I’ve never had a bad egg either, but I always crack them into a bowl because-shells. I frequently have to fish out shells. I haven’t mastered the one hand crack, either.

Have you ever had a bad egg? No

Do you take the extra step of cracking them into a dish first? No

But I do use a lot of eggs and tend to go through them quickly - well before the best sell by date.

I have let eggs linger way too long and degrade, though I've never had them rot. But I know when they're old and wouldn't bake with them. Even less fresh—nothing that'll show in your bowl—isn't good for baking. They don't rise well.

If you have secretive chickens, however, you may find an overlooked egg that isn't fresh this morning, and might have been out there some time, even if it isn't smelly yet. Or so my mother told me. I grew up where chickens were forbidden.

Nope, never a bad one, thankfully. I do sometimes crack them into a little bowl first.

If you need to check if they are bad, use a glass of water. Fill a big tall glass with water. 12 to 16 ounces or more. Do not crack the egg. Drop the egg in the water. If it is fresh, it will sink. If so-so, it will rise half way. It it floats all the way to the top, throw away.

"Have you ever had a bad egg?"

No, not from the grocery. I have eaten hard-boiled eggs that were left at room temp too long (like - a week too long); that was not a pleasant digestive experience.

Do you take the extra step of cracking them into a dish first?

Yes. I'm not a skilled cracker and often have to fish out shell; better in a separate dish than from whatever I'm cooking.

Never encountered a bad raw egg, but I've had hard-cooked eggs go bad - P.U.!

I don't crack them into a bowl or cup beforehand either - I just pay careful attention to look for pieces of shell and remove them.

I remember a rotten egg from my childhood. From a carton left too long in the fridge of a vacation house. It smelled like rotten eggs. 🙂 Never since.

I look at Julian date when buying eggs, and on the rare occasion that they last past best by date - and I actually notice - I don’t worry about it.

I might crack into a bowl if it’s going in something where a bit of shell might be difficult to retrieve, but rarely.

It is rare. Only once in 35years. I still crack them in a separate bowl once you whitness a bad guy. I was taught as a child to crack eggs in a small separate bowl first. For not only shell fragments but odd ones. Do not comprimise a full batter with a bad egg.

The way i was taught by my grandmother.

Close friends did get horribly sick from a local farm. Their todler was just into solid foods but chose to not serve him. Smart move. They were so sick for a few days. Still very rare.

I've never found bad grocery store egg. I've done the float test when a ways past their carton dates and discarded a few that bobbed, but never opened one and found it bad. I didn't used to, but will often crack into a small bowl before incorporating into my recipe these days. 1) DH has something of a phobia about finding a bit of shell in something, his mother was making breakfast for 10 kids and wasn't always the most careful 😊 and 2) with the cost of ingredients any more I'd hate to spoil something before even finishing assembling it.

When I was growing up we had pet ducks, not chickens, and my mother would use the eggs for brownies, cakes etc. Our free range ducks were not tidy nesters, rather they laid any and everywhere and eggs could be found in flower beds, along the foundation of the house next the the little man made pond in the side yard - I'm sure we never knew how old when gathering them and bringing them inside to refrigerate. We never got sick from them. I don't remember any float tests then. But I think we probably grew up with a lot of kitchen habits that would be frowned on now. My mother was not the best cook and made no excuses, she just wasn't interested that much in food or its preparation.

I think I've said this here before, but there was one cookbook in our house, a compilation of local-ish recipes from the area where she grew up in Kansas. Just the one, and if an actual recipe was called for it came from that book whether it had previously turned out successfully or not. I was almost adult before I knew fudge didn't have to be eaten with a spoon or chipped from a pyramid formed when pouring from the saucepan. I have that cookbook now along with another 75 or so. I don't think I've ever used it.

Many years ago I purchased a dozen eggs to make a brioche which required 10 eggs. Silly me, I cracked them straight into the mixture. Egg #10 was rotten. Whole batch was wrecked.

Yes and yes. I was taught to crack eggs into a cup one by one. As a child I remember once or twice being shown eggs with embryo chicks in. These days bad eggs are very rare but since I get mine from a farm I have had a couple over the years. It's usually because the egg had a slight crack.

Eggs usually don't actually get rotten, they generally dry out unless they are cracked or somehow compromised. However, I have gotten a bad egg or two in my history, and as has been mentioned above, there are shells.

I also crack into a bowl before adding to whatever I'm cooking or baking.

ANnie

I buy farm fresh eggs and sometimes they are fertilized, so I don't want any beginning to form chicken in my dishes. I occasionally will get a bloody egg and though probably ok to eat, I toss them. And I have had eggs from cartons have a hairline crack, causing the egg to be bad. So, yes, I always crack into a small container first.

Man, I am probably stupid. I throw caution to the wind. I don't crack into a bowl first, or float an egg, I just go for it. I don't check best by dates. But, I will buy eggs at the grocery store, without adding them to the list. That, and butter. Always. I use them both so much. I don't keep them out on the counter, and I don't buy eggs outside of the grocery store. I've never had a bad egg. Never. Though, I probably just jinxed myself.

I crack them right in as well -- usually. My mother did so that's how I learned. She would just fish out any shell on the rare occasion some escaped.

Lately though, it seems like I get shell in there more and more often so sometimes I'll go ahead and crack into a separate container first.

Recently I was making something at a friend's house, and I don't remember why now, but I did go ahead and crack an egg into a bowl and it was... I dunno if it was BAD cuz I didn't smell it... but it was thick. Viscous. Not like an egg is supposed to be.

So we threw it out and just threw out the rest of that carton. I believe those were farmers market eggs not grocery store eggs.

Other than that, I've never had a questionable egg.

That's happened to me, eggs partially froze because fridge was too cold. They were fine to cook with.

Many years ago, the local police sergeant kept chickens in the yard around the seldom used lock up. I don’t know why, because he didn’t collect the eggs.

He knew I did a lot of baking at Christmas and had got a notion to tidy up the yard, so he collected up all the eggs and presented them to meto use. There must have been about seven or so dozen.

I decided to float test them all before even attempting to use them, so I filled my kitchen sink with water and started. Many floated right to the top so they instantly went into the discard pile. Others barely lifted an end off the bottom so they were OK. Towards the end of the pile waiting to be tested, I put an eg in and almost immediately one end of the shell blew off and hit the ceiling. Inside was a deceased baby chicken, almost fully formed. I had no idea there was a rooster in with the hens. 🤢

A friend who grew up on a farm always claims that unwashed eggs do not need to be refrigerated. I've always doubted that but buy eggs at the grocery anyway. Has anyone else heard that? Seems unlikely to be true.

Colleen, just speculation, but when I was in college, we went to a top research zoo on a lark and saw chickens everywhere, roaming around. They said they were there to eat the bugs. Perhaps that's what they were doing around the jail yard?

Yes, fresh unwashed eggs do not need to be refrigerated.

"A general rule, unwashed eggs will last around two weeks unrefrigerated and about three months or more in your refrigerator. If you’re experiencing an egg boom, it’s smart to refrigerate any unwashed fresh eggs you aren’t planning to eat immediately. This will help them last longer."

One source

It is illegal to wash eggs for sale in the UK. Washing destroys the natural protection on the shell and means that once washed they need refrigerating. Producers are required to produce clean eggs in a clean environment rather than needing to sanitize them post hoc before sale. If the cuticle isn't destroyed by washing and the eggs are layed in clean conditions refrigeration isn't needed. https://www.businessinsider.com/why-europeans-dont-refrigerate-eggs-2014-12?r=US&IR=T#:~:text=In%20the%20UK%2C%20Grade%20A,Food%20Safety%20Authority%20of%20Ireland.

https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/english-eggs-vs-american-eggs_n_5403941#:~:text=The%20idea%20behind%20the%20no,Egg%20Industry%20Council%20told%20Forbes.

I was told that I was to crack the egg into a small dish to wtxh for any blood specks that sometimes show up, and to clear away any shell pieces. I use to have a friend that always shared cookies.. unfortunately a bit crunchy from a fround shell piece.

Annie,

Good to know!

I'm in Houston so not cold at all. However, eggs were kept in the fridge for an indeterminite length of time and the fridge might have been too cold!

Even frozen they are still fine to use, I freeze eggs when I get too many, like right now.

Unwashed eggs do not need to be refrigerated, but my customers prefer that their eggs be clean and refrigerated, so that's what I do. Even unwashed they will keep longer (by several weeks) in the refrigerator than on the counter. If you only have what you are going to use in the next few weeks, leave them in a basket in the kitchen. However, if you are keeping them longer, they'll do better refrigerated. I'm boiling a dozen right now from November.

Annie

yes, my wife married one ... lol

I can't believe it took six days for someone to make that joke. ;-)

Decades ago, whilr cooking, I cracked a bad egg. Disgusting. I was a student. Maybe the eggs were old? I don’t recall the details. It got my attention. I crack eggs into a separate bowl or examine the freshly cracked egg before adding it to ongoing ingredients bowl.