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Why Do Americans Refrigerate Their Eggs?

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Re: Why Do Americans Refrigerate Their Eggs?

#101

Post by zhte415 »

fencepost wrote: post #84
to3m wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I live in the UK too... it's not that unusual to buy unrefigerated eggs with a use-by date of a month hence. You can leave them out, then hard boil them on that date, and they'll keep in the fridge for at least another week. I've always ended up eating them by that point though. (I generally buy duck eggs rather than chicken eggs, though. Don't know if they last longer.) FUN FACT: a couple of years ago I saw a Twitte…

As a side note on boiling eggs: older eggs are sometimes preferred for boiling because they're easier to peel, but if you're working with fresh eggs consider steaming them instead. Get the pan or steamer up to temperature, add eggs with a slotted spoon, cover, steam ~12 minutes, transfer to an ice bath to chill at least 5 minutes, peel. For extra large or jumbo eggs, probably add a minute. Adjust to taste for future…

Boiling or steaming eggs for 12 minutes results in a tough white and dry yolk.

Just put them in a pot, not large, with enough water to cover the eggs and no more. Cold water. Add heat, high, and heat to boil for no more than a minute. Remove and put in cool/running water. Results in non-plastic whites and soft yolks.

Though, I prefer poached or scrambled. For boiled, quail eggs are great (and, where I live, also cheaper).

Re: Why Do Americans Refrigerate Their Eggs?

#102

Post by stordoff »

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.

2-4 weeks seems reasonable. The eggs we got sometime this week (UK) have a Best Before date of 5th March (and the Best Before only indicates when they start to lose their quality - they remain safe to eat for some time after that).

Re: Why Do Americans Refrigerate Their Eggs?

#103

Post by jghn »

tptacek wrote: post #63
mikekchar wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

Just do what Kenji Alt does: crack the eggs into a strainer and swish them around to get rid of the runny whites. Works like a charm. I mean, by all means, use super fresh eggs. But as a matter of technique: solvable problem!

Was getting ready to say just this and boom, someone else already made this comment.

Re: Why Do Americans Refrigerate Their Eggs?

#104

Post by jwong_ »

albertgao wrote: post #47

I live in China. Shouldn't keep the eggs in the refrigerator a common sense?......

In my city eggs are sold unrefrigerated in a bag or in a huge pile for you to pick from. This is in a grocery store. The wet markets sell them similarly, though I have been to them a lot less.

Re: Why Do Americans Refrigerate Their Eggs?

#105

Post by zhte415 »

woofyman wrote: post #51
mikekchar wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

A tiny, tiny amount though, unless you like the sensation of teeth grinding on chalk.

Better to steam.

Re: Why Do Americans Refrigerate Their Eggs?

#106

Post by to3m »

zhte415 wrote: post #101
fencepost wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a side note on boiling eggs: older eggs are sometimes preferred for boiling because they're easier to peel, but if you're working with fresh eggs consider steaming them instead. Get the pan or steamer up to temperature, add eggs with a slotted spoon, cover, steam ~12 minutes, transfer to an ice bath to chill at least 5 minutes, peel. For extra large or jumbo eggs, probably add a minute. Adjust to taste for future…

Boiling or steaming eggs for 12 minutes results in a tough white and dry yolk. Just put them in a pot, not large, with enough water to cover the eggs and no more. Cold water. Add heat, high, and heat to boil for no more than a minute. Remove and put in cool/running water. Results in non-plastic whites and soft yolks. Though, I prefer poached or scrambled. For boiled, quail eggs are great (and, where I live, also chea…

That's for soft boiling, surely? Hard-boiled eggs are usually left in for longer. What I do for mine: put in cold water, place on medium heat until water begins to boil (~9 mins), deactivate hob and leave for 12 mins, rinse with cold water, dry and place in fridge, leave for 12-18 hours at least. When ready to eat: peel off shell, remove skin that's left near the air pocket, stuff in piehole.

(They're fine to eat immediately after boiling, of course, with the warmth making them actually quite tasty - but it's risky. Until they've done their time in the fridge, they're often difficult to peel and/or they'll have a lot of hard-to-remove skin left on them once peeled.)

Re: Why Do Americans Refrigerate Their Eggs?

#107

Post by Drumlin »

DanBC wrote: post #12
martin-adams wrote: post #5

Not explicitly mentioned, but is linked from the article: In Europe, the understanding is that this mandate actually encourages good husbandry on farms. It’s in the farmers’ best interests then to produce to cleanest eggs possible, as no one is going to buy their eggs if they’re dirty [1] So in Europe, you need a clean environment as you're not allowed to wash the eggs. I find this equally compelling than not wanting…

It doesn't seem to be working in the UK. Over half of all the fresh chicken sold is contaminated with campylobacter.

Presumably chickens that are bred for meat live a different existence to those reared for eggs?

Re: Why Do Americans Refrigerate Their Eggs?

#108

Post by zhte415 »

CM30 wrote: post #83

Wait, this is seen as an American thing? Because I'm from the UK, and most people I know here store boxes of eggs in the fridge. That's how we've done it for decades, and that seems to be the 'norm' where I live. Certainly never seen any eggs laid out in a bowl on a table or worktop. Maybe it's a regional thing here? Edit: Just checked online a bit. Seems like it's a matter of individual opinion here, based on this G…

Also from UK (London) and have never met anyone who stores eggs in a fridge. Perhaps we're both outliers?

Re: Why Do Americans Refrigerate Their Eggs?

#109

Post by jccalhoun »

mastazi wrote: post #64

Please excuse me if my question is dumb, I've never been to the US so I might just be uninformed... I've noticed in movies and shows that eggs in the US usually have a white shell, whereas in other countries (at least the ones I have lived in, i.e. Europe, SE Asia and Australia) they are usually of a colour that I would describe as beige/light-brown. is that because of the washing process described in the article, or…

In the midwest of the USA cheap store bought eggs are white. Organic or free-ranged are brown.

It is all just marketing. Brown used to be common and white were seen as more expensive. Then they all went white. Now brown are more expensive.

Re: Why Do Americans Refrigerate Their Eggs?

#110

Post by [deleted] »

CM30 wrote: post #83

Wait, this is seen as an American thing? Because I'm from the UK, and most people I know here store boxes of eggs in the fridge. That's how we've done it for decades, and that seems to be the 'norm' where I live. Certainly never seen any eggs laid out in a bowl on a table or worktop. Maybe it's a regional thing here? Edit: Just checked online a bit. Seems like it's a matter of individual opinion here, based on this G…

[deleted]
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