To wash or not to wash eggs?

[charlie14]

True that -but it helps

Not necessarily,The cleanness of your coop has nothing to do with rather the hen decides to poop in the nest box or that they get in the mud that is in the run and they drag it in the nest boxes. 

 

[chickengeorgeto]

So, are people afraid of their girls?.... All my life I have eaten unwashed eggs, and never once did I get sick from them...

In the dim, dark, and savage past of human existence (oh say about 75 years ago and counting) it was common to store eggs for up to one year without refrigeration and the eggs would still be potable. This was done by storing them in root cellars either inside of crocks filled with salt, strong brine, water glass, or with a covering of lard smeared on the shell to form a barrier against germs. This was even done before anyone knew that germs existed. The idea was and always has been about keeping bacteria out. Washing eggs removes the bloom, opens the egg pores to germs not present in a hens reproductive track, and hastens the onset of ROTTEN EGGS. Besides if any of you really REALLY knew where inside the hen that eggs are formed and encased in their shell you would be much more interested in the proper cooking of your eggs than about washing your eggs' shell.

Commercial eggs all get a good washing but it is only meant to make the eggs appealing to the urban house wife, it is in no way intended to protect public health.

 

[TaraBellaBirds]

My grandmother told me that they would clean the eggs with a super fine-grit sandpaper. This method removes the dried poop, but keeps the bloom in place for longer keep time.

 

[jackhorn01]

Some of this is good and some I think is just silly. I, like many of the people here, don't wash eggs unless they are filthy. Even then, if they are really bad and I have my usual large amount of eggs, I just chunk em. On the preserving eggs thing......... Why not keep them in the fridge lol. I keep my eggs in an open egg crate from the store in my fridge with everything else including stuff from my garden. I have never ever had an egg stink or taste funny from being in the fridge. Secondly, with the room temp thing for a year with oil etc..... Have any of you ever actually kept an egg for a year? If so, why? Most people who have chickens like to eat eggs... Most people will eat any given egg within 2 weeks or less after being laid. Rotating the older ones to the front when adding new ones etc.. and giving some extras away or selling them. Cold helps preserve things.. Proven fact. You can't combine everything said here and make sense of it. You have to use one technique and do it properly. When washed or handled PROPERLY putting them in the fridge ( cold ) will not hurt anything. It will actually help. Why does an egg need to stay fresh ie coating it with oil and overhthinking all this for 6 months or a year etc.. when 99.9 % of people will never keep one even half that long. On the anti fridge note, look at how our forefathers preserved other stuff. Heavily salting meat etc.. We have made the transition to freezers to make this easier and more efficient lol. So why do it the other way? Just my thoughts. Not trying to be ugly or attack anyone..

 

[foxychicks]

I dont' wash my eggs until Im ready to eat them. Then its just a quick rinse with water. I keep them out on my kitchen table. We eat them with in a week or so and I think they look pretty there. I rarely get dirty eggs from my hens. If I do I either knock off the dirt or feed them to the dogs, depending of the circumstances. Haven't had a problem yet. I do store eggs I'm going to sell in the fridge, but I don't wash them. My customers know and are ok with this.

 

[jackhorn01]

I would do that, I think the assortment of brown eggs looks good too. I just get too many

 

[houseofknauss]

Some of this is good and some I think is just silly. I, like many of the people here, don't wash eggs unless they are filthy. Even then, if they are really bad and I have my usual large amount of eggs, I just chunk em. On the preserving eggs thing......... Why not keep them in the fridge lol. I keep my eggs in an open egg crate from the store in my fridge with everything else including stuff from my garden. I have never ever had an egg stink or taste funny from being in the fridge. Secondly, with the room temp thing for a year with oil etc..... Have any of you ever actually kept an egg for a year? If so, why? Most people who have chickens like to eat eggs... Most people will eat any given egg within 2 weeks or less after being laid. Rotating the older ones to the front when adding new ones etc.. and giving some extras away or selling them. Cold helps preserve things.. Proven fact. You can't combine everything said here and make sense of it. You have to use one technique and do it properly. When washed or handled PROPERLY putting them in the fridge ( cold ) will not hurt anything. It will actually help. Why does an egg need to stay fresh ie coating it with oil and overhthinking all this for 6 months or a year etc.. when 99.9 % of people will never keep one even half that long. On the anti fridge note, look at how our forefathers preserved other stuff. Heavily salting meat etc.. We have made the transition to freezers to make this easier and more efficient lol. So why do it the other way? Just my thoughts. Not trying to be ugly or attack anyone..

just sharing information--information is good--if you had to ever store eggs cause the country takes a dive and it is how you survive--I have more eggs than I could ever use--I share with family but keep 3 months worth always in the egg fridge and rotate.

 

[iheartnh]

Some of this is good and some I think is just silly. I, like many of the people here, don't wash eggs unless they are filthy. Even then, if they are really bad and I have my usual large amount of eggs, I just chunk em. On the preserving eggs thing......... Why not keep them in the fridge lol. I keep my eggs in an open egg crate from the store in my fridge with everything else including stuff from my garden. I have never ever had an egg stink or taste funny from being in the fridge. Secondly, with the room temp thing for a year with oil etc..... Have any of you ever actually kept an egg for a year? If so, why? Most people who have chickens like to eat eggs... Most people will eat any given egg within 2 weeks or less after being laid. Rotating the older ones to the front when adding new ones etc.. and giving some extras away or selling them. Cold helps preserve things.. Proven fact. You can't combine everything said here and make sense of it. You have to use one technique and do it properly. When washed or handled PROPERLY putting them in the fridge ( cold ) will not hurt anything. It will actually help. Why does an egg need to stay fresh ie coating it with oil and overhthinking all this for 6 months or a year etc.. when 99.9 % of people will never keep one even half that long. On the anti fridge note, look at how our forefathers preserved other stuff. Heavily salting meat etc.. We have made the transition to freezers to make this easier and more efficient lol. So why do it the other way? Just my thoughts. Not trying to be ugly or attack anyone..

Cold doesn't help preserve ALL things, and easier and more efficient does not equal better..so that's why I do it the other way.

 

[foreverlearning]

just sharing information--information is good--if you had to ever store eggs cause the country takes a dive and it is how you survive--I have more eggs than I could ever use--I share with family but keep 3 months worth always in the egg fridge and rotate.

hehe had to check to see if you were the prepper...yup. Eggs are always useful, if you think you have more than you will ever need than start canning so you don't loose any. The older the better to can with (as long as they are still eatable), they taste great, store nicely, look pretty, and make great gifts. Never too many.

 

[RedneckGurl]

I don't wash my eggs - ever. I collect them daily when I get home from work (usually around 5:30pm), brush off any bedding or other debris that might be on them, bring them into the house, put them in cartons and put them in the refrigerator. The ONLY reason I put them there is to protect them from our four-footed house predators (4 cats, 1 dog) who get into anything and everything during the day while we're at work and even sometimes overnight while we're sleeping. Leaving them out on the counter is just inviting them to have a snack of raw eggs. They are notorious for getting into places that we thought were totally out of their reach too, so the only place I know for sure they can't get into is the refrigerator. If I had a cool, dark place, like a storage closet or root cellar, I would much prefer to keep the eggs there.

I also sell my excess eggs and I don't wash them either. I tell my customers that the eggs are not washed, and why, and I tell them that if they feel strongly about it, they can wipe them with a wet paper towel just before eating them. So far they are all 100% happy with their eggs and I've received no requests to wash their eggs.

I'm not a germaphobe, never have been, and like Happy Chooks, I survived eating dirt and probably lots of other questionable things while growing up and I'm just fine.