Washing & storing eggs

[kuntrychick]

Not sure if this is the right place for this, but...

Do y'all wash your eggs? Do you wash them with a certain kind of egg wash or just water or what? Do you wash them right after you gather them or just before you eat them?

What about storing them? Counter or fridge? I've heard people mention that they just store them on the counter? Do you have to put anything on them to store them this way to help them lasts longer? How long will they lasts this way?

If you refrigerate, do you refrigerate the same day they are gathered or what?

Do you have a certain way/arrangement for storing your eggs? Do you date them, put name or initial of the hen that layed it, etc.

Boy, I'm just full of questions ain't I?

 

[CarolJ]

This question comes up at least a couple times each week. You will get a lot of varied answers. Some people don't believe in washing or refrigerating their eggs. I wash my eggs as soon as I gather them - using an organic egg wash. I pat them dry and refrigerate them immediately.

If you do a search on the topic, you'll find lots of threads on this topic.

 

[LT]

We don't refrigerate our eggs (yet). At the moment we are able to use what we have within a matter of days. I am sure next spring this will change. But we don't wash them; instead, we use a damp cloth to gently clean the egg right before we crack them to use them.

 

[bairo]

After getting tired of using 2 shelves in fridge to keep eggs rotated correctly, we heard about not refrigerating them. Did a HUGE amount of research on the subject. We DO NOT WASH the eggs and now keep them in a kitchen cabinet on a rotation (we collect one dozen in 2-3 days for us) we actually only rotate by the dozen so a carton might have an egg 3 days old and one collected that morning. We keep 4 dozen at a time and give them away if we get above that. We eat a lot and also have 2 dogs that get 3 per week each. Our average age of storage is 7-8 days now and so worst case is we may catch an 10 day old egg every so often. We have been doing this for 5 weeks now and love it. America is the only civilized country that refrigerates eggs.

2 things to be cautious about. If you refrigerate an egg, do not then put that one out. If you wash or float an egg, do not leave those out. This is extremely important!!!!!! DO NOT WASH THEM IF LEAVING OUT!!!!! We dont even wash before cracking, never had one that looked dirty anyway.

They cook so much nicer and scrambled are much more fluffy...we love it. Just took a while to get used to the idea. Americans have been brain washed into refrigerating everything.

 

[Mommy 2 Wee Ones]

Because I give most of my eggs away right now. Only have 4 hens laying, I do not wash, but do refrigerate. I want to get a nice wire egg basket for the counter for our own egg use, but still want to store the eggs I am giving away in the fridge.

 

[Achickenwrangler#1]

I don't refrigerate my eggs, they stay on the counter, around 65 degree or less. We are having musical chairs in the henhouse now as added another hen so, everybody is rotating where they lay their eggs and a few were smudged...I don't wash them otherwise, the dirty ones go in a separate basket. Nope, don't wash them either but use them first (guess I am not a germaphobe, and when I crack the egg I use a knife so the clean inside doesn't get contaminated) The dogs get eggs and the shells too, poo and all.
Eggs last for weeks and weeks, months and months really without refrigeration (I think it ruins them) If I ever get to the point of having too many and have to give them away I will let people know the aren't refrigerated, and they aren't washed.

 

[LiLRedCV]

Just a week or so ago, someone posted this in response to another thread on the very same subject:

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Sustainable-Farming/1977-11-01/Fresh-Eggs.aspx

Hope it helps!

 

[MontanaChickenLady]

I know there are a lot of theories on this....but this is what I do. I collect eggs every day as I only have 4 hens. I bring them in the house and immediately run them under water that is colder than the eggs and I wash at them with both of my hands. They usually have pine shavings stuck on them from their nest boxes. I then dry each egg and place it in a carton in the frig. I try to keep them in cartons in the order they were laid so I know oldest to freshest. Works for me! Good luck on your decision.

 

[clairabean]

I choose to wash (with plain running tap water) and refrigerate. Collect daily, wash, then fridge.

 

[shelleen]

Yep, Americans are the only ones who refrigerate eggs. We've lived overseas & the eggs in the store are not refrigerated. BUT...once refrigerated, they MUST remain in the fridge.

At this point, we have both refrigerated eggs & counter eggs. This is mostly due to the fact that my 80+ year old in-laws live with us & it's just easier to do what they are used to, rather than explain/defend it day after day (dementia issues...) Also, I refrigerate the ones we sell/give away out of what most people are comfortable with. I prefer them room temp for cooking & baking. Taste, texture & fluffiness is second to none