# What do you do with the eggshells?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-with-the-eggshells/594700
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [August 31, 2011, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-with-the-eggshells/594700 "2011-08-31T00:33:41Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brown_Eyed_Girl)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2011, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-with-the-eggshells/594700/1 "2011-08-31T00:33:41Z")
When you’ve cracked an egg, what do you do with the leftover eggshell? Do you toss it in the garbage immediately or do you leave it in the egg carton and toss the eggshells out with the empty carton?
My husband tells me that leaving the empty shells in the carton is a good way to grow salmonella in our refrigerator risking cross contamination of the intact eggs and everything else.
And it grosses him out.
And just because my mother did it doesn’t make it right.
I think it’s no big deal because if there is salmonella it’s on the outside of the egg and would already be present in the fridge. The important thing is making sure you don’t touch already cooked or to-be-eaten-raw food to eggshells or raw meat; and most importantly, that you wash your hands frequently while cooking when handling meat or anything that came out of the vicinity of a chicken’s butt.
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### Author:  [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2011, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-with-the-eggshells/594700/2 "2011-08-31T00:43:10Z")
I pitch most of them in a bowl to dry for a day or two, then grind them and give them back to the chickens.
As for what you’re doing, I presume you’re washing your hands before closing the carton and not touching the other shells when getting new eggs out. Frankly, I think you’re more likely to get cross-contamination from storing meat in your fridge.
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### Author:  [@Marconi\_N.Cheese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marconi_N.Cheese)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2011, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-with-the-eggshells/594700/3 "2011-08-31T00:46:01Z")
We have a garbage disposal so I throw them in the sink and grind them up. I wouldn’t leave the shells in the carton.
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### Author:  [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2011, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-with-the-eggshells/594700/4 "2011-08-31T00:48:22Z")
I’ve heard egg shells will eventually clog disposals. ?
In spring I toss them in the garden. The rest of the time, they go in the trash.
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### Author:  [@crazytooth615](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crazytooth615)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2011, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-with-the-eggshells/594700/5 "2011-08-31T00:48:33Z")
egg shells make good compost material, if you compost.
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### Author:  [@PeskiPiksi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PeskiPiksi)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2011, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-with-the-eggshells/594700/6 "2011-08-31T00:49:17Z")
Another vote for garbage disposal here.
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### Author:  [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2011, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-with-the-eggshells/594700/7 "2011-08-31T01:02:03Z")
> [@Marconi\_N.Cheese](#):
>
> We have a garbage disposal so I throw them in the sink and grind them up. I wouldn’t leave the shells in the carton.
This is what I would do and also what I wouldn’t do.
My wife throws one or two shells in the garbage, but if she cracks a lot of eggs at once, those she throws in the compost.
I generally defer to her about the kitchen and refrigerator, but if she was putting the eggshells back in the carton, I’d complain too.
ETA:
> [@](#):
>
> I’ve heard egg shells will eventually clog disposals.
Too many at once might, but they shouldn’t be building up over time.
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### Author:  [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brown_Eyed_Girl)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2011, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-with-the-eggshells/594700/8 "2011-08-31T01:04:45Z")
> [@CrazyCatLady](#):
>
> I pitch most of them in a bowl to dry for a day or two, then grind them and give them back to the chickens.
>
> As for what you’re doing, I presume you’re washing your hands before closing the carton and not touching the other shells when getting new eggs out. Frankly, I think you’re more likely to get cross-contamination from storing meat in your fridge.
Pretty much, yes. I wash my hands after handling the egg carton. I figure the whole carton is suspect. But my trash bin is not right where I crack eggs (at the stove, usually) and I prefer not to carry them across the room possibly dripping raw egg on the floor to drop them in the garbage. Like some people. Gross.
My method keeps any and all egg drips on the counter where it will be quickly cleaned up or in the carton which will remain closed in the fridge. I’m pretty sure if there’s salmonella in my house, it’s on my sink and sponge. I’m don’t feel all that inclined to blast everything with sanitizer all the time.
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### Author:  [@Vita\_Beata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vita_Beata)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2011, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-with-the-eggshells/594700/9 "2011-08-31T01:05:06Z")
I throw them into the garden to add to the soil and birds’ nutrients. I would not leave egg shells in the carton. If I were not putting them in the garden, I would toss them down the garbage disposal.
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### Author:  [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2011, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-with-the-eggshells/594700/10 "2011-08-31T01:12:41Z")
If I need them for the garden, I put them in a bowl to dry out and then crush them to sprinkle around the hosta plants. Slugs hate crushed eggshell. Otherwise, they go into the garbage disposal.
My mother used to put them in a blender along with other rotten veggies. She’d add water and call it veggie soup. She would then take it out to her AZ garden and pour it around the plants.
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### Author:  [@Ostrya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ostrya)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2011, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-with-the-eggshells/594700/11 "2011-08-31T02:14:54Z")
I toss mine in the garden. And another vote for not leaving them in carton.
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### Author:  [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brown_Eyed_Girl)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2011, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-with-the-eggshells/594700/12 "2011-08-31T02:21:31Z")
Why not leave eggshells in the carton? I’m considering it since this seems to be the consensus, but “it’s gross” doesn’t sway me much, frankly.
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### Author:  [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2011, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-with-the-eggshells/594700/13 "2011-08-31T02:22:25Z")
I rinse the insides with water so they don’t start to stink and toss 'em in the large trash barrel just past the door into the garage.
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### Author:  [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2011, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-with-the-eggshells/594700/14 "2011-08-31T02:26:21Z")
I crack them into the pan, and put the shells in one hole of the carton all stacked up. Then I pick up the stack and throw them in the trash.
(I don’t compost.)
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### Author:  [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2011, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-with-the-eggshells/594700/15 "2011-08-31T02:26:34Z")
I’m saddened that over half the votes so far are “straight in the trash”. Is composting your organic waste not as nearly universal as I thought?
> [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](#):
>
> Why not leave eggshells in the carton? I’m considering it since this seems to be the consensus, but “it’s gross” doesn’t sway me much, frankly.
But why do it? You don’t put any other trash in the fridge. Er, do you?
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### Author:  [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2011, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-with-the-eggshells/594700/16 "2011-08-31T02:44:15Z")
> [@Askance](#):
>
> I’m saddened that over half the votes so far are “straight in the trash”. Is composting your organic waste not as nearly universal as I thought?
In the U.S., composting is much more the exception than the rule. Most people let the garbage disposal grind it up, or throw it in the trash. You’ll probably find a higher fraction of composters here than in the U.S. population at large, but I’m pretty confident that composters will be a clear minority in this poll.
I’d personally never considered it until I moved into this house 13 years ago. The previous owner had built a compost bin, and I figured what the hell, I might as well use it. Now I wouldn’t think of doing anything else with my eggshells, coffee grounds, vegetable waste, yard clippings, etc.
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### Author:  [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2011, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-with-the-eggshells/594700/17 "2011-08-31T03:15:06Z")
I do all three.
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### Author:  [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2011, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-with-the-eggshells/594700/18 "2011-08-31T03:23:19Z")
No one is mentioning the danger of uncrushed egg shell halves! Don’t you know witches can sail in them, or write people’s names to cast spells?
😉
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### Author:  [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2011, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-with-the-eggshells/594700/19 "2011-08-31T03:29:41Z")
> [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](#):
>
> Why not leave eggshells in the carton? I’m considering it since this seems to be the consensus, but “it’s gross” doesn’t sway me much, frankly.
Because it’s gross _is_ why. Just like “why don’t we put orange peels back in the fruit bowl?” has the same answer. Oranges probably wouldn’t get contaminated by the peels any more than eggs sharing a carton with shells would since the whole oranges have a nice thick peel themselves and at normal humidity/room temperature the old ones dry out sooner than get slimy, but it’s just not usually done. People find mixing food remains with fresh food icky, and that’s all there is to it.
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### Author:  [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2011, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-with-the-eggshells/594700/20 "2011-08-31T03:41:55Z")
I use crushed egg shells in my homemade dog food.
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