eggs

[sad old git]

Many arguments arise from this.Should fresh eggs be stored in a fridge or not? If not where is the best place to store them and how long can they be kept for? S.O.G

[Buenchico]

From the website of the British Egg Industry Council:
Q.Where should eggs be stored?
A. For optimum freshness and food safety, eggs should be kept at a constant temperature below 20C. To avoid the typical temperature fluctuations in a domestic kitchen, we recommend that eggs are stored in their box in the fridge

Also:
Q. Why aren’t eggs kept in a fridge in supermarkets?
A. For optimum freshness and food safety, eggs should be kept at a constant temperature below 20C. Most modern supermarkets are kept below 20C so it is not necessary for retailers to store them in a fridge. This also prevents significant temperature fluctuations (for example eggs being moved from a fridge to a hot car after purchase)

Also:
Q. How fresh are the eggs in supermarkets?
A. EU legislation requires that the maximum ‘best-before’ date on eggs must be 28 days from lay. To ensure optimum freshness, Lion eggs have a best-before date of up to 27 days from lay. For Lion eggs this must be shown on the shell (although this is not a legal requirement). Eggs have to be collected from farms at least twice a week and in practice most Lion eggs are delivered to the supermarket within 48 hours of being laid

And:
Q. How can I tell if my egg is fresh?
A. All Lion Quality eggs have a best-before date printed on the shell as well as on the egg box to ensure freshness. One simple test of freshness is to place an egg in water: generally, if the egg is stale it will float and, if it sinks, it is fresh. This is because as the egg gets older, the size of the air sac increases, making it float.

Source:
http://www.egginfo.co.uk/faqs

Chris

[slinkycat]

Don't keep mine in the fridge, just collect them from the nesting box each day and put them in one of those ceramic chicken storage things!
Wouldn't eat any that are older than 3 weeks, but they don't usually hang around more than a week or so.

[Ratty2E]

I keep mine in a ceramic chicken too. Cold eggs are no good for baking and that's what most of mine are used for

[boxtops]

We use few eggs so we keep them in the fridge, mostly for breakfasts. Keeping them on the worktop would be asking for trouble, the catz would enjoy booting them onto the floor.

[heathfield]

Eggs are at their best for cooking when at room temperature. Your old granny would probably have kept them on the kitchen mantlepiece, and I'm sure it didn't do her or her family any harm. Mine stay on the kitchen worktop. When they're past their Best Before, I just give them a float test.

[NOX]

Never put mine in the fridge, they're always in the corck chicken as per slinkycat- and theyre good for at least a month- 6 weeks.

[scotman]

I used to keep them in fridge then saw Delia Smith programme in which she said that she never did so I stopped.

[Kleiber]

I don't keep mine in the fridge either, but I've got my own chickens too, so I mark them all with the date on which they were laid. I agree that for cooking, they're best kept out of the fridge (certainly for meringues!) and for hard boiling, they've got to be at least 4 days old or they're a devil to peel!. I reckon that your average supermarket egg is at least a week old by the time it gets to the consumer, so I know mine are OK for about 4 or 5 weeks after they're laid. I haven't had food poisoning yet!!!