Washing eggs

[schoolgirl]

This is probably the first time anyone has ask this question on here. My husband has chickens and now we are getting a few eggs. Do I wash these eggs before putting in the fridge or wait until I use them. It seems like I have read not to wash before putting in the fridge. Anyone live on a farm and know the answer to this?

 

[pdswife]

We just kept our eggs on the counter... and we didn't wash them until it was time to scramble them up ( unless they were really filthy)

 

[schoolgirl]

Do they keep well leaving them out? This is all new to me. But I do know they are good eggs and make the best pound cakes. The hens aren't laying that many now, but hope things will pick up soon.

 

[pdswife]

In Mexico and Greece they never put the eggs in the fridge..they keep just fine.

Enjoy your chickens!!

 

[schoolgirl]

Hmmm that is interesting.

 

[Green Lady]

I have heard that eggs should be kept on the countertop but I have never done that. I think once they're refrigerated they need to stay refrigerated. Perhaps the eggs that can be kept on the counter are the organic ones, is that right? Does anyone know?

 

[Michael in FtW]

This is probably the first time anyone has ask this question on here. My husband has chickens and now we are getting a few eggs. Do I wash these eggs before putting in the fridge or wait until I use them. It seems like I have read not to wash before putting in the fridge. Anyone live on a farm and know the answer to this?

Do not wash the eggs until ready to use. Well, you can - but then you have to dry them and coat the shells with mineral oil to replace the natural air/bacteria barrier you washed off.

This is one of the things I remember from my uncle - who had an egg farm / chicken ranch.

Well, Uncle Jullian taught me other things about raising chickens/turkeys and eggs too (sizing, candeling, etc.) ... Grandma taught me how to dispatch a chicken to heaven for Sunday dinner (wringing their neck - plucking, etc.)

 

[attie]

Michael is spot on in his post, wipe them clean but do not wash them. If you want to keep the eggs in the fridge, by all means do so but don't use them to make a sponge cake. I don't know how long they keep unrefrigerated but we don't worry about storing them in the fridge until summer----say above 30C avv.

 

[Andy M.]

Eggs will last 7 times longer in the fridge than at room temperature. If you use up your eggs in a couple of days it shouldn't matter where you store them. If they hang around longer, you probably should refrigerate.

It seems that you are giving up the super freshness of your eggs by leaving them out.

 

[pacanis]

Yep. you are not supposed to actually wash them because doing so will remove the blume which will cause the eggs to spoil more quickly. It is generally accepted though that wiping the bit of "dirt" off with a damp paper towel is acceptable if you have to. A lot of folks sell eggs and like them to look presentable. I rarely get dirty eggs because I keep the nestboxes clean, and it's not like the hens sit in them and poop all day, even the broody ones. So there really isn't much to keeping them clean.

Eggs will last longer storing them in the fridge, but it is OK to leave them out, too. What I do with mine is to leave the carton out that I am currently filling, then move it into the fridge when it's full. When I need eggs, I grab a carton out of the fridge (first in, first out) and set it on a shelf in the kitchen. I use eggs from that carton, so they are room temp.
As a test, I did not put a carton in the fridge and let it set out for about a month at room temp. I noticed no difference with the eggs and they even sank when putting them in water, a sign of freshness.

Got any pics of your setup?

 

[Robt]

In Europe eggs are often sold off a standard shelf. They are not washed as our commercial eggs are here. The egg as laid has a natural coating that will allow the egg to not spoil for weeks if not months. When we wash this off they must be refrigerated.

My Grand mother and Mom by extension, wiped the messy stains off with a damp dish towel and the eggs set in a bowel on the pie safe.

That said, Harold McGee in his food science tome On Food and Cooking 2nd ed. 2004, says that a day on the room temperature shelf is as four days of deterioration of quality in the frig.

I think the answer is to use all the eggs you can from your layers and when they produce too many for your consumption, have a hen for a fine Sunday dinner.

 

[BreezyCooking]

Keep them in the fridge & don't wash them until right before use, & even then only if it's absolutely necessary.

When I raised chickens we only lightly rinsed the eggs if, for some reason, they were unusually dirty. This can be prevented if you collect the eggs often enough so that the hens don't get the chance to accidentally soil them.

 

[pacanis]

Accidentally is right, Breezy. Even when I had broody hens who were in the nestbox all day.... they didn't poop in the nestbox. I think the whole idea is to make sure they don't start roosting in the nestboxes.
From 5 minutes ago. Nothing but a little bit of shavings to brush off

 

[expatgirl]

What is candleling? making candles? my grandmother had chickens and always kept the eggs on the counter........we're still alive and kicking 50 years later.......believe me she wasn't going to take you to the doctor.........you got by on herbal tea and camphophenique

 

[BreezyCooking]

"Candling" is when the egg - in its shell - is held against a strong light, enabling you to see any interior imperfections such as blood spots or - if you happen to have a rooster around - a developing embryo.

Since commercial egg producers don't keep roosters, they candle eggs to pick out & discard any that have blood spots (which, by the way, have absolutely nothing to do with the egg being fertile or not). That's why you rarely, if ever, come across blood spots in commercially-produced eggs.

I never bothered candling my hens' eggs because 1) even tho I did have roosters, we collected eggs several times a day so there was no chance of any of them turning into chicks, 2) blood spots, while perhaps not appealing to look at, are perfectly harmless, & 3) if we did happen to come across the occasional egg that had been laid in an out-of-the-way place & might have been there for awhile, it was easier just to discard it.

 

[schoolgirl]

My goodness, you people know a lot about eggs that I had never even heard, and I have always lived in the country. Let me ask another question that I have heard different opinions on. When you crack an egg and it has that white glob on it do you take it off or use it in cooking? I usually try to get it out but a lot of people don't. What do you all do? You probably are rolling on the floor laughing at my description , but hopefully you know what I am talking about(I just don't know what it is called)

 

[Andy M.]

Click here for a site that has a lot of good info on eggs.

 

[pacanis]

Click here for a site that has a lot of good info on eggs.

Why Andy..... Are you sending her to another site?
Shame on you

 

[Andy M.]

Copyright rules prevent me from copying the entire site and posting it here.

 

[BreezyCooking]

Schoolgirl - I know the "white glob" you're talking about, but my overwracked pea brain can't remember the name.

Regardless - just like "blood spots", the "white glob" is perfectly harmless & edible. It's just a matter of personal preference as to whether or not you remove it. Some folks, if making particularly smooth, creamy sauces or custards, do remove or strain it from beaten eggs before using them.