4 ms·

"may be fine for two" sounds extremely pessimistic. I live in France, and we regularly eat eggs that have been sitting on the shelf for a month and they taste g

"may be fine for two" sounds extremely pessimistic. I live in France, and we regularly eat eggs that have been sitting on the shelf for a month and they taste good and nobody gets sick.

Retric 10y ago
Milk used to kill a lot of people yet many would drink it without issue for decades. So, your sample size is a little small in the grand scheme of things.
- spatulon 10y ago
  OK, here's another sample. The eggs I bought yesterday (I'm in the UK) have a "best before" date printed on them of 4 March, i.e. 2 weeks.
  - tyldum 10y ago
    That is due to EU regulations. We used to have 4 weeks on eggs in Norway, but was forced to limit it to 2 weeks. Apparently it was all about salmonella risk, even though that is very rare in our eggs.
    - kwhitefoot 10y ago
      I've learnt something today. I don't think I have ever looked at the expiry date on eggs here in Norway and I've been here over thirty years! I definitely keep eggs for longer than two weeks unrefrigerated.
- stordoff 10y ago
  2-4 weeks seems reasonable. The eggs we got sometime this week (UK) have a Best Before date of 5th March (and the Best Before only indicates when they start to lose their quality - they remain safe to eat for some time after that).
Al-Khwarizmi 10y ago
I'm from Spain and just use the old tricks transmitted through generations... For boiling, if the egg sinks in water it's good, if it floats it's bad. For frying or anything that needs breaking the egg, I break it carefully so that the yolk will not be broken by the hit, then I dip it into a plate. If the yolk keeps tight and nice the egg is good, if it breaks spontaneously or leaks some liquid, not good. I've never had any problems and yes, usually they keep fine for a month without problems. I suppose the industry just prefers to be on the safe side with their recommendations.
- mercer 10y ago
  In the case of frying, why isn't it good enough to do the float test?
  - Broken_Hippo 10y ago
    It is probably good enough, but slightly more inconvenient considering how the eggs are prepared. It is pretty easy to slip an egg from a plate into a frying pan - some folks do this as standard practice. I was never sure of the origins until now. If you are boiling, you are drawing some water anyway. It isn't a big deal at that point to have test water and add it into the pot when you are done.
    - Al-Khwarizmi 10y ago
      Yep, that's the reason. Both tests would work fine but it's a matter of convenience.

"may be fine for two" sounds extremely pessimistic. I live in France, and we regularly eat eggs that have been sitting on the shelf for a month and they taste good and nobody gets sick.

Retric 10y ago

Milk used to kill a lot of people yet many would drink it without issue for decades. So, your sample size is a little small in the grand scheme of things.

spatulon 10y ago
OK, here's another sample. The eggs I bought yesterday (I'm in the UK) have a "best before" date printed on them of 4 March, i.e. 2 weeks.
- tyldum 10y ago
  That is due to EU regulations. We used to have 4 weeks on eggs in Norway, but was forced to limit it to 2 weeks. Apparently it was all about salmonella risk, even though that is very rare in our eggs.
  - kwhitefoot 10y ago
    I've learnt something today. I don't think I have ever looked at the expiry date on eggs here in Norway and I've been here over thirty years! I definitely keep eggs for longer than two weeks unrefrigerated.
stordoff 10y ago
2-4 weeks seems reasonable. The eggs we got sometime this week (UK) have a Best Before date of 5th March (and the Best Before only indicates when they start to lose their quality - they remain safe to eat for some time after that).

Al-Khwarizmi 10y ago

I'm from Spain and just use the old tricks transmitted through generations... For boiling, if the egg sinks in water it's good, if it floats it's bad. For frying or anything that needs breaking the egg, I break it carefully so that the yolk will not be broken by the hit, then I dip it into a plate. If the yolk keeps tight and nice the egg is good, if it breaks spontaneously or leaks some liquid, not good. I've never had any problems and yes, usually they keep fine for a month without problems. I suppose the industry just prefers to be on the safe side with their recommendations.

mercer 10y ago
In the case of frying, why isn't it good enough to do the float test?
- Broken_Hippo 10y ago
  It is probably good enough, but slightly more inconvenient considering how the eggs are prepared. It is pretty easy to slip an egg from a plate into a frying pan - some folks do this as standard practice. I was never sure of the origins until now. If you are boiling, you are drawing some water anyway. It isn't a big deal at that point to have test water and add it into the pot when you are done.
  - Al-Khwarizmi 10y ago
    Yep, that's the reason. Both tests would work fine but it's a matter of convenience.