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Do egg whites go bad?

14 years ago

I was making myself an egg-white omelette this morning but after eating I got busy and forgot to put the carton of egg whites back in the fridge. When I remembered it was a few hours later. I looked inside the carton it looked fine and there's no smell. Do egg whites go bad in room temperature? How do I know if it's bad?

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Comments (4)

lindac
14 years ago
Yep they do....but in 3 or 4 hours at not 90 degree temp you likely are fine.
Egg whites will smell...and maybe get watery or thick if they haven't been covered well.
althetrainer
Original Author
14 years ago
Thanks Linda! Today was a hot day but don't think it was up to 90F in the house. So far the egg whites look fine and smell fine. I will check it again tomorrow before using it. If it doesn't smell or look right, it will go right into the garbage.
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annie1992
14 years ago
I agree, they're fine. Even opened and on the counter they aren't going to spoil in that amount of time.

Of course, the food police are going to disagree, they say only 2-4 days refrigerated and they have to go.

Now, are these fresh egg whites or those "egg beater" kind of things? I only know about fresh eggs, I never touch the other stuff, it very well could be treated in some way that preserves it for longer periods of time.

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althetrainer
Original Author
14 years ago
Annie, it's the egg whites from a carton. Just checked it again and it looked fine. You're probably right about the egg whites being treated. Think I am going to give it a try tomorrow morning.

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