Even though the "Use By" date on the side of the egg carton says they've expired, sometimes eggs stay fresher past that date. How can you tell their freshness level without cracking them? We have a tried and true method for doing this.
- Place an egg in a bowl of water.
- If the egg lies on its side at the bottom, it is very fresh.
- If the egg lays upright on the bottom, it is still fine to eat, but should be eaten very soon, or hard boiled.
- If the egg floats to the top, do not eat. Discard it in your compost bin.
Why this works: Eggshells are very porous, and an egg's shelf life diminishes as more air enters the shell. The more air that enters the shell, the more buoyant the egg becomes. There you go!
(Image: Utah's Own)
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Wow, what a great trick! Thanks!
Very good to know!
I thought the yolks and whites shouldn't go in compost, just the shells. Incorrect? I'm new to composting so bear with me!
hm, thanks!
nongsa, the San Francisco city composting program allows dairy, meat, brown paper bags, paper towels, milk cartons, etc. to be composted. If you are composting with your own heap, edit the above to discourage pests from partying at your house!
I learned this trick from a Nancy Drew cookbook when I was a kid!
awesome!!
Thank you so much!
Also: want to tell the difference between a cooked and raw egg? (Still in the shell, of course.)
Spin it. If it's doing perfect figure-skater camel spins, it's cooked. If it wobbles, it's fresh.
I've got a guide to choosing the healthiest and best eggs over at http://www.hollyhickman.com/eggs2
Enjoy!
if you are in a supermarket
there is a 3 digit number on the side of the carton which corresponds to the day of the year that the egg was hatched/packed.
Now you just need to know todays 3 digit day to see how many days ago that egg was packed.
use the 30day/month as a ROUGH estimate.
So today, april 11, I would guess to be the 100 day of the year.
If the package said 090 I'd buy if it said 080 I'd pass.