How Long do eggs last?

With my family back in the US for the summer I am not going through things in the fridge so fast. I have a half dozen eggs in there that have probably been there between 2 and 3 weeks.

What happens over time? Does the taste change dramatically? Are their health risks as eggs get too old?

TIA

I keep eggs for weeks. I'm sure it's not the right thing to do, but I do it. It seems to me that the white gets less firm. I know when I poach eggs, the fresher the better because they stay together better.

Eggs 2-3 weeks old will be okay. They won't be as good as fresh, but they won't hurt you.

What Patti said. Fresh are better flavor and nutrition-wise but they won't hurt you at 2 or 3 weeks. If you use them in something that they aren't the "star" of, you probably won't even notice any slight taste degradation.

But really, eggs are fairly inexpensive... (but, even in Japan? )... "If in doubt, throw it out."

I use mine in "fresh" applications up to the expiration date. After that (not too much after!), I hard boil them.

The Egg Safety Center claims 4 to 5 weeks if the eggs are under constant and adequate refrigeration. The lack of clear dating on many eggs makes that tough to implement with any certainty. They say that even two hours on the kitchen counter without refrigeration means the eggs should be discarded.

"Fresh shell eggs can be stored in their cartons in the refrigerator for four to five weeks beyond the carton’s Julian date with minor loss of quality. Once an egg begins to age, it loses moisture through its porous shell and begins to dry. The membranes that hold the egg structure begin to loosen and the yolk may not be anchored in the center of the white once the egg is broken. An older egg would be most appropriate for a mixed dish, a batter or a hard cooked egg which should be easier to peel than a freshly laid egg."

I've eaten old eggs with pleasure, but for ultimate pleasure, the fresher the better, no more than three or four days. Luckily, Clive, our King Charles Cavalier, is much less fussy, and an egg every other day of any freshness cheers him up immensely and makes his coat shine.

U.S. ballistic missile submarines on patrol manage(d) to keep eggs fresh enough to eat for 3 months.

An easy egg test: drop egg in question into water. If it floats, it's old. But even then it might be okay for certain uses.

[Jenise]

In parts of China, 100 years.

You should always keep eggs in their carton...not in the egg holder on the door. I keep eggs for weeks, 5 to 6. I do buy them from the farmer, however. Eggs from the maket that I must buy in winter, I buy the 6 pak.

[David M. Bueker]

The lack of clear dating on many eggs makes that tough to implement with any certainty.

I've been buying eggs for about 20 years & never had any uncertainty about the "expiration" date. I'm really not sure what you are referring to Bob.

I've been buying eggs for about 20 years & never had any uncertainty about the "expiration" date. I'm really not sure what you are referring to Bob.

State laws vary, but the Georgia Egg Board has an excellent history from a consumer point of view. They say:

"CARTON DATES Egg cartons from USDA-inspected plants must display a Julian date - the date the eggs were packed. Although not required, they may also carry an expiration date beyond which the eggs should not be sold. In USDA-inspected plants, this date cannot exceed 45 days [note: some sources say 30 days] after the pack date. It may be less through choice of the packer or quantity purchaser such as your local supermarket chain. Plants not under USDA inspection are governed by laws of their states." http://www.georgiaeggs.org/pages/cartondates.html

Query: what is the interval between the date the egg leaves the chicken and the "pack date"? Typically, packers pack eggs within one to seven days of their being laid. But there is no USDA rule, although there may be state rules. About one third of our nation's eggs are from USDA-inspected plants.

Rule of thumb for USDA inspected plants, buy the eggs with the largest Julian date, the number of days since the beginning of the calendar year in question. If you can figure out the current Julian date, you probably can guess how old the eggs probably are -- or perhaps one of the eggs anyway.

I use 30 times the number of the past month plus the number of days since the first of the current month as a good estimate: today was Julian 200 estimated, 202 actual. The highest Julian date I found at the Market Basket today was 185; I bought six with 182 instead of the dozen we really needed.

GoodEgg has a different approach; there system is based on the date the egg was laid: http://www.goodegg.com/eggdating.html

When were your eggs laid?

It is sometimes possible to find out when your eggs were packed, but very difficult to find out the actual date the eggs were laid! GoodEgg.com helps make it easier!

GoodEgg.com has pioneered a new way of dating eggs to insure that only the freshest eggs reach the consumer. "USE BY" dating of each egg gives freshness dating on eggs, 45 days from the date the egg was laid in the henhouse. This insures honest farm freshness. The process involves inkjet printing each egg after it is washed and candled with a U.S.D.A. approved vegetable based food grade ink.

Eggs are good for 45 days from the date of lay, this makes it simple!

If your egg does not have a USE BY date, how can you tell the date the eggs were at least cartoned? Most states require a "Julian" date. The Julian date is the numeric date of the year that the eggs were cartoned.

Eggs that were cartoned on January 1 would have a 001, eggs cartoned on December 31 would have a 365, the 365th day of the year. If all of this sounds confusing, just take a look at the chart below, and remember that a GOODEGG.com egg is a fresh egg.

Once in awhile I can find GOODEGG eggs -- marked on the eggs not the package, which have to carry the USDA/state mandated dates on the packaging. I haven't compared the two dates, but will the next time I find some.

Best, Bob

Eggs are pretty tough cookies. They can survive outside of refrigeration for a spell. They will last much longer under refrigeration of course. I hesitate to tell you folks this but in the restaurants when our refrigeration was overcrowded eggs came out before seafood, poultry or meats. We would allow them to sit beside the walk-in for a few hours sometimes while we rearranged everything inside to find a place for them.

Of course, if you want to do your own...

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=93380

[David M. Bueker]

Well Bob, all I can tell you is that I have never seen a carton of eggs without a "Use By" date. After that it's not worth thinking about all the inner workings of the system as far as I am concerned.

Well Bob, all I can tell you is that I have never seen a carton of eggs without a "Use By" date. After that it's not worth thinking about all the inner workings of the system as far as I am concerned.

If freshness doesn't matter, it doesn't matter. The "Use By" date doesn't tell you how fresh the eggs are, and remember the carton is dated. As a former stock boy, my bet it that still matters.

I like the smell of freshly laid eggs, or as close to that as possible. Best, Bob

[Robin Garr]

If freshness doesn't matter, it doesn't matter. The "Use By" date doesn't tell you how fresh the eggs are, and remember the carton is dated. As a former stock boy, my bet it that still matters.

I like the smell of freshly laid eggs, or as close to that as possible. Best, Bob

Bob, can you get locally produced free-range eggs either at seasonal farmers' markets or at nicer groceries? We almost never get anything but local free-range now that they're easily available. They're more expensive than commercial eggs but not unreasonable, and a couple of the best producers hand-write the date on the package the open date when the eggs were actually laid. We generally find that if we can get them refrigerated at a store in the city within a week or 10 days of that date, they are incredibly good. They never last us more than a couple of weeks, and - kept refrigerated - show no real degradation during that period.

The real keys, though, are finding good farmers with natural product who've got the scale or the incentive to make arrangements to sell retail through at least a few smaller, high-end city stores. The "Laid On Date" policy, to me, signals the kind of commitment that I want to reward with my buying.

I'm with you all the way, Robin. Several of us have told the Market Basket we will pay 25% to 50% premium for the GoodEgg dating and from time to time they do so. Ridgewood has a farmer's market on Sundays with a reliable supplier, but demand is very high and I often miss out -- sometimes sold out half an hour before the market is open.

We kept two hens and a rooster for several years, mostly for beauty but often with excellent eggs. Fresh are amazingly good, aren't they?

Best, Bob