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Why Do Americans Refrigerate Their Eggs?

nytimes.com

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Re: Why Do Americans Refrigerate Their Eggs?

#121

Post by trome »

inferiorhuman wrote: post #95
sampo wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

San Francisco is quite walkable by American standards but certain areas are very lacking. For example the southeast portion of the city has a dearth of hospitals and the Tenderloin and Bayview neighborhoods have a startling lack of grocery stores.

The southeast could definitely have a dearth of hospitals (I think everyone should live near a hospital within a few minutes of them, esp. with San Francisco traffic), but Tenderloin has a grocery store (with fresh veggies, eggs, milk, etc) on nearly every block, with many having TWO. I get that quite a few people refuse to shop anywhere that isn't 70+k sqft, like Costco or Whole Paycheck, but these areas are not food deserts.

Re: Why Do Americans Refrigerate Their Eggs?

#122

Post by trome »

iak8god wrote: post #71
sampo wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

> In cities people typically have a grocery store within 5 to 10 minutes walk from home. That really depends on the city, and on which part of the city one lives in: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_desert Because I can afford to do so, I choose to live in a nice walkable neighborhood where I do have a grocery store within walking distance, but this is absolutely not the case in most poor urban neighborhoods, inclu…

The USDA's Food Desert definition is total bullshit, for example, you could drop me nearly anywhere in Tukwila, WA and I could be in a large grocery store within 10 minutes of walking. If we include smaller stores, I can be in a store buying eggs, milk, fresh veggies & fruit of higher quality than Costco or Whole Paycheck in a 6 to 7 minute walk, and pay with EBT at any of them (if I qualified).

This is exactly why attempts to tackle this supposed "food desert" problem have fallen flat on their face. These areas aren't food deserts, they just don't have a mega-store every other block, thus they are incorrectly classified as a food desert.

With some basic cleanup, the USDA could focus on areas that are actual food deserts, where there is a need and their efforts won't go to waste.

Edit: removed extra comma.

Re: Why Do Americans Refrigerate Their Eggs?

#123

Post by trome »

nilidah wrote: post #25
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.

Eggs fresh out of a chicken will last for ages. Months even. The only reason people keep eggs in the fridge is because of how long they've already been out. Also, egg quality is very poor, you can't eat raw eggs in the US for example.

Exactly, I don't get why people are downvoting you. Egg quality in the US is terrible, instead of culling salmonella infected flocks, we wash away the protective coating of the egg and potentially spread the salmonella into the egg itself.

In Europe and many other countries, their version of the USDA have teams that regularly test flocks droppings for salmonella, and where it is found, the whole flock is culled and the section of the farm is cleaned and left fallow. They also have cleaning rooms where the farmer/workers change into salmonella free suits prior to interacting with the flock.

Hence why Europe has fewer issues with salmonella, its very rare in eggs over there.

Re: Why Do Americans Refrigerate Their Eggs?

#124

Post by msisk6 »

pavel_lishin wrote: post #88
Jgrubb wrote: post #85

My wife bought our chickens mainly on how pretty the basket of eggs would be on the counter. This is this weeks haul that we didn't eat - https://imgur.com/a/T9x4K . If you have the room, I highly recommend them as pets. They're quite cool and very low maintenance, and they make the best eggs you've ever had.

My parents considered it, but heard that they attract snakes. Also, what do you do with the eggs you don't eat?

We have about 25 chickens right now and we just picked up another 18 chicks today. Our's free range on our land and they're fantastic at keeping bugs down.

We've had some problems with snakes, but we're in the country outside Austin, TX and snakes are just a way of life out here. We even had to remove a rattlesnake from inside the house a few weeks back. Skunks are a big problem this year -- lots of them out and about.

We give and sell fresh eggs to everyone we know. I routinely take them into work and sell them for $5 a dozen. We've had to explain the whole not washing or refrigerating them to most people but after they've had fresh eggs they always want more.

Re: Why Do Americans Refrigerate Their Eggs?

#126

Post by lostlogin »

mikekchar wrote: post #65
jonomw wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for making me realise why I stopped liking poached eggs. I was just using old eggs. And I have heard similar things about the supply chain in the US. However, I have had a fresh egg that was no more than 24 hours old (I think younger) and I didn't really notice a difference. Then again, I think it was scrambled, so I don't know if you can tell anyways.

Personally, I can't tell the difference in flavour between a fresh egg and an old egg. Texture is the only thing I've noticed. Though, for instance, that can be quite important in some egg dishes like tamagoyaki. For flavour, a much bigger difference can be seen from the diet of the hen. Grain fed battery hens have pretty bland eggs. I obsess about my tamagoyaki, so I'm willing to go to some extremes to get good, fre…

If you know anyone with chickens, get an egg off them. The difference between the eggs and store bought, free range, is night and day. I don't know why, but the yolk is orange for starters. It may have been due to the species of chicken I suppose?

Re: Why Do Americans Refrigerate Their Eggs?

#127

Post by lostlogin »

kasey_junk wrote: post #93
nickpsecurity wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nobody in the cities or suburbs. Raising one's own chickens for eggs or getting eggs from friends with chickens is popular in rural areas.

I had an upstairs neighbor at my condo in Chicago raising chickens on the porch. When the association put a stop to it he moved them to the community garden next door. That was the second chicken coop on our block.

The "no laundry on the porch" crowd didn't see that coming.

Re: Why Do Americans Refrigerate Their Eggs?

#128

Post by lostlogin »

empressplay wrote: post #125
mirimir wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, right :) But some people prefer fertilized eggs. Some people prefer embryos in their eggs, too.

That's more than just a little gross.

I agree, but that's a little weird too given that both eggs and chicken are eaten regularly.

Re: Why Do Americans Refrigerate Their Eggs?

#129

Post by djrogers »

nly wrote: post #68
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…

You can buy both in the UK, but light brown are most common. It's nothing to do with washing, it's just a cultural preference... like streaky (American) vs back bacon. And the only reason eggs arent refrigerated in supermarkets is because... well, they're only in the store for a few days tops. I personally keep mine in the fridge.

The color of eggs and type of bacon are horrible analogs - the color of your eggs has zero bearing on their flavor, whereas anyone who'd choose back bacon over proper bacon is just a monster.
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