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Have you ever wondered, while making breakfast, if you can still eat expired eggs? Here is the answer!
I have often stood in front of the oven with an expired egg in my hand, pondering whether I can still use it for my cake.
Maybe this has happened to you? You feel like having an egg dish, but your eggs are all expired. Do you have to throw them away now? Are they really bad and how can you find out??
We will now show you how to recognize expired eggs, until when you can still prepare them and when eggs taste best of all.
You will learn in this article
What does the best before date say about expired eggs?
Freshness is an important quality criterion for eggs, as it is for many other foods.
So that you as a consumer know how long your eggs are edible, they are marked with a best-before date (MHD).
You can see the date on almost every egg carton and directly on the eggs themselves.
The best before date for eggs is determined as follows: Laying day of the egg plus 28 days. This period is required by law.
As the name suggests, the best-before date indicates the time until which the eggs can be used at least are durable. Pay close attention here. The MDH does not give the expiration date of eggs.
Many foods are still edible after the expiration of the best-before date. Whether this is also the case with expired eggs, you will find out in a moment.
How to check if expired eggs are still edible
In today’s society it is almost normal to dispose of food when the best before date has passed. Most products, however, have a much longer shelf life than it says on the packaging.
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If your eggs are expired and have passed the best before date, you should heat them before eating them. So you can use them for cooking or baking.
Expired eggs do not necessarily have to be bad. For this reason, you should definitely check if your expired eggs are still edible. This way you can avoid throwing away food unnecessarily or you can avoid eating eggs that are actually spoiled.
There are four easy ways to test if your eggs have expired.
The crack test: Trust your senses
Simply break the egg on a plate and smell it. An expired egg smells strongly of fish and rotten, a fresh egg smells neutral.
The float test: Send the possibly expired egg for a swim
For the water test, place the egg (complete and unopened) in a bowl of water.
If your egg sinks to the bottom, you can eat it without any problems.
If the egg on the bottom of the bowl is just standing up, you should prepare it as soon as possible. We recommend you to eat the egg heated then.
If it floats on the surface of the water, your egg is expired and really belongs in the trash.
The float test is a very meaningful method to detect the freshness of eggs.
Sidefact: Why does the egg float to the surface?? The older your egg is, the more water evaporates through the egg shell. The free space inside the egg fills with air, which causes it to rise in the water bowl. So if it eventually floats on the surface, the egg is expired.
The shake test: Scrambled eggs in a different way
Shake it, shake it. You’re more familiar with this from shakes and cocktails, but the shake test can tell you a lot about the condition of eggs.
Take an egg and shake it next to your ear.
If the egg is still fresh, you should not hear anything.
If the egg is expired, you will hear a sloshing or gurgling sound. The noise comes from the yolk being shaken through the inside of the egg.
The light test: Shine a light inside the egg
The shell of fresh eggs is still very translucent.
If you hold the egg against a lamp and you can see the yolk through the shell, the egg is probably not bad and fresh.
Always stay wild.
What do yolk color and liquid egg white tell about expired eggs??
Let me paint you a picture of the perfect and fresh egg:
When you break the egg, the shiny, slightly curved yolk is in the middle of the thick egg white.
You can already guess that the yolk color and the egg white also indicate whether an egg has expired or not.
If you want to test the shelf life of the yolk and the albumen, you have to break the egg very carefully on a straight surface.
If the yolk floats in the middle, your egg is fresh.
With expired eggs the yolk would slip to the edge or even run out completely. Older eggs have much more liquid egg whites and can not hold the yolk so.
This is the best way to store eggs and extend their shelf life
To avoid having to deal with expired eggs in the first place, here’s how to store your eggs properly. Eggs MUST go in the refrigerator to keep them from expiring is just a myth.
For the first 18 to 20 days, you can keep the eggs unrefrigerated. During this period, the eggs can protect themselves against germs and pathogens through natural defenses.
However, the storage place should be dark and of course safe. It is easy for an egg to break. I feel like one falls off the counter every weekend. The egg carton is the perfect place to store them.
The temperature should also be constant. Too much variation reduces the natural protection against pathogens and reduces shelf life. The eggs would drain faster.
From the end of the second or from the third week you should store eggs as cold as possible. If you put them in your refrigerator, you can extend their shelf life by two to four weeks beyond the best-before date.
In the refrigerator you should make sure that the eggs do not come into contact with foreign smells or tastes. Through the pores of the shell they absorb it very easily. I always store my eggs in the carton in the refrigerator.
There are egg trays in the door, but most of the time the egg carton does not fit in there at all. In addition, the eggs are always exposed to a temperature difference when you open the refrigerator door.
In the hot season you should put eggs in the refrigerator immediately after purchase, so that they do not expire.
When do eggs taste best? Even expired eggs can taste good?
Expired eggs are one thing, but when do they taste best??
On some days the breakfast egg tastes better than on others? Or the egg whites are easier to crack? There is a reason for this!
Eggs usually taste best after three to four days. They have then developed their full flavor and the best usability.
I have noticed that I can make very good beaten egg whites with three-day-old eggs. Also for lost eggs or for poaching these young chicken eggs are super good!
For boiled eggs, you should use slightly older eggs. If they lie a little longer in their egg carton, air can get between the shell and the shell membrane. The air will make the shell peel off much easier and not stick to the egg.
Expired eggs: Here they are a no-go
There are dishes for which you should never use expired eggs. Often these are raw dishes like tiramisu and mayonnaise or drinks. Here you should take freshly laid eggs.
If you do not have fresh eggs at hand, you can also use older ones. But after 18 days of storage is the end. Otherwise you run the risk of getting poisoned by germs or bacteria.
If the MDH is exceeded and the eggs have expired, you should only use them for baking or cooking. It is important that the eggs are heated.
The inspection of the eggs is mandatory before processing, as soon as the MDH has expired.
Our conclusion
If eggs are expired, they are not immediately spoiled. You can still use them in many ways. The only important thing is to check the freshness of the eggs. You can choose whether to bathe them or use your sense of smell.
For a delicious cake or boiled eggs for breakfast you can use expired eggs maybe even a few days after exceeding the MDH.