Eggs, Which Way Up For You?

Which Way Up?

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classic33

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Just a quick question to find out which up you store your eggs.

For the question I'm making one assumption only. That is the eggs are being stored in either a a card tray or the box as supplied at the point of sale. This includes plastic where supplied. No special containers or compartments or bags.

Two large supermarkets in the UK have recently taken to storing their eggs for sale in cartons with the pointed end facing down. Asked about this and I'm told that they're less likely to break when on the shelves. This echoes what the wife of a butcher in the local market was doing, over twenty years ago & for the same reason. She used to stack around 1,000 eggs on the stall in the morning in this way(with an extra tray on top) for those who wanted theirs the "right way" up. Also echoes the practice of a relative, now dead, who did exactly the same, for the same reasons.
They were:
  • The blunt end had already impacted with the floor. Granted not too hard, but any damage would have been done.The "airbag"(air sac, both called it the same thing) was an empty space which would have helped any damage.
  • The thinner end of the egg would have something inside to push against the shell. Try it on a thin plastic glass. Flick the side when there's something in it and again when it's empty.
One extra from the relative was, that the thickest part of the shell wasn't at either end(as many believed), but where the shell started coming back in to form the point. Shape designed for laying, not for storage.

Long explanation for what is a very short question. Which way up for you?
 
Gosh! I store them as they come in their box. Pointy side up, I believe. At least they have been up until now! From what you say I may be getting them pointy side down from now on. Do you mean that the supermarkets are turning the egg boxes upside down? In which case I will observe carefully when my next Tesco delivery arrives.
 
One extra from the relative was, that the thickest part of the shell wasn't at either end(as many believed), but where the shell started coming back in to form the point. Shape designed for laying, not for storage.
Click to expand...

I suppose I could be perverse and store them on their side... :D
 
Pointed end up for me. Can't explain why but I guess that is the way I have always stored them and that is the way they float or not, plus the blunt end is well larger and I can gauge the air inside a ducks egg better when they are pointed end up...
 
morning glory said:
Gosh! I store them as they come in their box. Pointy side up, I believe. At least they have been up until now! From what you say I may be getting them pointy side down from now on. Do you mean that the supermarkets are turning the egg boxes upside down? In which case I will observe carefully when my next Tesco delivery arrives.
Click to expand...

Same with me, it doesn't matter which way is up and which way is down especially when we store it in the fridge. But sometimes we get an egg or two with a broken shell when we reach home. Another issue with eggs from the supermarket is the freshness. There are times we get spoiled egg with a terrible odor. That's why we seldom buy eggs in the supermarket anymore because the eggs in the wet market is somewhat guaranteed of freshness and no broken shell even once.
 
I did not know there was another option besides pointed side up. Yet again we always have options.
 
I have always just thought the pointy end should was the top. So even if you turned it upside down to keep it from cracking, I would just say that they were stored upside down. I'm not sure why I feel that way.
 
I store them the way they come from the market and here they package them pointy side down.
 
Last edited:
Our eggs have always been stored the same way they are bought from the supermarket, that is, pointy side up. I have never even given a thought to storing them any other way. However, I have had 1 or 2 instances when I had difficulty trying to remove an egg from its compartment. It would seem to be stuck, and if pulled on too hard to get it to loosen up and come out, then it would break. So this could be a good reason for storing them with the pointy side down. I have never seen them stored this way in the store though.
 
classic33 said:
Just a quick question to find out which up you store your eggs.

For the question I'm making one assumption only. That is the eggs are being stored in either a a card tray or the box as supplied at the point of sale. This includes plastic where supplied. No special containers or compartments or bags.

Two large supermarkets in the UK have recently taken to storing their eggs for sale in cartons with the pointed end facing down. Asked about this and I'm told that they're less likely to break when on the shelves. This echoes what the wife of a butcher in the local market was doing, over twenty years ago & for the same reason. She used to stack around 1,000 eggs on the stall in the morning in this way(with an extra tray on top) for those who wanted theirs the "right way" up. Also echoes the practice of a relative, now dead, who did exactly the same, for the same reasons.
They were:
  • The blunt end had already impacted with the floor. Granted not too hard, but any damage would have been done.The "airbag"(air sac, both called it the same thing) was an empty space which would have helped any damage.
  • The thinner end of the egg would have something inside to push against the shell. Try it on a thin plastic glass. Flick the side when there's something in it and again when it's empty.
One extra from the relative was, that the thickest part of the shell wasn't at either end(as many believed), but where the shell started coming back in to form the point. Shape designed for laying, not for storage.

Long explanation for what is a very short question. Which way up for you?
Click to expand...
I just keep them in the carton they come from in the Supermarket and put them in the refrigerator. I have heard in Australia they don't refrigerate eggs, in the stores, and I am not sure why that is. Their temperatures there are often excessive, I would think leaving them unrefrigerated for too long would cause spoilage, but then again, what do I know?
 
kgord said:
I just keep them in the carton they come from in the Supermarket and put them in the refrigerator. I have heard in Australia they don't refrigerate eggs, in the stores, and I am not sure why that is. Their temperatures there are often excessive, I would think leaving them unrefrigerated for too long would cause spoilage, but then again, what do I know?
Click to expand...
They are not sold refrigerated here either in the UK. The idea seems odd to us! And often cooking instructions require the egg to be at room temperature before using. A soft boiled egg would be 4-5 minutes boiling time from room temperature maximum!
 
SatNavSaysStraightOn said:
Pointed end up for me. Can't explain why but I guess that is the way I have always stored them and that is the way they float or not, plus the blunt end is well larger and I can gauge the air inside a ducks egg better when they are pointed end up...
Click to expand...
Air sac is at the blunt end though!
Egg Insides.jpg

Ten answers(not counting this one), but only four votes....
 
classic33 said:
Air sac is at the blunt end though!
View attachment 2427

Ten answers(not counting this one), but only four votes....
Click to expand...
Well @L_B says she stores them pointy side down. But she is the only one so far. 8 participants (9 including you). @kgord doesn't state which way up but one might assume rounded end down as she stores them as they come from the supermarket. @Corzhens says it doesn't matter so I guess she couldn't vote either way.
 
morning glory said:
Well @L_B says she stores them pointy side down. But she is the only one so far. 8 participants (9 including you). @kgord doesn't state which way up but one might assume rounded end down as she stores them as they come from the supermarket.[1] @Corzhens says it doesn't matter so I guess she couldn't vote either way.[2]
Click to expand...
[1] See the explanation, two supermarkets, here, are storing/selling them them pointed end down.
[2] Not a given option!
 
Now we've had a few months to think about this very important matter.
Anyone changed their ways?
 
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