# How long do you refrigerate eggs before worrying they are bad? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 19, 2012, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-do-you-refrigerate-eggs-before-worrying-they-are-bad/622454 "2012-05-19T19:14:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2012, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-do-you-refrigerate-eggs-before-worrying-they-are-bad/622454/21 "2012-05-20T12:55:24Z")
Well, eggs here have a sell-by date (unrefrigerated) and sell-by date (refrigerated) stamped on each individual egg, so I generally just do what the eggs tell me. It’s not as if they last that long in my house, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2012, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-do-you-refrigerate-eggs-before-worrying-they-are-bad/622454/22 "2012-05-20T14:41:35Z")
I don’t “worry”, but I do crack them into a coffee cup before adding them to the whatever I’m making if I can’t recall when I bought them (and the date is missing or illegible). Bad eggs smell. It’s not a bug, it’s a feature. This may not apply to salmonella, which is a new pathogen inside eggs, but I file salmonella from eggs under the “I can’t worry about this and maintain my chosen quality of life” file. If I’m consuming raw eggs, I get pasteurized eggs, but otherwise I’m of an age and general good health where salmonella would most likely be a very shitty couple of days, but not deadly. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2012, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-do-you-refrigerate-eggs-before-worrying-they-are-bad/622454/23 "2012-05-20T15:55:50Z")
I don’t think a carton of eggs has ever made it more than two weeks in this household. Maybe if we were on vacation, it made it three. While I do keep them in the fridge here, when I was living abroad I got into the habit of just storing them in a cool, dry place. I didn’t go through eggs quite as fast then, but I’d have them up to around four or five weeks with no issue, and I almost always cook my eggs runny. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2012, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-do-you-refrigerate-eggs-before-worrying-they-are-bad/622454/24 "2012-05-20T16:16:42Z")
In my experience, most eggs float, and I don’t worry about it. It’s only if they’re floating really high (like, half out of the water) that I throw them out uncracked. And refrigerating them isn’t necessary if you’ll go through them in a few weeks, but it will extend their life. I don’t eat eggs very often, so I do refrigerate them, but I wouldn’t feel any qualms about eating unrefrigerated eggs at someone else’s house. Salmonella, meanwhile, isn’t a problem if you cook them. I don’t think even a runny yolk (with the white cooked) is problematic, though I might be mistaken on that. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2012, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-do-you-refrigerate-eggs-before-worrying-they-are-bad/622454/25 "2012-05-20T16:26:34Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Well, eggs here have a sell-by date (unrefrigerated) and sell-by date (refrigerated) stamped on each individual egg, so I generally just do what the eggs tell me. Stand up for yourself, son. Stop letting your eggs run the show. ---
**Author:** ![Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Springtime_for_Spacers)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2012, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-do-you-refrigerate-eggs-before-worrying-they-are-bad/622454/26 "2012-05-20T16:41:22Z")
British so other, I don’t refrigerate eggs and I have on occasion used them six weeks after the use by date. Fresh ones taste better though. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2012, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-do-you-refrigerate-eggs-before-worrying-they-are-bad/622454/27 "2012-05-20T20:52:47Z")
> [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](#): > > British so other, I don’t refrigerate eggs and I have on occasion used them six weeks after the use by date. Fresh ones taste better though. So how do you manage that? Do you buy from a farm? Or do grocery stores not refrigerate eggs there? I’ve heard it’s okay not to refrigerate them, \*but \*if you do you have to continue to, and all the grocery stores here refrigerate them. ---
**Author:** ![alexandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e68b1a/32.png) [@alexandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alexandra)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2012, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-do-you-refrigerate-eggs-before-worrying-they-are-bad/622454/28 "2012-05-20T21:42:02Z")
Stores in the UK don’t usually refrigerate eggs. I don’t put them in the fridge and I chuck them around or soon afterthe best before date. ---
**Author:** ![RoniaBorkason](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9dc877/32.png) [@RoniaBorkason](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RoniaBorkason)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2012, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-do-you-refrigerate-eggs-before-worrying-they-are-bad/622454/29 "2012-05-21T00:08:46Z")
I used to work at an egg distributor, and have taken home eggs that were 6 months past their sell-by date (due to them getting forgotten behind something, the company was very scrupulous about product dates that got sent out). They were perfectly fine. I didn’t select “no time limit”, because my fear of opening a rotten egg at some point past six months would outweigh my faith in refrigeration. ---
**Author:** ![Tabby\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Tabby\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabby_Cat)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2012, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-do-you-refrigerate-eggs-before-worrying-they-are-bad/622454/30 "2012-05-21T02:00:28Z")
I’ve never refrigerated eggs, either. They do tend to get used within 3 weeks of purchase, though I’ve never checked. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2012, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-do-you-refrigerate-eggs-before-worrying-they-are-bad/622454/31 "2012-05-21T02:16:09Z")
> [@Enola\_Gay](#): > > I’ve noticed when traveling in England and other parts of Europe, that they don’t refrigerate their eggs at all. My British friend made the same observation. > [@Alessan](#): > > I generally just do what the eggs tell me. Worst case of “voices in my head”. Stores here (Dominican Rep.) don’t refrigerate the eggs, but everybody I know does when they take them home. I really don’t pay attention to the “best before” date because we never wait months to use them. Weeks? Fine, I don’t eat raw or runny eggs anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Bird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Little\_Bird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Bird)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2012, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-do-you-refrigerate-eggs-before-worrying-they-are-bad/622454/32 "2012-05-21T02:23:21Z")
I have hens, so I’m often eating them straight out of the hen’s ass… Delicious. Anyway, if you leave a flock of hens to their own way they will lay an egg or so a day until they get about 12 in a pile, then sit on them and hatch them. The way I figure it, if a two week old unrefrigerated egg is good enough to hatch. It’s damn well good enough to eat. Refrigerated I’m sure they’d be fine for months. ---
**Author:** ![Girl\_From\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3da27b/32.png) [@Girl\_From\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Girl_From_Mars)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2012, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-do-you-refrigerate-eggs-before-worrying-they-are-bad/622454/33 "2012-05-21T08:25:08Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > I don’t know how to answer, but way beyond the “Sell by.” I do this: > > [ol] > [li]Get tall glass[/li][li]Fill with water[/li][li]Drop egg in[/li][li]If it sinks: keep[/li][li]If it floats: toss usually, because they’re cheap enough[/li][li]If it floats a little bit in the middle, but doesn’t immediately shoot to the surface: keep, but eat soon[/li][/ol] > > Of course the best measure is: does it smell when you crack it? I do this too - although with a kid in the house and being vegetarian we tend to go through them pretty fast so almost never find one which is too old to eat. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2012, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-do-you-refrigerate-eggs-before-worrying-they-are-bad/622454/34 "2012-05-21T18:25:39Z")
I went for the last one, but that’s only because they never last long enough for this to be a thing. My mom at least eats eggs every day–she’s diabetic and starts feeling woozy without protein, and eggs one of the few proteins she can stand in the morning. (How much of that is due to the only other usual breakfast option being sweet stuff, I don’t know.) ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2012, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-do-you-refrigerate-eggs-before-worrying-they-are-bad/622454/35 "2012-05-21T18:52:54Z")
Other: (a) I only buy eggs with the latest expiration date I can find and (b) I only buy as many eggs as I can use inside a week or two, so they’re never even in my fridge as long as the expiration date. ---
**Author:** ![Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Springtime_for_Spacers)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2012, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-do-you-refrigerate-eggs-before-worrying-they-are-bad/622454/36 "2012-05-21T18:58:31Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > So how do you manage that? Do you buy from a farm? Or do grocery stores not refrigerate eggs there? I’ve heard it’s okay not to refrigerate them, \*but \*if you do you have to continue to, and all the grocery stores here refrigerate them. As others have said the shops don’t refrigerate them. I’m old enough to remember when we didn’t have a fridge. When we did it came with slots to put eggs and we used them. I can remember my aunt saying we didn’t need to do that and I didn’t once I had a home of my own c 1980. Around that time shops started selling wire baskets, often in the shape of a chicken 🙂 to store eggs in on the kitchen counter so I guess the memo was going round. The shops never did refrigerate them and now you never see a fridge with egg slots. As it happens I’ve just started getting eggs from a friend who volunteers at an urban farm, so I guess I can keep, them even longer. ---
**Author:** ![AllShookDown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d9b06d/32.png) [@AllShookDown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AllShookDown)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2012, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-do-you-refrigerate-eggs-before-worrying-they-are-bad/622454/37 "2012-05-21T19:07:05Z")
I answered \> 2 months but I don’t toss them after that because I’m worried they’ve gone bad as much as I know they aren’t going to be that good. Especially for baking. I’ll keep older ones around for hard boiled eggs and stuff but for baking I like them to be reasonably fresh. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-do-you-refrigerate-eggs-before-worrying-they-are-bad/622454.md?page=1)