Dates on eggs / how long do they keep for?

chunkychocky

I always put eggs in a big jug of water. If they float they are off (the gases make them float) if they don't they are safe. Usually fine for ages beyond their use by date, and very occasionally get a bad one before its use by date so always worth checking.

I'm using the term use by loosely as I don't know whether they usually say best before or use by.

ariba10

Put them in a jug of cold water. If they float throw them away.

If they stand on end on the bottom.---- They are OK for a few days.

If they are flat on the bottom.--- Sound as a bell.

kittycat204

i agree with everybody else

Pink.

Hi pinkteapot,

Mine say best before but I rarely pay much attention to the dates. To test if an egg is fresh try this Fresh Egg Test
.

Just remember that the egg didn't come out of the chicken's wotsit with a date stamp on it! If eggs are out of date, just to be on the safe side, I do the float test and then break them individually into a ramekin before adding them to the main dish because if the last one I add is rotten I'd have to chuck the whole lot of ingredients out. If you crack open an egg that's gone off you'll be in no doubt about it! _pale_

There are more opinions in this thread:

Dates on eggs / how long do they keep for?

And this thread will give you ideas for using them up:

Eggs eggs and more eggs!

I'll add your thread to the first thread later to keep the replies together.

Pink

Swan_2

I agree with the others, I'd do the float test

the boxes say 'display until' & 'best before' but I often use eggs way after their date with no ill effects


EDIT ... sorry cross-posted, slow typing

spike7451

IIRC,The dates were only put on eggs in response to the Salmonella scare in the 80's (90s?) before that it was only on the box.I also use the water test & also if you crack the egg & the white spreads out like water,that's the avulmen starting to break down the cells that hold the white together (trying to remember what Heston said on TV the other week)

pinkteapot

Thanks all - never heard of the float test before - love it.

babyshoes

I believe the official advice is to treat the date on eggs as a 'use by' date and chuck them after that (probably due to salmonella that can be present in an egg which still seems fairly fresh), but like the others on here I use my common sense and the float test if they have been around for a while. All commercial hens are vaccinated against salmonella these days, and we are both fairly healthy, so I will take my chances. If you are feeding them to someone who is very young, very old, sick or immuno-compromised you should probably err on the side of caution!

Stephen_Leak

They tested thousands of eggs a couple of years back and none had any trace of salmonella.

I concur with the float test as a good "non-destructive" test.

However, if you've still got some borderline ones, what about hard boiling them - that should kill anything unwelcome that might be in them - and pickling them?

POPPYOSCAR

I often use eggs past the date on the box. I just crack them open and smell them. Never had a problem.

I actually check with every egg that I use for baking and never crack an egg directly into the mixture just in case it is off, as I have had eggs within the date that have been.