Why The U.S. Chills Its Eggs And Most Of The World Doesn'thttp://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2014/09/11/336330502/why-the-u-s-chills-its-eggs-and-most-of-the-world-doesnt

Two items I find interesting that are rarely brought up when discussions of this topic are brought up are summed up in this quoted section of the article:"Once you start refrigeration, you have to have it through the whole value chain, from farm to store. Because if you stop — if the eggs are cold and you put them in a warm environment — they're going to start sweating," says Guyonnet.No one wants sweaty eggs. They can get moldy. Another perk of consistent refrigeration is shelf life: It jumps from about 21 days to almost 50 days.As a consumer, this just reinforces my practice of refrigerating eggs, but not worrying because I left them out on the counter for an hour or so.

If you saw the inside of the factory chicken farms where store bought eggs come from you'd know why. :W

I remember coating the shells with Vaseline when we used to tent camp. This extends the shelf life without refrigeration

rockhillmanor wrote:If you saw the inside of the factory chicken farms where store bought eggs come from you'd know why. :W??? Re: chicken farmsOf course in the chicken house where they lay their eggs there is lots of chicken Poop but then they come in through the conveyer belt to area that is air conditioned. Each egg is washed by hand and placed in crate and put in a further air conditioned/refrigerated room. The chicken houses are cleaned after each bunch of chickens and dozed out (with some very good fertilizer produced I might add). The companies come by and inspect everything on a regular basis and are very strict with the rules for the growers. Then the eggs are picked up often and taken away for further cleaning and processing. somebody has to do the dirty work.LOL

BTW, Magnusfide, how did your DO weekend in Hot Springs go? I really want to do that one of these days!

To chill, or not to chill... | Good Sam Community

20 Replies

SWMO
Explorer
Sep 19, 2014
I like over easy or soft poached eggs so the chill is a no brainier for me.
When I did some river camping I seldom refrigerated the eggs because of cold space, but I always scrambled them hard.
ventrman
Explorer
Sep 19, 2014
As for Chicken Poop it is well known that Eggs are pourous. If it is covered in Chicken Poop, I would want to cook the Eggs thouroughly.
ventrman
Explorer
Sep 19, 2014
According to the Mother Earth News Study referenced in an earlier Post. They found refrigeration to be the best Long-term method of Egg storage. My Vote is on the Side of Caution. Eggs are a potentially hazardous Source of Foodborne Illness. Any Food Scientist would agree with this as would the Department of Health in Any State. I have been certified in HACCP as well as ServSafe.
SWMO
Explorer
Sep 19, 2014
mowin wrote:
Dog Folks wrote:
Coming from a farming family I had the rare and valuable experience of smelling the poop of all types of animals.

Nothing alive on this earth smells worse than a chicken coop. As a youngster I would do ANYTHING to avoid chicken coop cleaning duty. :)

We never chilled the eggs.

I agree 110%. Worst smelling poop I've had the privilege of sniffing.

It's the ammonia that gets ya.
Roy_Lynne
Explorer
Sep 18, 2014
And the refrigerator is a good place to keep them from falling all over the floor.
Roy_Lynne
Explorer
Sep 18, 2014
If I new exactly how old my eggs were I'd have them sitting out on the counter and did when I had my own chickens but hell, they might be 10 days old when you get them.
Maybe you don't remember the Salmonella bout we had with eggs in the 1990s It was bad and after that stored had to start refrigerating them. Its still going on, there were outbreaks this year
Bad one just last year.
coolbreeze01
Explorer
Sep 18, 2014
We raised 'em, cooled 'em, and sold 'em. Nobody died.
mowin
Explorer
Sep 18, 2014
Dog Folks wrote:
Coming from a farming family I had the rare and valuable experience of smelling the poop of all types of animals.

Nothing alive on this earth smells worse than a chicken coop. As a youngster I would do ANYTHING to avoid chicken coop cleaning duty. :)

We never chilled the eggs.

I agree 110%. Worst smelling poop I've had the privilege of sniffing.
magnusfide
Explorer II
Sep 15, 2014
littlemo wrote:
BTW, Magnusfide, how did your DO weekend in Hot Springs go? I really want to do that one of these days!

We cannot go; just posted that in case others who DO night want to attend. We have to be 3 states away that weekend.
bhamlyn
Explorer
Sep 14, 2014
This link is the a study Mother Earth News did on egg storage.
http://www.motherearthnews.com/real-food/how-to-store-fresh-eggs-zmaz77ndzgoe.aspx#axzz3DKZzqXOK

I have chickens and I gather the eggs, wash them and leave them on the counter. We usually eat them within two weeks.

If you are not sure of an egg give it the float test. Put the egg in water. Fresh from the chicken eggs sink to the bottom, as they age more air collects at the end of the egg causing it to begin to float. If the egg really floats high in the water, I don't eat it.