Eggs at room temp?

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Here is another question for the group....

When baking do you set out your eggs on the counter and let them come to room temperature before adding them to your other ingredients?

I think it was the Barefoot Contessa on one of her older shows that said she does this. I don''t remember the reasoning.....maybe it makes the batter lighter and again it may have been for the particular dessert she was making too. I don't remember what she was making at the time.
She also said that if you didn't have time you could set them out on your counter the night before.

What is everyones opinion on this?.....come on...I know you have one;)
Not just BC who advocates this. It's an essential for anything that involves beating air into the accompanying mix. Leave them out over night to come to room temp if you absolutely must keep them in the 'fridge.

Actually, I don't refridgerate eggs at all. I only buy what I can use in a few days and keep them in a basket on the counter out of direct sunlight. I'm also careful what I buy. I only buy UK marked eggs from the producer rather than the supermarket and reject any that are cracked, dirty or in a stained box. Obviously if you live in a very hot country or state then my system may not work as eggs shouldn't be stored above 20 degrees centigrade/68 degrees fahrenheit.

If you notice, they aren't refridgerated when they are on display in the shops.
 
When eggs started coming from giant egg farms and not the farmer down the road. Refrigeration became necessary because eggs had to travel farther.

Eggs last seven times longer under refrigeration than at room temperature.

The American Egg Board has a great website with lots of information about eggs. It's worth looking at.

Incredible Edible Egg | Eggs | Egg Recipes, Egg Nutrition & Egg Facts
But do you actually want your eggs to be that old? Much better to buy in small quantities according to your usage weekly not monthly in bulk.
 
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But do you actually want your eggs to be that old? Much better to buy in small quantities according to your usage weekly not monthly in bulk.

Who said anything about buying in bulk? I buy a dozen at a time and they last one to two weeks. I see no reason to leave them out and have them potentially spoil before I use them. And, No, I don't plan to go to the store more frequently.
 
I've heard that in places where there's lack of refrigeration, people coat the eggs with something like Crisco to seal the pores and protect the insides.

I, too, try to set eggs out on the counter early for whatever recipe.
In the past that was indeed the case. Another method involved putting them up in isinglass.

During the second world war dried egg from America came to Britain in the food and weapons convoys. Some people thought them disgusting but my mother said that if they were rehydrated properly they made a delicious omelette. She used to say that the thought of the "American" omelette in the morning was what made the night shift in the munitions factory bearable!
 
Eggs right out of the chicken don't need to be refrigerated--a coating on the egg (supplied by the hen) keeps the egg from drying out.

Commercial eggs in the US are washed--that coating is gone, so those need to be refrigerated.

Eggs are designed to remain fresh for at least 3 weeks--it takes 3 weeks for the chick to hatch. If unfertilized eggs in the nest spoiled before the chicks hatched, it would cause disease and attract predators.

So--if you have farm eggs, leave 'em on the counter, and use them in a week or two. Grocery store eggs should be refrigerated.

(I am an eggspert--used to work for USDA as a grader, and I have had my own chickens for a dozen years.)
 
Eggs right out of the chicken don't need to be refrigerated--a coating on the egg (supplied by the hen) keeps the egg from drying out.

Commercial eggs in the US are washed--that coating is gone, so those need to be refrigerated.

Eggs are designed to remain fresh for at least 3 weeks--it takes 3 weeks for the chick to hatch. If unfertilized eggs in the nest spoiled before the chicks hatched, it would cause disease and attract predators.

So--if you have farm eggs, leave 'em on the counter, and use them in a week or two. Grocery store eggs should be refrigerated.

(I am an eggspert--used to work for USDA as a grader, and I have had my own chickens for a dozen years.)


Sadly, the vast majority of the population does not have warm from the hen eggs available to them.
 
We used to have our own chickens, first Leghorns then later Rhode Island Reds. (Digressing here----- if anyone has ever tried to chase down an escaped Leghorn then they'll know what is meant by "Faster than a speeding pullet" LOL)

When we went on a 3 week camping vacation in Baja California and knew we wouldn't be near any stores I took eggs fresh from the chickens, didn't wash them, coated them with paraffin and wrapped each one in newspaper. They stayed fresh the entire time.

Another digression----- when using the eggs from my own chickens I couldn't get boiled eggs to peel easily---- hardly at all--- what a mess! I experimented with all sorts of times etc. Store bought eggs always peeled fine. I finally kept a dozen (really) fresh eggs out and would try hard boiling them at various elapsed days.

It was only until the eggs were about 3 weeks old did they start to peel like store-boughts. So, "Farm Fresh" eggs in the supermarket may not be as 'fresh' as one would hope. But at least they're refrigerated.
 
...(Digressing here----- if anyone has ever tried to chase down an escaped Leghorn then they'll know what is meant by "Faster than a speeding pullet" LOL)

...So, "Farm Fresh" eggs in the supermarket may not be as 'fresh' as one would hope. But at least they're refrigerated.

They just have to be faster than you...

Older eggs peel easier. As the egg white shrinks, it makes space inside the eggshell for air to help separate the egg from the shell.

I'm making deviled eggs for a function next Saturday. I bought the eggs yesterday and will store them on their sides in the refrigerator until I make them next Saturday.
 
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But do you actually want your eggs to be that old? Much better to buy in small quantities according to your usage weekly not monthly in bulk.

Here in the states weekly food shopping is the norm. We have large refrigerators. Most people don't go to the market for their large shop more than once a week, if they do it is to fill in little things.

I buy eggs 2 dozen at a time from the farmer's market, it isn't as easy to get to so I have to go on my day off. Supermarkets here rarely carry local fresh eggs.
 
Yes! We frequent Cozumel. Eggs are in abundance, sitting unrefrigerated in the middle of the store on huge pallets. No fresh milk to be found, it's all in cartons on the shelf that are good for 2 years or more. Not too bad if it's chilled.
But it's vile in tea!
 
Here in the states weekly food shopping is the norm. We have large refrigerators. Most people don't go to the market for their large shop more than once a week, if they do it is to fill in little things.

I buy eggs 2 dozen at a time from the farmer's market, it isn't as easy to get to so I have to go on my day off. Supermarkets here rarely carry local fresh eggs.
Supermarkets rarely carry fresh eggs period! By the time they've been shunted from place to place and driven several times round the country they are tired to say the least.
 
I've experienced the opposite, for me they separate easier and cleaner when room temp. I use my hand to separate (let the whites slip through my fingers) and when room temp, it seems like the white separates cleanly from the yolk, so when I place the yolk in the bowl there is no white around the yolk.


It seems to me the yoke tends to break more easily when at room temp. But I do use the rotating from shell to shell to separate. It's also easier to pick out that little cloudy clump when cold. I just don't like that in there, lol.
 
It's also easier to pick out that little cloudy clump when cold. I just don't like that in there, lol.

:yum:

I have a friend (who is usually quite centered and sane) who will NOT eat those "little clumps." LOL

I finally looked up what they are---chalazae.

"An egg yolk is basically a bag of concentrated food for the development of a chicken embryo if the egg is fertilized. It doesn’t float around freely inside the clear egg white, but is anchored to the shell by two little twisted ropes called chalazae (pronounced cuh-LAY-zee), and these are the white things you are talking about. One chalaza connects the yolk at the more pointed end of the egg and the other at the rounder end. This tethering ensures that the yolk is protected against hitting the inner walls of the egg if the egg is moved around."

"As eggs age, these structures start to disappear, so clearly visible chalazae are a good sign your eggs are fresh."
 
:yum:

I have a friend (who is usually quite centered and sane) who will NOT eat those "little clumps." LOL

I finally looked up what they are---chalazae.

"An egg yolk is basically a bag of concentrated food for the development of a chicken embryo if the egg is fertilized. It doesn’t float around freely inside the clear egg white, but is anchored to the shell by two little twisted ropes called chalazae (pronounced cuh-LAY-zee), and these are the white things you are talking about. One chalaza connects the yolk at the more pointed end of the egg and the other at the rounder end. This tethering ensures that the yolk is protected against hitting the inner walls of the egg if the egg is moved around."

"As eggs age, these structures start to disappear, so clearly visible chalazae are a good sign your eggs are fresh."

I was thinking it could possibly be the embryo so I could never make myself leave it in, lol. So I learned something new today...:cool:
 
Just read this thread. I really miss CWS. She would have had a lot to say about eggs.

My grandma always told us not to wash the eggs after getting them from the coop. She said that we needed to wait until right before cracking to wash because that was how they were kept fresh, and she kept them in the pantry. I have always kept my eggs in the refrigerator because they look really clean when I buy them, so I know someone washed them too early. :)
 
:yum:

I have a friend (who is usually quite centered and sane) who will NOT eat those "little clumps." LOL

I finally looked up what they are---chalazae.

"An egg yolk is basically a bag of concentrated food for the development of a chicken embryo if the egg is fertilized. It doesn’t float around freely inside the clear egg white, but is anchored to the shell by two little twisted ropes called chalazae (pronounced cuh-LAY-zee), and these are the white things you are talking about. One chalaza connects the yolk at the more pointed end of the egg and the other at the rounder end. This tethering ensures that the yolk is protected against hitting the inner walls of the egg if the egg is moved around."

"As eggs age, these structures start to disappear, so clearly visible chalazae are a good sign your eggs are fresh."

Well that explains why the eggs from the farmer's market (fresh, really free roaming, outdoors chickens) have a much more visible white thingy.
 
I buy my eggs locally, and get them unwashed, which allows me to keep them at room temperature at all times without fear of spoilage. When they are washed, it removes a natural coating, "cuticle" if I remember correctly, that creates a natural barrier to bacteria and spoilage. I find that eggs are easier to deal with at room temperature.
 
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