How do eggs stay fresh at room temperature?

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

This

have meant plans have changed.

Today is only day 18. They're not due until Tuesday at the end of day 21. So going out tomorrow will no longer be an option. I may have at least 1 chick to keep an eye on. They're 7 eggs remaining in the incubator.

 

[Puggles]

This
View attachment 136883
have meant plans have changed.

Today is only day 18. They're not due until Tuesday at the end of day 21. So going out tomorrow will no longer be an option. I may have at least 1 chick to keep an eye on. They're 7 eggs remaining in the incubator.

Eggs confuse me. I have seen people buy eggs from farmers that are sitting out of refrigeration, and I always see eggs at the supermarket in constant refrigeration. Do they need to always be refrigerated? They are created in normal conditions, so this confuses me.

 

[Barriehie]

Eggs confuse me. I have seen people buy eggs from farmers that are sitting out of refrigeration, and I always see eggs at the supermarket in constant refrigeration. Do they need to always be refrigerated? They are created in normal conditions, so this confuses me.

When chickens lay eggs the eggs are covered with a protective bloom that defends against microbial infection. This is why farm eggs can remain unrefrigerated. Commercial eggs are washed and that is removed, hence refrigeration is required. Commercial eggs go bad way faster than farm fresh.

What Is the Exterior of an Egg? - Chef's Resource

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

Eggs confuse me. I have seen people buy eggs from farmers that are sitting out of refrigeration, and I always see eggs at the supermarket in constant refrigeration. Do they need to always be refrigerated? They are created in normal conditions, so this confuses me.

Its all to do with whether they have been washed or not.

The hen adds a protective layer to them that stops microbes from getting into the egg. Otherwise 21 days under a chook at 38°C would kill anything living in that egg. The eggs that i took out of the incubator that had not been fertilised, so didn't grow, so not smell at all when opened even after the full 3 weeks at 38°C.

If you wash the egg, you wash off that protective layer, thus the chilling.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

When chickens lay eggs the eggs are covered with a protective bloom that defends against microbial infection. This is why farm eggs can remain unrefrigerated. Commercial eggs are washed and that is removed, hence refrigeration is required. Commercial eggs go bad way faster than farm fresh.

What Is the Exterior of an Egg? - Chef's Resource

Beat me to it. Thank you.

 

[badjak]

I read on as I was sure someone would answer the question....
Eggs are not washed in (most of) Europe and not in Africa either.
Hence they don't have to be refrigerated.

 

[Barriehie]

I'm a fan of farm fresh. The flavor is better and they do last a long time. I eat them faster than they can go bad, and to date, haven't ever cracked open a bad one. I leave them out in a basket on the counter.

 

[karadekoolaid]

I assume all the eggs I buy are farm fresh, since they come in trays of 30 and sometimes have bits of dirt, feather, etc. attached. We never put them in the fridge. They stay outside ( average temperature in the house is about 22-23C) and get consumed accordingly. I guess we use 30 eggs in about 3 weeks.

 

[SandwichShortOfAPicnic]

Worth mentioning it varies between countries. They aren't washed in the UK

But I refrigerate mine because I want precise cooking times and knowing the temp of the egg at the start makes all the difference.

 

[Barriehie]

Worth mentioning it varies between countries. They aren't washed in the UK

But I refrigerate mine because I want precise cooking times and knowing the temp of the egg at the start makes all the difference.

I always start out at room temperature.

 

[SandwichShortOfAPicnic]

I always start out at room temperature.

That's too variable here. Room temp can be super cold or really very warm.
I'm a wee bit demanding on the egg cooking front, I want consistency so they're always fridged.

 

[Barriehie]

That's too variable here. Room temp can be super cold or really very warm.
I'm a wee bit demanding on the egg cooking front, I want consistency so they're always fridged.

You, demanding???

 

[SandwichShortOfAPicnic]

You, demanding???

I prefer exacting

 

[Gone Hiking]

Yep, once they're washed, their protective film is gone and they need to be refrigerated. Mrs. GH grew up on a farm and always had fresh chicken eggs, and swears by them. We live in a development where raising chickens isn't allowed, and so we have to buy them. (I'm not complaining, as I really don't want to raise any, though Mrs. GH feels strongly to the contrary.) She likes to buy the fresh ones from the roadside farmer stands, and I like the nice shiny white ones in the store, simply because they've already been washed and I don't have to deal with chicken poop and feathers all over them.

Mrs. GH: Do you mean to tell me that you have no problem gutting deer and cleaning fish, but you get disgusted by a little bit of chicken poop?
Me: Yes.

 

[TastyReuben]

I like the nice shiny white ones in the store

I’m the same. I grew up on a family farm and collected eggs from our chickens and, at times, my grandparents’ chickens.

I like the convenience, though I can buy farm-fresh organic eggs (for the same price) from a farm just around the corner from me (by which I mean, about three miles away ), but that’d mean an extra stop, and I’m usually not willing to do that, so I buy the brown supermarket eggs (almost always from Aldi).