The food lab better home cooking through science ( PDFDrive ) 99
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remain wholesome for well beyond this 45-day period—60
to70daysisreasonable.
While it’s possible that the eggs you’re buying were laid
withinafewdaysoftheirpackdate,manufacturershaveup
to 30 days to clean and pack eggs, which means that, in
theory,ifyoubuyacartonofeggsonitsexpirationdate,it
may already be 75 days old! Clearly, checking the
expiration date is not the most reliable way to guarantee
fresheggs.You’remuchbetteroffcheckingthepackdate.
Q:WhatifIbuyeggswithoutapackdateorI’ve
transferredtheeggstotheeggcompartmentinmy
refrigeratordoorandnolongerknowthedate?
First off, everyone tells you that if you want to maximize
shelf life, you should get those eggs out of the fridge door
andintothecoldestpartofyourfridge.True.Butwhatthey
failtotellyouisthatevenonashelfinthedoor,eggswill
lastforseveralweeksbeyondtheirpackdate.Sounlessyou
eatorcookwitheggsonlyonveryrareoccasions,goahead
and keep them in the door.You’ll use ’em up long before
theygobad.
That said, there’s a quick and easy test to gauge the
freshness of an egg: just drop it into a bowl of water.
Eggshells are porous: they can lose about 4 microliters of
water a day to evaporation whilesimultaneously taking air
into the space between the shell and the inner membrane
nearthefatend.Inveryfresheggs,theairspaceistinyand
the egg will sink to the bottom of the bowl and lie on its
side.Aseggsgetolder,theairspacewillgrow,sooldeggs
will sink and then stand on their points as the air in the
larger end tries to rise. If you’ve got an egg that floats, it’s
probablypastitsprimeandshouldbediscarded.
Oldeggsstandupwhensubmergedinwater.
Q:Mylocalfarmers’marketsellsunrefrigeratedeggs,
andI’veseensomesupermarketsinEuropewherethe
eggsjustsitoutonshelves.Aretheycrazy,orisitme?
Most likely it’s you. When eggs are first laid, they are
covered in a thin wax-like coating called the cuticle. This
cuticle is the egg’s first barrier against bacterial infection
