Egg Storage Question

[Dace]

My hens are getting ready to start laying soon. Dh and I were discussing proper storage of the eggs.
How long are they good for if not under refrigeration?

 

[big brown horse]

Congrads on your layers to be!! I think I've read that in the fridge up to 3 months if you don't wash off the "bloom". I only store them in the fridge.

 

[freemotion]

I've gotten rather lazy, and mine sit on the counter for about a week, sometimes a bit longer. I've never had a bad egg. I may, though, if I keep this slothful attitude up if it ever gets hot here this summer.

Just keep some system going of which eggs are oldest. When we have just a few, as in winter, I will mark each with the date with a pencil, right on the egg. This way I can set some aside for boiling. These live in the fridge.

 

[noobiechickenlady]

Oh how cool. I needed to know this, although 6 hens shouldn't cause me too much overage for storing.
Here's what I found:

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Sustainable-Farming/1977-11-01/Fresh-Eggs.aspx

 

[Wifezilla]

That's a great article.

 

[keljonma]

I put the eggs in the carton as they are laid. The carton with the oldest eggs is on the far left and are used first. I put the date of the last laid egg on each carton in pencil. I don't put labels on the cartons unless I'm selling them.

If I am planning on hard cooking eggs, I move the oldest carton to a lower shelf so the eggs don't get pulled for baking or cooking.

 

[freemotion]

I do almost the opposite! I used to use the oldest first.....now I have the warmest, just laid eggs for my breakfast, and sell the oldest ones when we have an abundance. One day it struck me that I was doing all the work and eating the oldest eggs. Now the best is ours, the oldest goes out the door (or saved for boiling.)

Of course, the oldest aren't that old, really.....but it was the principle. I read a statement that a subsistance farmer eats what he can't sell, and a successful farmer sells what he can't eat.

I reversed the position of all my products that I sell after that....

And that only holds true when we are getting flooded with eggs and milk.

 

[keljonma]

oh, you are so right, free! Eggs here for meals are the freshly laid. The day olds are for baking. Sometimes we have eggs that make it to 3 days old. Unless I set a dozen aside for hard cooked, they usually don't have a chance to age here.

 

[patandchickens]

How long they're good for depends a whole lot on the temperature of your kitchen or pantry or wherever they're being stored. At around 70 F you can get a month out of them, ish, depending how picky you are about egg quality (towards the end of their lifespan they are better for cooking and simple baking than for eating by themselves or beating the whites). Hotter, less long; cooler, longer.

You will probably just have to experiment and see how it works for your house and your tastes.

Have fun,

Pat

 

[Dace]

So help me to understand.....as I was taught in culinary school, the older an egg gets the more it spreads out when you crack it into a pan. With a fresh egg the yolk sits up high and the white stays tight around the yolk.

So old eggs are just loose, not really BAD?