Let's settle the argument: do shell eggs require refrigeration?

Question

In other words, cooking eggs... if they are not cracked, must they be stored under refrigeration (40F or less) or is room temperature ok?

Answer 1

Ok, according to the health department - eggs should be stored in refrigeration below 40 degrees F.

But in reality eggs can be held in room temperature - they have been for centuries and they usually are fine.

But at lower temperatures, spoilage slows. But with eggs, if an egg spoils you will know. If you've ever cracked a rotten egg - it is the most vile stench I've ever experienced.

With the way poultry is raised now a days (rummaging in their own waste) one has to assume 100% of poultry is contaminated with salmonella (very important to cook poultry fully), and 1% of eggs are contaminated with salmonella. Believe it or not more people become sick from eggs then meat because eggs very often do not get cooked fully and sometimes are used raw. Caution has to be used with children and elderly.

Answer 2

Well, here we get them straight from the chickens and keep them in cartons on a shelf, in the kitchen.

They last fine. We usually will use them within a couple of days but they will last for a while.

Realize that we can do it safer since we keep the chickens healthy. In chicken "factories" the chickens are treated very badly and that is why eggs have the problems they do.

** Below begins a rant **
It is the same with the milk industry. Up until they started the mass production of milk on farms with hundreds of cows milk was generally sanitary (without pasteurization), they use pasteurization now to cover the fact that they don't care for the animals. It is not unusual for cows to have a small stall (just big enough it lay in) for the entire winter.

Instead of getting smarter and downsizing the farms so the animals ae cared for and our foods will be healthy, they have desided it was "smart" to start pumping them with drugs to make up for care and then have the products cooked till they have killed the germs but have also destroyed the reason for eating (nutrition).

Do you know they now have "Ultra" pasteurization... This is milk that has been cooked (pasteurized) to the point it can be stored in a carton without refrigeration almost indefinitely. The also have "Cold" pasteurization which uses radiation to kill bacteria.

Makes you think about what were eating LOL.

Mike

Answer 3

Uncooked eggs with the shells on are like a mini-war zone. The white of the egg fends off germs and infections, even if the egg is not fertilized. Not refridgerating the eggs will not hurt you immediately, but I couldn't tell you how long it would be safe to leave them out. Refridgerating the eggs will let them last much longer and is far, far safer! I read this in a book that gives all kinds of weird food info.

I

Answer 4

They'll last a lot longer (perhaps a week or so more) if they are kept in the fridge but do not require refrigeration. Think of it this way, they don't go straight from the chicken's *** to the fridge.

Answer 5

The first 10 years of my life we didn't refrigerate eggs. We lived in Sweden and they were kept in the dry pantry or a linen closet. We started storing them in the fridge when we moved stateside because of the nifty little egg shaped holder in the fridge door. (I started it, by the way. Fascinating concept! Each egg has it's own little place!)

I'm 37 now, so I obviously survived the experience. I say it's ok.

~Morg~

Answer 6

When you buy eggs the supermarket doesn't store them in the fridge. They keep perfectly well at normal room temperature, in fact for some recipes, like meringue, eggs are preferable at room temp.

Answer 7

Most of the denominations out there started when one person grasped one essential truth about or from scripture. This person started teaching others and tried to help people to see what they saw. This person would soon acquire a following of people, wanted or not. Eventually this person died or was killed. The group of followers soon organized and based on the one truth the original person found, they built an entire doctrine around. WE now have a denomination, for good or worse.

Answer 8

I have never seen a chicken storing their eggs in the Barnyard Fridge. But one did drink all the milk the cows put there.

Answer 9

Room temperature is fine, however they will last longer in a fridge. It will slow down the expiry date of the eggs itself. Any food kept cool will last longer vs food kept at room temperature.

Answer 10

They must be refrigerated in order to keep.