# Eggs last longer not cleaned and put in the fridge????????????????????



## Marta (Apr 15, 2010)

The 13 yr old came home today saying he had learned all about eggs and he started telling us all about it, but I had to stop him to clarify 1 major   problem with what he was saying and that was.....and I quote what the school has told him...."you should NOT clean eggs before you put them in the fridge as they will last longer if they go in with dirt on ie: bird poo..........now then, if you buy them from the shop they have all sorts of chemicals on them to stop them going off but the bird poo is much better and safer.........
Is it just me or is there something wrong with this type of education, I was promptly told I did not know what I was talking about and everyone knew this fact and kept their eggs dirty.............as they lasted longer.....
strange how you can keep fresh raw meat, fresh white goats milk and dirty eggs in the fridge together innit and stay fresh and healthy your self or is there some one out there gonna tell me different and the Campilorbactor enterididis I caught when I was younger does not exist any longer and its safe to mix bird poo with everything else in the fridge....sorry to rant but I am fuming about this and the education they get that can tell a 13 yr old boy this fact.


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## ksalvagno (Apr 15, 2010)

When you wash your eggs (especially if you scrub them), you do wash off the protection of the shell. So they are right in that. I don't think I would leave the poo on there but there is probably some sort of happy medium where you get the poo off without scrubbing the shell. 

I'm lucky. So far my chickens aren't pooping in their nest boxes so my eggs are pretty clean and I basically just rinse off the eggs and put them away.


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## patandchickens (Apr 15, 2010)

Now, it is POSSIBLE that what he was saying is correct but just got a bit twisted in translation... 

It IS often said, and for all I know may very well be true, that eggs last longer if they are not washed, so that the "bloom" is not washed off them and bacteria don't get in thru the egg pores during washing.

The "bloom" is secretions from the chicken's body as the egg passes to, and through, the vent.

I could imagine this getting somehow bent a little to become "poo on the egg", when going from teacher to student and student to mom.

Obviously I don't KNOW what was said in school, but, it seems like a reasonable possibility anyhow 

Pat


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## freemotion (Apr 15, 2010)

Well, my eggs don't go into the fridge with poo on them!  Really poopy eggs are either given to the dogs or washed thoroughly and eaten right away or baked into something like a quiche.  I save the naturally clean ones for storing and for eating raw in shakes and homemade mayo and such.  I do wash the eggs as little as possible, just wiping the occasional dirty footprint on rainy, muddy days off before putting them in the cartons and into the fridge.

You must wash them with water that is at least 10 degrees F WARMER than the egg, or the poopiness will be drawn into the egg itself.  If I have a lot of eggs, I just scramble those up for the pooches.


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## Beekissed (Apr 15, 2010)

I don't wash mine either....just a wipe of smudges with a damp rag.  Really smeared eggs are given to the dogs right out of the coop....protein supplement for their diet.  

I also do not put my eggs in the fridge right away, nor feel the need to do so quickly.  My eggs don't stay around long enough for storage decisions...


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## Marta (Apr 16, 2010)

we get about 9 eggs a day, some are covered in poo some are not,(yet to work out where the 9th one comes from unless we have a cock that lays eggs lol as we only have 8 chickens, and the other day one egg was soooooooo tiny, itwas about 1/4 size of the other eggs so me thinking one has just started laying)) I under stand the fact that you should not scrub them but the way they have been told is absolute NO washing eggs, the eggs do not last long here as we always find a use for them about 4 or 5 days then there is always a party we have to cook for. In england we never put them in the fridge ever...but here the days are hotter so they need to be cooled.


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## Lil-patch-of-heaven (Apr 24, 2010)

I used to live in Florida and got dozens of eggs a day. I read also about not washing them or refrigerating them so with "my" eggs I put the clean ones on the counter in dated trays. I usually washed the dirty ones and cooked them for the animals. 

I explained what I had learned to my customers and all but one requested unwashed, unrefrigerated  eggs.  I only sold eggs within two to three days of laying. 

I was often left with older eggs and have cooked and eaten them even over a month old on the counter with no ill effects (and my stomach is very sensitive to bacteria). Please, I am NOT telling anyone else to do this! Just relating my experience. The only eggs that went bad (and a few did) were those with hairline cracks I had missed. I would see a few gnats near the eggs and know I'd missed one. 

Just my experience. I figured if a hen can lay for 2-3 weeks and THEN begin sitting and the eggs are still viable to hatch ...

But I had a LOT of eggs. More than once I simply "processed" aging ones for animal feed 300-500 at a time. Meaning I cracked them into plastic bags in batches of 6 or so and froze them to be cooked later for animal food. The eggs fed EVERYone on my little farm (except the geese -- they wouldn't eat them!) and made a bit of money.


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## ohiofarmgirl (Apr 24, 2010)

we dont wash ours either... and we leave them on the counter for several days. granted we go thru them pretty fast... but some of that is right. 

commercial operations wash their eggs but then they are recoated with something to keep them fresh.


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