To wash. Or not to wash. That, is the question.

[50-45-1]

I wash and refrigerate all my eggs when they come in the house.
I also leave my chore shoes an the outside step, and wash my hands before i touch my refigerator door, my counter or anything else. I have been doing this for 50 years and never given myself a bad egg.
Try selling eggs in a grocery store, one section labled washed, the other unwashed, and guess which would sell first.
200 years ago when our ancestors were living in soddy huts, or crossing the prarie in covered wagons. Im sure they did neither, but i have electicity and running water.
But Im glad to know that if i have to, like the power grid fails, or the zombie apocalipse comes. I can safely leave my eggs unwashed on the counter.

 

[Ninjasquirrel]

 

[CrystaBub]

I have ducks, so they are always visibly dirty therefore I always wash... I didn't vote b/c I'd have to choose option 1 and 3.

 

[JanetMarie]

I don't wash the chicken eggs, since I keep their bedding and housing clean, and chickens don't poop in their nest box. If they do there is something wrong with housing.

Muscovies are messy with their eggs, but many are clean if not laid in an outside nest.

 

[dotporter]

View attachment 1512747
unclean butt nuggets

 

[jolenesdad]

Aren’t we like one of the only countries that washes and refrigerate eggs?

I rarely wash. I feel like it’s safer. I’m not the FDA, I don’t know enough about the handling and storage once they’ve been refrigerated. I, personally, feel it’s safer to give my friends and family room temperature eggs. Then, I’m not concerned at all how long they may be OUT of the fridge.

If an egg is super dirty, I usually store it in a carton with other super dirties until I have enough to scramble and give back to the girls. Wash them right before using.

I keep all my eggs in an egg holder on the counter unwashed for our use, right into cartons for friends to put in the pantry

 

[sweetpea123]

I guess Im wondering if my opinion is wrong here. In Europe and a lot of places eggs are left out. I thought this was due to the non washing which removed the protective coating that can allow things to seep into the egg.

Here in the US all our eggs are washed before heading to the store so they do need to be refrigerated.

To add, we just have a small flock of 15 chickens free range in a reasonable suburban backyard and the coops get poop scooped daily by my mom. We leave eggs out until cooking and I doubt we have salmonella. We do wash right before cooking to remove grossness if it occurs. Usually the eggs are very clean though without washing. It's rare that anything gross is on the eggs

 

[Oakland Chickens]

Ours sit on the counter until there's enough to fill a few cartons, then we wash them and put them in the refrigerator.

 

[MissChick@dee]

If the eggs are not dirty why wash them. The bloom is very important for freshness. Do a experiment put a washed egg and a unwashed egg in the fridge for 2weeks you’ll SEE the difference in the white of the egg quite clearly. Then cook them...taste them bet you’ll never wash your eggs again. Why wash off the natural antibacterial coating??? If you refrigerate to extend shelf life. Try this experiment.

 

[TheLaboratoryBF]

All of our eggs remain in their carton(s) unwashed until they go into the fridge. We only put eggs in the fridge if they will be consumed quickly so they get a quick rinse, dry, and into the fridge carton they go. I prefer to keep surplus eggs unwashed and at room temperature so that I can share with friends and family as needed. We rarely have dirty eggs and only wash those immediately when they are considerably covered. I suppose my answer to the poll is yes, no, AND only when visibly dirty.