Dates on eggs / how long do they keep for?

nesssie1702

When you buy eggs in the shops the date that they are given is 28 days from date of laying.

I wouldn't hold hard and fast to it though - as some of the other posters have said on this thread, you'll know when an egg is off or not!

Caterina

If I am out buying eggs I look for the latest possible date, but then they sometimes sit in my fridge over the date and we eat them anyway.

You really need super-fresh eggs (and organic preferably so no horrid diseases in the flock) if you eat them raw, in mayonnaise etc, but if you cook them well any bacteria that develops over time gets killed - of course, as everybody else said, you'd know if they are off!

Caterina

morganb

lizzyb1812 wrote: »

You can test your eggs for freshness. Every egg has an air pocket in it. As the egg ages the air pocket grows. So put a fresh egg in a jug of water and it will sink because it has only a little air in it. A not so fresh but still OK egg will stand up in the jug with one end on the bottom. An egg that floats has a lot of air in it and will probably be not very nice.

Yes, unfortunately OH offered to test the eggs on Sunday in the nice warm bath that I had just run myself, in an attempt to save water. Did not go down well, I can tell you.

clutterydrawer

My neighbour has chickens and gives me fresh eggs, obviously they don't come with a "use by" date so I was wondering how long i could keep them for?

thriftlady_2

About 3-4 weeks;) write the date you recieve them on the shell.

zippychick

here's a thread about all sorts of interesting eggy stuff

clutterydrawer

wahey! thankyou

ELIZA_D

i have 6 eggs that have a date on of the 2 nd of september....can i use them ?

helyg

Try floating it in in a bowl of water. If it sinks it is OK, if it floats it isn't.

Stephen_Leak

Good advice above. And then hardboil and pickle them. I doubt any bugs would survive that.

For the record, there is no need to keep eggs in the fridge. In a cardboard egg box (I use two that I've saved and transfer my eggs from the plastic boxes) in a cool dry cupboard, they can keep for two weeks after purchase. Mind you, I always check the back of the shelf for the newer ones! The Mk.2 egg shell (the soft reptilian one is the Mk.1 version!) is probably the best food packaging ever invented.