# Farm fresh eggs at room temp



## Sierra (Nov 19, 2001)

On Sunday, one of my co-staff members dropped off about 4 dozen eggs he had picked up for me at his friend's farm. We purchase eggs from them as available.

I put them in my office fully intending to take them to the fridge as soon as I had a chance. But I kept forgetting. Work was busy and then Sunday was ds' birthday and the afternoon party sort of took all my attention. Monday I came into my office for a while, but it is my usual day off, so when I got done, I rushed off without thinking. Tuesday I didn't even remember they were here, and Wednesday I got the flu and "called in sick." Finally, today (Thursday), I came in and put them in the fridge. But it was a late start day for me so it was the afternoon before they got put in.

My office generally stays on the cooler end of room temp. Do you think there is any chance these are still okay to eat, or should I toss them







?


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## Mirzam (Sep 9, 2002)

I never, ever refrigerate eggs. So I certainly wouldn't toss them. But's that me.


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## snowbunny (May 25, 2005)

I don't refrigerate my eggs at all.


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## ledzepplon (Jun 28, 2004)

My understanding is that if they haven't been refrigerated yet, they don't have to be stored in the fridge. (My mom and my brother's girlfriend have chickens and have told me this.)


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## Merf (Mar 19, 2008)

I never refrigerate farm fresh eggs either. They can last for months on the counter. I do float test all mine before I use them though, just in case.


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## tankgirl73 (Jun 10, 2007)

Can someone clarify the 'rules' about eggs for me? We're going to have a source for farm-fresh eggs later this summer and I was thinking about this room-temperature storage thing (which I had never heard about before MDC! I was always obsessive about keeping eggs nice and chilly).

A pp mentioned that "as long as they haven't been refrigerated" then it's okay. Is that accurate? Once they're refrigerated, do they have to stay that way?


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## Merf (Mar 19, 2008)

I'd like to hear what others say about this as well. I had heard they could be left out as long as they haven't been washed. Dr. Mercola seems to indicate ANY farm egg is ok to leave out.


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## Norasmomma (Feb 26, 2008)

IDK about the "rules" of egg storage, but I recently spent a couple weeks in Mexico and they don't refrigerate eggs, they keep them on the shelf for up to a month, and they refrigerate their bread. I thought it was a little strange, but I ate the eggs and they were fine. It changed some of my views on what is safe and what is not.


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## Sierra (Nov 19, 2001)

I suppose there is no way for certain to know if they have or have not been washed unless I ask. But I really don't want to give anyone any hints of what I have done, for fear if I do have to throw them away. Wah!

I know the float test works for freshness (having to do with the amount of air in the egg, right?), but would it really work for foodborn illnesses?

If I didn't have a stomach bug right now, I could test one of the eggs and see if it makes my tummy upset before giving any to my family. But my tummy already is upset. Hmmm...

Now that they are in the fridge, I suppose I better keep them cold. And then maybe once my tummy feels better, I'll try one out (??).


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## Merf (Mar 19, 2008)

I guess I just assume that if the chicken is healthy, the egg will be too as long as it doesn't float and has no leaks. So far, I've never had a problem.


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## MaxiMom (Mar 31, 2004)

I believe there is a natural coating on the eggs that keeps them fresh unrefrigerated. Commercial eggs have that coating washed off, hence the need for refrigeration. See quote about natural coating here.

We have chickens and have found 2 dozen eggs under our shed, at once! - must have been there for a while and they were all fine, no problem.


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## DashsMama (Dec 1, 2001)

Farm fresh eggs will last for a month or more as long as they have never been refrigerated (learned this from my world-traveling, sailor, neighbors). Once eggs have been refrigerated they must continue to be refrigerated or they will spoil. Luckily, spoiled eggs are easily identified because they stink!!! Crack one open and give it a smell. If there is no strong smell, it should be fine. If you are worried about Salmonella, just make sure the eggs are well cooked. Salmonella is killed by heat.


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## Unconventional1 (Apr 3, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Norasmomma* 
IDK about the "rules" of egg storage, but I recently spent a couple weeks in Mexico and they don't refrigerate eggs, they keep them on the shelf for up to a month, and they refrigerate their bread. I thought it was a little strange, but I ate the eggs and they were fine. It changed some of my views on what is safe and what is not.

I assume that they refrigerate bread to keep it from molding, and eggs don't need refrigeration if they haven't been refrigerated previously.


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## karne (Jul 6, 2005)

I have been using some farm eggs, unwashed, that I inadvertantly left out for a week (kind of embarassed to admidt I didn't see them in my kitchen). They seem fine, we're all fine, so I don't see a problem. I too refidge washed eggs.


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## straighthaircurly (Dec 17, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Norasmomma* 
IDK about the "rules" of egg storage, but I recently spent a couple weeks in Mexico and they don't refrigerate eggs, they keep them on the shelf for up to a month, and they refrigerate their bread. I thought it was a little strange, but I ate the eggs and they were fine. It changed some of my views on what is safe and what is not.

Same in Costa Rica. They sit out in huge stacks at the store and then noone refrigerates them when they take them home. I have never had a problem with them (and it is always HOT there).


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## Norasmomma (Feb 26, 2008)

Yeah I understood the bread thing, we keep our bread in the fridge at home, it was just opposite of what is done here in the US. My friend was really wierded out by the egg thing, but I just rolled with it, the Mexicans all seemed fine with the eggs being on the shelf and like the PP's it is really HOT in Baja(like Costa Rica). We ate pretty much everything there and nothing made us sick, like I said it really changed some of my concerns about food storage.


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## kewb (May 13, 2005)

Why can't an egg be stored on the counter if it has been previously refrigerated?


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## Mirzam (Sep 9, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *kewb* 
Why can't an egg be stored on the counter if it has been previously refrigerated?

IMO it can be, but they just won't last as long as unwashed, never refrigerated eggs. I have eaten previously refrigerated eggs that have been left out and have never gotten sick. I have long since left behind the fear of bacteria contaminating my food.


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## 4lilfarmers (Feb 9, 2006)

interesting... my dh is paranoid about leaving our eggs out. it was nice to share all of these posts with him... now hopefully he won't nag me about getting the eggs in the fridge quick!


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## funkygranolamama (Aug 10, 2005)

I wonder if the reason you aren't supposed to leave them out after refrigeration has to do with the lipids in the egg. A guy I work with says once you refrigerate eggs the good fat in the yolk solidifies and isn't efficently used by the body. Maybe if you take out the refrigerated eggs the fats are in a way broken down? This is only a guess...


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## momtoalexsarah (May 21, 2005)

do I worry about refrigerating our eggs - nope. I have 2 dozen in a pail by the door waiting to go in cartons - they are 3 days old and I haven't got it done yet. Half the time the eggs our hens lay stay in the collection pail till I use them. I never have fridge space for them all and figure why should I be refrigerating something that dosn't need to be in there. FWIW though a days eggs (about a dozen) is generally pretty qucik to go. Breakfast can use that if the kids are real hungry!


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## cristeen (Jan 20, 2007)

I never refrigerate eggs, and I buy them at the grocery store, so they've been both washed and refrigerated. After about a month of sitting on the counter, I'll start cracking them into a dish to check them before using them, but other than that I don't worry about it. They don't tend to last that long in my house, but sometimes they do.

Until the 80s, eggs weren't required to be refrigerated in stores (in the US), and they weren't. You'd buy them off the shelf like you do bread or pasta (or right out of the box sitting on the floor of the store). Then the salmonella scares started, and the FDA (or the USDA, whoever has authority over these things) determined that eggs had to be refrigerated. All stores had to install extra fridges for this.

My DH was always on me about refrigerating the eggs until my father told him the above (my dad was the egg man growing up... you know, like the milk man only with eggs).


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## SevenVeils (Aug 28, 2006)

That may be regional. I was 13 in 1980, and I know for a fact that eggs were kept refrigerated in the grocery stores that we went to when I was younger than that.

That notwithstanding, I too say that the OPs eggs are perfectly fine.


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## Picturesque (May 31, 2007)

The eggs are fine. Enjoy!


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