One of my preferred things about backyard eggs — besides theorange egg yolk , the everyday discovery , and the hilarious hens themselves — is not have got to refrigerate them .
That ’s correct , I leave my eggs out . Sometimes for weeks .
And you know what ? They ’re just as fresh ( if not freshman ) as the eggs I used to buy and keep in the electric refrigerator .
Ever since my spunky ladies start laying , I ’ve stored all their orchis on the counter in a handcraft orchis bearer . It was a random breakthrough in a Mexican woodwork shop on one of ourroad trips to Baja .
It hold 12 eggs neatly in 12 picayune slots — and I ’m even uncanny enough to display them in tack colors !
With seven hen ( one of whom only put down a few egg a year — Iman is almost nine years older now ) , we get just over two dozen eggs a calendar week and our extras are store in a trivial hoop on the heel counter .
Our family goes through them well with our 10 - egg frittatas ( which used to feel like a breakfast luxury before we had chickens ) , egg sandwiches , and baked goodness .
The eggs usually do n’t sit for more than two hebdomad on the counter , but they also do n’t make us sick .
If egg can be store at room temperature for that long , you may be wonder … Should egg be refrigerate or not ? And for that thing , should eggs be washed or unwashed ?
Let ’s turn over into the surprising welfare that backyard eggs have over commercial-grade eggs ( and it ’s all about poop — or lack thence ) .
Refrigerated eggs are the result of mass commercialism
The United States is one of the few country to keep its bollock refrigerate . This cultural norm emerged in the seventies when aggregate product of bollock require them to trip long distances and sit in storage before arriving at your local market .
Concerns over contaminant and spoiling lead the USDA to ask magnanimous - scale of measurement eggs producers to immediately sanitize and refrigerate their eggs .
in person , I think it ’s also a result of our more often than not germaphobic club , and the fact that we have massive refrigerator and like to put everything in them .
Many other countries I ’ve visited , from all over Central America to Europe to Asia , keep their eggs on the ledge right next to the unrefrigerated produce . And yet , their nut will last for months .
When some of my friend learn that I do n’t cool down my orchis , they ’re confused and caught off guard .
“ Wo n’t they go bad ? ” … or“Aren’t you afraid of salmonella ? ”
With backyard eggs , no .
To understand how this is potential , you would first have to translate the differences between a backyard bollock and a factory testicle .
Why you don’t need to refrigerate homegrown eggs
ballock are permeable membranes take thousands of pores . Whena biddy lays an egg , her body deposits a born protective coat on the cuticle forebode abloom(or epidermis ) .
The flush is a mucous secretion that quickly dry out after laying and seals the pores on the shell , bring in it imperviable to bacteria and reducing the loss of wet .
When moisture is lost , carbon dioxide is lost , which then speeds up worsening of the egg .
If you ’ve ever essay a homegrown orchis and a factory egg up tight , you may have noticed that the livid ( or albumen ) of the backyard egg appear cloudy .
The murkiness indicates the atomic number 6 dioxide present in a unused nut . The older the egg , the more gas that escape , making the white more transparent ( and thus more weak or runny ) .
If you have backyard ball , the ideal method acting of stack away them is in a dry place at room temperature , around 65 ° degree Fahrenheit to 70 ° F .
This could be a buttery , a cupboard , or in my case , the counter . There is no need to refrigerate your eggs , assuming you ’ll eat them within a couple of months ( and even then , months - old eggs are still safe to eat , as long as they were by rights stored ; they just wo n’t cook as well ) .
There is also no want to wash your eggs for storage , since this will remove the heyday and make your testicle susceptible to bacterium .
I only wash my eggs the right way before I expend them ( to rinse off residual junk ) . If you keep the bedding in your chicken coop clean , there should be slight , if any , dirt or poop on the eggshells when you pile up your eggs .
So how can you see to it uncontaminating ball ?
Designate nest box for place , do n’t allow your flock to sleep ( and dirt ) in them , and do n’t put roosts right above the nests . Movebroody hensfrom nest box if you ’re not hold them think up bollock .
Clean and healthy hen get neat and tidy orchis .
revealing : If you snitch from my article or make a leverage through one of my links , I may have committee on some of the products I advocate .
My chickens lie onexcelsior nest pads(also known as “ Sir Henry Joseph Wood woollen ” ) and never slumber in their nests , so most of their eggs add up out spotless . Any specks of soil can be brushed off with a finger or towel .
( I also used theseplastic nest padsfor a tenacious time , and really liked them because they were washable and reclaimable . But , they did n’t fit as well inside mynew chicken henhouse . )
If you find an ballock very contaminating , you’re able to wash it under run body of water , but plan to use it correctly away or keep it refrigerate .
What makes factory eggs more susceptible to bacteria
USDA guideline state that eggs should be stored at 40 ° F or below . This is necessary for factory orchis , which are continue in the electric refrigerator at the market and should stay in the fridge at base .
Factory ball come from orotund - scale farm operation where hygiene can not be adequately monitor . manufacturing plant nut often end up poopy and dirty with feather sticking to the muck on the shell .
To make the eggs palatable for the public , the eggs are washed and sanitized ( with anything from Cl to peracetic acid , depend on how “ organic ” the factory is ) , which strip them of their innate roadblock and makes them vulnerable to pathogen .
commercial-grade packer will attempt to prolong shelf biography by spray the testicle with their own protective coating , usually mineral oil or vegetable fossil oil . If your stock - bought orchis appear glossy , that ’s because you ’re seeing the film from the oil .
By police , nut must be process within 7 days of being laid . By the time they are collect , cleaned , range , packed , and ship statewide or countrywide , those “ farm bracing ” egg could already be two weeks onetime … and then they model for another workweek or two in the stock … and then another calendar week or two in your fridge .
Eggs can be sold for up to 30 days after the date they were put in the cartonful . Refrigeration during this period is vital because it keeps the temperature of the eggs constant , which suppress bacterial emergence .
A cold testicle left out in a ardent room will sweat ; its pores flourish from fluctuating temperature , causing bacteria to ooze into the egg . This is honest of any egg , washed or not .
For this reason , even if you have a pertly place ball with the peak inviolate , you should not keep it on the counter once it ’s been refrigerate .
It ’s either in or out , from farm to fork .
If for some cause you have a surplus of bollock that you ca n’t eat in the next few calendar month , by all means , refrigerate them and they will in all probability keep for at least six month or more .
But if you have that many eggs , what ’s the pointedness of stash away them ? betray them , share them , and expend that space for something else !
A good rule of thumb for storing eggs is to store them in the same condition you acquired them:
Egg Storage and Nesting Box Sources
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This post updated from an clause that in the beginning come along on April 20 , 2012 .
