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Why Do Americans Refrigerate Their Eggs?

nytimes.com

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Re: Why Do Americans Refrigerate Their Eggs?

#51

Post by woofyman »

mikekchar wrote: post #40
tptacek wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Refrigerated eggs poach fine; if they didn't, nobody in the US would have decent poached eggs. :)

They are harder to make, though. The albumins break down over time, leading to a more liquid egg white. This, in turn causes the egg to spread out more when you are poaching them. Making a perfectly round poached egg by dropping it into a pot of salted, simmering water is very difficult if the egg is less than a few days old. That's why Starfrit sells egg poachers. BTW, I don't know about the US, but in Canada, the s…

Add vinegar to the water

Re: Why Do Americans Refrigerate Their Eggs?

#52

Post by pasbesoin »

INTPenis wrote: post #11

I'm a swede and I had no idea, I've refrigerated eggs as long as I can remember. My parents are from Croatia though so it's kind of weird that I picked up this habit. My relatives in Croatia do not refrigerate eggs. Most swedes that I can think of refrigerate their eggs straight from the store. The recommendation is printed on the box to refrigerate. Now that I've read this article it suddenly makes sense why I've so…

My father, from the States, lived and helped out on a Swedish farm for a month or so, in the Sixties. Eggs went into a basket by the door, until they were eaten. They were never refrigerated.

One little story/detail he repeats, whenever this topic comes up.

Re: Why Do Americans Refrigerate Their Eggs?

#53

Post by pasbesoin »

johnsmith21006 wrote: post #35

Same reason as the peanut butter jar because far easier to find. But did have to explain to wife when we married.

If you have "natural" peanut butter (ground peanuts and a bit of salt), refrigerating after stirring the separated oil back in helps to keep it from separating out, again.

It also makes it a bit less "oozy" when spreading it on bread. For those of use who like a thicker helping of PB with our J, another plus. :-)

Re: Why Do Americans Refrigerate Their Eggs?

#55

Post by DamnYuppie »

LordWinstanley wrote: post #18
RandomOpinion wrote: post #15

I think part of the article that's getting glossed over is: " A refrigerated egg, no matter the source, will be good for four or five weeks. Unrefrigerated eggs are best used within a week, though they may be fine for two. " So, one would want to refrigerate eggs (washed or unwashed) anyway if they're not all going to be used immediately.

I live in UK and never keep eggs the fridge. They easily keep for a couple of weeks or more. So I think the "use within a week" advice is over-cautious. Handy tip, if you want to know if an egg's good* or not, without breaking it: pop it in a tall glass of cold water. If it sinks, it's fine. If it floats it's gone off. [*'good' as in 'still fresh'. Unfortunately it won't tell you if it's full of salmonella, or not!]

Please keep in mind that the weather in the UK is nothing like the south, midwest, and southwest of the US. It is way hotter and far more humid.

Re: Why Do Americans Refrigerate Their Eggs?

#56

Post by spatulon »

Retric wrote: post #30
BugsJustFindMe wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"may be fine for two" sounds extremely pessimistic. I live in France, and we regularly eat eggs that have been sitting on the shelf for a month and they taste good and nobody gets sick.

Milk used to kill a lot of people yet many would drink it without issue for decades. So, your sample size is a little small in the grand scheme of things.

OK, here's another sample.

The eggs I bought yesterday (I'm in the UK) have a "best before" date printed on them of 4 March, i.e. 2 weeks.

Re: Why Do Americans Refrigerate Their Eggs?

#57

Post by teilo »

We get our eggs from local farmers who raise chickens in old fashioned coops. In addition to tasting much richer without having to pay for "organic" eggs (because they get to run around and eat bugs), they keep longer as well. We don't bother refrigerating them either.

Re: Why Do Americans Refrigerate Their Eggs?

#58

Post by desdiv »

LordWinstanley wrote: post #18
RandomOpinion wrote: post #15

I think part of the article that's getting glossed over is: " A refrigerated egg, no matter the source, will be good for four or five weeks. Unrefrigerated eggs are best used within a week, though they may be fine for two. " So, one would want to refrigerate eggs (washed or unwashed) anyway if they're not all going to be used immediately.

I live in UK and never keep eggs the fridge. They easily keep for a couple of weeks or more. So I think the "use within a week" advice is over-cautious. Handy tip, if you want to know if an egg's good* or not, without breaking it: pop it in a tall glass of cold water. If it sinks, it's fine. If it floats it's gone off. [*'good' as in 'still fresh'. Unfortunately it won't tell you if it's full of salmonella, or not!]

Isn't this covered in the article?

>In Europe and Britain, the opposite is true. European Union regulations prohibit the washing of eggs. The idea is that preserving the protective cuticle is more important than washing the gunk off.

UK eggs are unwashed, thus still have their protective cuticles and thus can last much longer unrefrigerated. GP's quote only applies to American eggs, which are washed.

Re: Why Do Americans Refrigerate Their Eggs?

#59

Post by aplomb »

Raised chickens for some time. Noticed my eggs would "sweat" when I'd take them out of the refrigerator vs store bought which do nothing at all; after a time at room temperature they'd reabsorb. I'd imagine that's pretty dangerous if you're running a cesspool operation - pulling in liquid contaminated by whatever is on the shell.

Re: Why Do Americans Refrigerate Their Eggs?

#60

Post by sampo »

paulddraper wrote: post #21
ricardobeat wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or just not buy them if they are not going to be used immediately. Eggs quickly lose their quality (try poaching a week-old or refrigerated egg). I understand this may be unrealistic for car-dependant US households that have no option but to shop in large batches...

I think it's the non-car dependent folks that (good or bad) have "no option". I far prefer shopping for two or three weeks at a time, refrigerating fruits, vegetables, and milk.

> I think it's the non-car dependent folks that (good or bad) have "no option".

In cities people typically have a grocery store within 5 to 10 minutes walk from home.

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