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Why Do Americans Refrigerate Their Eggs?

nytimes.com

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Re: Why Do Americans Refrigerate Their Eggs?

#201

Post by pluma »

ZainRiz wrote: post #164
lloydde wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When my youngest child was a baby and I was binge watching tv while comforting her, I found myself watching a doomsday preppers show. There I learned by oiling eggs they could be stored months. http://www.offthegridnews.com/off-grid-foods/preserving-eggs... looks to have confirmed the reality tv show: "[eggs] will, however, eventually develop an off-flavor, and this off-flavor is especially pronounced in eggs stored…

If you preserve the egg in lime, ash, and a few other ingredients for long enough, the egg turns into a "Century Egg" with an almost jello like look and consistency https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Century_egg Tastes kinda gross though (but I might be biased)

> Tastes kinda gross though (but I might be biased)

For context: according to Wikipedia the yolk contains hydrogen sulfide and ammonia. Hydrogen sulfide produces a distinct "rotten egg" smell, ammonia is basically what makes cat urine smell like cat urine.

I guess it might be an acquired taste and there are likely preparations that make the taste more palatable and mask the smell, but it's fair to say that it's not much of a bias to find century eggs repulsive if you're used to less pungent edibles.

Re: Why Do Americans Refrigerate Their Eggs?

#203

Post by Havoc »

M_Grey wrote: post #3

The thing is, salmonella is most prevalent on the outside of the shell, and that cleaning does save some lives (and misery). Meanwhile you can let your egg come to room temp if you prefer, before use. Finally, if you really want fresh eggs, you can raise them or hook up with a local farmer. Even in a big city, you can raise chickens for eggs.

>that cleaning does save some lives (and misery).

Does it? I'd imagine if it really did the Europeans would switch to the refrigerated approach asap.

Re: Why Do Americans Refrigerate Their Eggs?

#204

Post by raverbashing »

roryisok wrote: post #153
desdiv wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I live in Ireland, in the EU, and I'm fairly sure all the eggs in supermarkets here are washed. There's never a spot of dirt on them. And we always refrigerate, as does everyone I know

> and I'm fairly sure all the eggs in supermarkets here are washed

No, they're not washed. Lack of gunk is due to technique (or just cleaning mechanically) https://www.fsai.ie/faq/egg_washing.html

Re: Why Do Americans Refrigerate Their Eggs?

#205

Post by mercer »

Al-Khwarizmi wrote: post #192
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.

I'm from Spain and just use the old tricks transmitted through generations... For boiling, if the egg sinks in water it's good, if it floats it's bad. For frying or anything that needs breaking the egg, I break it carefully so that the yolk will not be broken by the hit, then I dip it into a plate. If the yolk keeps tight and nice the egg is good, if it breaks spontaneously or leaks some liquid, not good. I've never…

In the case of frying, why isn't it good enough to do the float test?

Re: Why Do Americans Refrigerate Their Eggs?

#206

Post by mercer »

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've never considered that shopping habits might play a role in the whole US/EU wash-or-don't discussion.

Where I live most people go to the supermarket regularly. I go almost daily, for example. As a result, stuff doesn't need to have a very long shelf life (and refrigerators here are, to many of my American friends, hilariously small).

Re: Why Do Americans Refrigerate Their Eggs?

#207

Post by magic_beans »

ZainRiz wrote: post #164
lloydde wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When my youngest child was a baby and I was binge watching tv while comforting her, I found myself watching a doomsday preppers show. There I learned by oiling eggs they could be stored months. http://www.offthegridnews.com/off-grid-foods/preserving-eggs... looks to have confirmed the reality tv show: "[eggs] will, however, eventually develop an off-flavor, and this off-flavor is especially pronounced in eggs stored…

If you preserve the egg in lime, ash, and a few other ingredients for long enough, the egg turns into a "Century Egg" with an almost jello like look and consistency https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Century_egg Tastes kinda gross though (but I might be biased)

But have you ever had it in congee with salted fish or pork? Game changer!

Re: Why Do Americans Refrigerate Their Eggs?

#208

Post by beejiu »

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.

That should be no problem if cooked problem. The real problem was that 5% of wrapped chickens contained campylobacter on the outside of packaging, which would immediately contaminate any other items in your shopping.

Re: Why Do Americans Refrigerate Their Eggs?

#209

Post by PakG1 »

mcbits wrote: post #193
ZainRiz wrote: post #164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you preserve the egg in lime, ash, and a few other ingredients for long enough, the egg turns into a "Century Egg" with an almost jello like look and consistency https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Century_egg Tastes kinda gross though (but I might be biased)

I can't help but imagine the origins. Long ago, someone either found an egg or tried to preserve an egg this way. They opened it up and found ... that ... and ate it anyway. After not dying, a delicacy was born.

I imagine this is how a lot of previously unthinkable things that required aging were made. Cheese, wine, etc.

Re: Why Do Americans Refrigerate Their Eggs?

#210

Post by mercer »

tomca32 wrote: post #26
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…

Hmm..weird. I'm from Croatia and I would be surprised to see people not refrigerate eggs. We (me and my family) always refrigerated them. Every fridge I've seen has egg holders that we would fill up. Pretty sure that most people I know refrigerate eggs, but then again, I never really paid attention to that.

I notice quite a mix of behavior, even in just my own. Usually I refrigerate my eggs simply because they stay good for longer that way. But when I don't have much space, or when I know I'll be eating the eggs relatively soon, I'll leave them out. I've seen other do the same.
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