how do you tell if an egg is fresh?

Answer 1

Here's How:
. Fill a deep bowl or pan with enough cold tap water to cover an egg.
. Place the egg in the water.
. If the egg lies on its side on the bottom, the air cell within is small and it's very fresh.
. If the egg stands up and bobs on the bottom, the air cell is larger and it isn't quite as fresh.
. If the egg floats on the surface, it it should be discarded.

Also: A very fresh egg out of the shell will have an overall thick white which doesn't spread much and the yolk will stand up.

Grade AA eggs are the highest grade available. They cost more than other grades, but may be a good choice because of their high quality and longer shelf life.

Answer 2

Pop it in to a bowl of water. If it sinks, it is fresh, if it floats, it is stale.
But, just because it floats, it doesn't mean that it is off. The shell of an egg is porous, so the liquid will evaporate. The older the egg, the more evaporation.
It has probably lost a few vitamins but it is still edible and won't make you ill. Eggs actually last for quite a long time.
The 'Use by dates' on supermarket wrappings are really becoming a bit of a bind.
Best before? The chances are that there are certain criteria to be met - such as vitamins. Vit C, for example, is destroyed by light and heat and age. We have to take it in on a daily basis and need fresh fruit/veg to do the same. Unfortunately, for the same reason, it is why we buy really fresh fruit from the supermarket that tastes like chewing on a tampon! Matured fruit tastes better but doesn't quite match up to the vitamin content.
The old adage? The nose knows! Crack it open and smell it. You'll soon work it out. If it stinks, bin it, if it smells okay, cook it and eat it. The supermarkets are telling us to throw away these foods all the time. Waste of food is bad - and it is just making money for the supermarket.

Answer 3

Rite ready? This is how,,... My mum's old secret:

Fill a deep bowl or pan with enough cold tap water to cover an egg.

Place the egg in the water.

If the egg lies on its side on the bottom, the air cell within is small and it's very fresh.

If the egg stands up and bobs on the bottom, the air cell is larger and it isn't quite as fresh.

If the egg floats on the surface, it it should be discarded.
A very fresh egg out of the shell will have an overall thick white which doesn't spread much and the yolk will stand up.
Grade AA eggs are the highest grade available. They cost more than other grades, but may be a good choice because of their high quality and longer shelf life.

Answer 4

A fresh egg should have a high yolk. The white should be quite firm around the yolk and the white beyond that nicely compact with the rest of the egg.

If the yolk is flat, breaks easily and the white is just watery and spreads everywhere, the egg is NOT fresh. Throw it away.

Buy organic eggs or make friends with someone who keeps chickens and likes to give the eggs away really cheep!.

Answer 5

You can judge the freshness of an egg by placing it in water about an inch deeper than the egg is long. As an egg ages, the air cell expands. So, depending on how the egg lies in the water, you can tell whether the egg is fresh enough to eat on its own, or if it is old enough that, because of the taste, you should use it only for baking, or if it is best to just discard it.

Here's a littly ryhme to help you decide.

If not sure you ought-ter,
then place it in water.
If it lies on its side,
then it's fresh; eat with pride.

After three or four days,
at an angle it lays.
But, it still is a treat,
so go on and eat.

Ten days, stands on end,
in your baking 'twill blend.
'Cause it's definitely edible,
in your baking, incredible.

But, if it floats on the surface,
that egg serves no purpose.
'Cause a floater's a stinker!
Out the back door best fling 'er!

Answer 6

When you break it open most of the white part should somewhat hold it's shape and the yolk should be slightly standing up. If you get an old questionable egg, the white will just run all over the pan with no shape at all and the yolk will look flat and sometimes very dark or discolored. I don't know about you but if there is any doubt in my mind, I CANNOT eat it. I don't much care for eggs anyway...

Answer 7

Yes I agree with most of those about seeing if it floats in a bowl of water, or checking the smell, the colour of the white, but no one mentioned that once you crack the egg check the quality of the yolk - it should stand 'proud' of the white before it gets broken. Also, the egg shouldn't run over a large area - so if you break it into a frying pan it shouldn't spread too far. It's great if you can get eggs that are date-stamped, I'm in Poland and this is quite rare still, so I rely on all of those tests :)

Answer 8

When you break the egg open into a low flat bowl, you will know if the egg is old if the egg white is runny all over. If the egg white has a firm yet clear oval shape around the yolk, then you have a fresh egg. You will know when you get it straight from the chicken...as I have.

Answer 9

Read the date on the side of the container. All eggs have a freshness date.

Answer 10

put it in a bowl of water - if it stands up straight or straightish with the thinner point upwards it is fresh. If it is on its side its old. This is because there is a bit of air between the membrane and the shell which causes that part to be more bouyant. As the egg ages, the air somehow dissipates.