Egg freshness

[Colleen Kinzie]

Interesting article on how fresh store bought eggs are

Almost everyone knows to look at “best by” dates when buying perishables. However, there are a vast differences in how manufacturers choose to label this date on packages, including “best used before,” “sell by” and “use by” dates. It is critical to understand these dates on some foods more than others.

Eggs happen to be one of those items. On egg cartons, there is generally a “best by” date, and many people are used to judging how old the eggs in the carton are by looking at that date.
There is a better way to judge how old eggs are that is far more accurate but the method isn’t as quite as obvious as it should be.

Every carton of eggs has another number that is actually a better tool for determining how fresh the eggs in the carton are. This three-digit number is usually above or below the “best by” date, and it’s the number you should be watching.

That number, called the Julian date, indicates the very day the eggs were placed in the carton and the number simply indicates the consecutive days of the year. For example, Jan. 1 would appear as 001 and Dec. 31 would appear as 365.

The USDA breaks the numbers down in a chart on its website:

You can store fresh eggs in their cartons in a refrigerator for “four to five weeks beyond this date,” according to the University of Lincoln.

It is important to note that the “best by” date does not indicate freshness and the FDA doesn’t require egg producers to post it. In short, the “best by” date may not always tell the truth about how long the eggs are safe to consume, but the Julian date will.

[Jaye]

While it's true that the Julian date tells you when the eggs were packaged and gives you a pretty good idea of how fresh they are, it is still just a guideline for determining freshness, not an exact measure: There is no way to really know how long it took to for an egg to wind up in the carton from the time it was laid, and was washed and graded.

[Colleen Kinzie]

Very true Jaye

[Robbie]

I do the freshness float test, a fresh egg in water won't float at all, an old one will float up and the older it is the higher it floats.

[Jaye]

I think both methods are good, albeit for different situations: the Julian Date on the carton is a good way to calculate approximately how fresh eggs are for those people who buy their eggs from a store, whereas the Water Float Test is a good way to determine freshness if your eggs come from a laying flock.
I’ve been mulling over an idea after reading this thread: If you buy eggs from the store and you combine the two methods – Julian Date formula result and the Float Test result – you can get a slightly better idea of an egg’s actual age, in theory anyway.
First, check the Julian Date on the carton and subtract from the Julian Date that you get the eggs home from the store in order to arrive at a value for the time elapsed since the egg was packaged.
Next, take an egg from the carton, do a Water Float Test, and compare the result to the ‘Egg Float Freshness Chart’ for age range. Then, subtract the maximum number from the ‘Egg Float Freshness Chart’ date range

from the Julian Date value arrived at in the first step. That should give you a reasonable idea of how old the egg actually is.
Remember though, that dunking the eggs will remove the natural 'bloom' on the egg that keeps them fresh, so once you've done the Float Test on an egg you should use it right away or refrigerate it.
Washing eggs also factors in to how “old” an egg actually is, using the egg float test. Unwashed eggs will stay fresh longer … so given that store-bought eggs in cartons are all washed, maybe this formula isn’t all that accurate after all. Generally, an egg will last unrefrigerated out on the counter at room temperature, unwashed, for at least two weeks. Unwashed and stored in the refrigerator, an egg will last a lot longer - more than three months. Washed eggs will last for about two months in the refrigerator. I wasn’t able to find any statistics for how long washed eggs out on the counter at room temperature will last, probably because it’s not a good idea to leave them out once they’ve been washed, but I’m guessing that, at most, it would only be good for two thirds the time that an unwashed egg will last out on the counter, based on the freshness longevity difference between washed and unwashed refrigerated.

Float Test Instructions (Reader’s Digest Version)
Fill a small deep bowl or glass measuring cup with water that’s a little warmer than the egg. The water level should be approximately twice the height of the egg. Carefully lower the egg into the water.
If the egg sinks and lays flat on its side, it’s very fresh
If one end rises up, it’s not quite as fresh
If the egg stands on one end on the bottom, it’s getting old and should be used soon
If it floats, it’s very old (or even gone bad). Probably time to toss it. Some say you can still eat a floating egg, but why chance it, especially when you have fresh eggs at your disposal? I would toss any egg that floats. If you're still in doubt, shake the egg. If you hear sloshing inside, it has definitely gone bad and shouldn't be eaten.

[Robbie]

Jaye's post should be a sticky- do we have those here?

[kenya]

Julian date on a carton is interesting to know, thanks for this info!

[ross]

Anybody know of any scientific studies done by a non biased indepent group on how soon & what gualities ie , what guality do we loose first , vitamins etc are lost or
circumvented the older the eggs is up to point of nothing left . Luck