to make that bacteria grow any faster than before it was chilled.

All this chilling/freezing then thawing bacteria fear was, IMO, created around pork meat products from 50 years ago. I think it is much an urban myth highly distorted.

One of the largest egg producers in Ontario states that their eggs can safely be kept refrigerated for a month...and then go on to say they can be kept longer...IOWs, it isn't an issue. IMO, if an egg is bad it smells...if it doesn't, it doesn't matter when you eat it, its either got bad stuff or it doesn't (unless, of course, you aren't candling your eggs in which case if it was cracked any time along the way all bets are off.)

Cheers,
Russ