EGGS: why don't the French refrigerate them?

Question

since they're the coulinary experts there must be a good reason

Answer 1

You figure back before refrigeration - how they kept eggs fresh. The way they did it was to keep the temperature below 70º (the temp that the eggs start to develop) and they rotated them to keep the yolk in the center. They had root cellars back then that kept the temperature nice and cool - not cold like a fridge - but cool - especially in the warmer days. Definitely below 70º.

And yes, room temperature eggs beat up higher than a cold egg.

Back in those days, the onions and potatoes were also kept for some time without a fridge. As long as they were in a cool dry place they were just fine. If you put your potatoes in the refrigerator to "keep them longer" you change the starches in the spud to sugars and thus change the flavor (to some degree). This was another thing kept in the root cellar.

And without refrigeration, the were able to keep meat also. They would take a barrel (like a pickle barrel or wine barrel), pour melted fat into the bottom, set cooked roasts, etc. in the fat, cover it with another layer of fat and so on until the barrel was full. Then when they wanted a piece of meat, they would dig one out, reheat the fat around it, and pour it back in to seal up the hole. The other ways they kept meat was to salt cure it and sugar cure it. The old-fashioned hams to this day are still kept in an attic and aged - mail order catalogs sell it. You need to soak those hams in water before using to help get some of the salt out of the meat or else it will be much too salty. That's how it was in the "good old days".

Gave you more info than you needed but, thought you'd like to know.

Also, my hubby was stationed in England in the late 60s, early 70s and over there they hang their fresh killed chickens for a couple of days to start the "softening" process. Their meats are super tender. We don't do that here - we refer to it as the beginning process of rotting. But, beef is "aged" for tenderness - same thing. They scrape off the green that is the starting of the rotting. They keep it cool but not too cool and keep the bugs away so no flies can contaminate it.

Answer 2

The French aren't the only people who don't refrigerate eggs. Many people in the United States who buy their eggs fresh from a farm or who raise chickens and get the eggs from the henhouse don't refrigerate eggs either.

To answer your question:

The French don't refrigerate eggs for the same reasons all the other people don't refrigerate eggs. FRESH eggs do not need refrigeration. Only mass-produced "factory eggs" need to be refrigerated.

Answer 3

I am a former chef and most people who do not refrigerate there egg, are one not buying a ton of them , in the restaurant business we keep them in the frig for those used in egg dishes and mayonaisee, but most bakers and pastry chefs keep them at room temp, it provide a better lift for cakes, meringues develope better at that temp, batters are easier to mix and the volume of product is better, they do not have to heat as long for the chemical leavening like baking soda and powder to react.

In Europe, they would not buy many more than 6 at a time, sometime 12, in the UK they sell more half dozens than full dozens. Like with cream being better at a cold temp and whip better, eggs are just the opposite, the work better at room temp, for many reasons.

Answer 4

eggs are much better to cook at room temp.