Cooking For Engineers

[visiter]

Hello again everyone.

First let us consider that eggs if fertile take over 29 days to hatch. This means that they will keep at an elevated temperature (incubation) of over 100 deg F for that long at least. a supplier keeping eggs refrigerated for 30 days does not bother me in any way. It should not bother you either as they are desigend to last.

Refrigerated they will keep much longer, I have kept them 6 to 13 weeks in a very cold refer. As they get older I do check them by cracking in a bowl.

As to Salmonella, the MAIN reason we see it in poultry in the US is feeding the poultry with added animal protiens. THis can cause Salmonella to live inside the birds and be in the egg as well. Poultry do NOT need this, they can grow well on grain alone. My chickens and turkeys were always fed only grain. They did have the ability to forage for greens and bugs etc. I never woried about contamination or using raw eggs because of this. I also kept the freshest eggs at room temperature and rotated them to cold storage as newer eggs were available. We usually gave away a few cartons a month. Chickens will lay two a day at first and later average one a day in summer and 1 or none a week in winter.

Chickens lay according to the number of daylight hours per day. Egg ranches FORCE laying by adjusting daylight etc as well as feed. THis produces an inferior egg, the yolk will be yellow rather than orange and the white runny rathere than thick. The flovor of eggs from forced hens is inferior.

I have found that free range eggs and vegetarian fed hens eggs are much better than the average eggs and much closer to those that I raised. I will no longer purchase eggs unless they are vegetarian raised. I try and purchase free range eggs when the price is good (it varies a LOT here).

Please remember that duck eggs are green to begin with in case you ever get some. Hens eggs should actually be an orange color yolk or at least a dark yellow. They should never be light yellow.

If you don;t have to be Kosher then the fertilized egg is not a problem to eat either.

NOW quit worrying about how long past the "last date of sale" on the label and go use yoru eggs. If they look good and smell good they will not harm you.

[guest]

I was curious about the PICKLED eggs, we put our hardboiled eggs in a jar with pickled beets, is this what you meant? I've also heard of mustard eggs. Does anyone know about how to prepare them? or other pickled ideas, how long can a pickled egg be kept in the fridge?

[markjason]

The freshness of an egg is not only determined by the date when the egg was laid, but also by the way the egg has been stored. Proper handling and storage is perhaps the most important factor in determining freshness. If a freshly laid egg is left at room temperature for a full day, it will not be as fresh as a week old egg that has been refrigerated between 33° and 40°F from the time it was laid.

According to the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture (USDA):

Many eggs reach stores only a few days after the hen lays them. Egg cartons with the USDA grade shield on them, indicating they came from a USDA-inspected plant, must display the pack date.

[edited to remove spam links in signature... continued spamming will result in banning]

[benp87]

You can check an egg freshness by this method:
Put an egg in a bowl of water, if it flows that mean the egg isn't fresh, and even not healthy!
only an egg that doesn't flow is safe to eat

[Nancy1]

We,, if kept in a refrigerator, eggs will remain as it is at least for a month.....as per I think......

[bigpancakes]

Is it because most foods now, like eggs, are GMO?