Good Egg? Bad Egg?

Living on the Gulf Coast, I am making a list of foods I can prepare or store for three to four days.

Assume a hurricane is aimed at my city. . . can I boil eggs and keep them unrefrigerated for 3 to 4 days after the electricity goes out?

When I was a kid, it seems to me that we kept our hunted colored eggs for an equivalent time.

Comments, please!

A.Y. Grant

Houston, Texas

Eggs, raw or cooked, should never be stored at room temperature. Hard-boiled eggs can be stored for only up to 1 week under refrigeration.

Of course, during a nasty storm, the risk of hunger might outweigh the risk of eating a bad egg. You'll have to judge for yourself whether you want the risk or not, and the diarrhea/cramps that would come with it. However, I think it would be best not to risk dehydration through illness when water sources are low.

Hope this helps,

Desi @ DVO

Thanks Desi. . . I am somewhat foolhardy with eggs because I lived on a beach in Mexico for 13 years and Mexicans NEVER refrigerate their eggs. . . and I did "as the Romans do in Rome". I know I was pressing my luck. At age 75, I live on the edge.

However, I trust your advice because I would like to live to see 85!

Mucho thanks for your response.

Yvonne

 Hello Desi,

 When we gather fresh eggs  out of the chicken coup, we  keep them in a basket on the  counter for weeks and we've  never had them go bad.

My sister told me that after you wash them, you must refrigerate them. I don't know if that's true or not but I just thought I'd pass this information on to you.

- Dan

Hi Dan,

The following email from Yvonne (below) will validate your habits of handling eggs. I've only been to one other country (England), and it seems to me their eggs were also not refrigerated.

Personally, it's all about risk! If your hens contract salmonella, your eggs will more likely contain the bacteria. But, if they don't, you'd never get ill.

It's all in the question: Are they eating bacteria when they peck the corn kernels off their cage floor amidst their droppings (where salmonella breeds)?? If you own free-range chickens, they most likely won't eat their droppings with their feed, you hope . . . Hmn . . .

Of course the rules that come down from the egg board are a general rule to keep the general public safe. They can't visit every chicken farmer to ensure chickens aren't living in their droppings. So, they take a No Risk stand to prevent the bad publicity that would come if consumers ate contaminated eggs.

:-) Desi

Hello Dan,

While I lived in Mexico, I was given the same info....."washing the egg removes the protective coating nature has applied".

No Mexican market refrigerated their eggs nor did my neighbors....I followed their lead and never encountered a problem.

I have contacted the US egg industry and all they will say is "eggs must be refrigerated" and will not even comment on the "natural protective coating" theory or answer my question, is that a fact or fiction?

My belief is that the egg industry simply wants to avoid and be immune from any incident involving THE ALMIGHTY EGG.

In effect, it is a disclaimer relieving them of any culpability regarding their pocket books.

Just chalk this up to"Much ado about nothing!" but I do love eggs.....my cholesterol is a low 174, and I eat six to eight eggs a week, so not everything heard about eggs is true.

Want to know if you've got a rotten egg on your hands. Try this . . . Fill a bowl with enough cold tap water to cover the egg. Place the egg in the water. If the egg lies on its side on the bottom, it's very fresh (the air pocket inside is small). If the egg stands up and bobs on the bottom, it's not quite as fresh (the air pocket is a little large). If the egg floats on the surface, it's rotten and should be thrown at your least favorite politician.

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