If they sink to the bottom and lay flat on one side, they are fresh and good to eat. A bad egg will float because of the large air cell that forms at its base.
To conduct a float test, fill a bowl or cup with water (it should be big enough to fully submerge your egg). Gently place your egg inside and see if it sinks or floats. If it floats, it's old and you may want to toss it.
Salmonella illness can be serious and is more dangerous for some groups of people. Most people who get sick from Salmonella have diarrhea, fever, vomiting, and stomach cramps. Symptoms usually begin 6 hours to 6 days after infection and last 4 to 7 days. Most people recover without antibiotic treatment.
The best way to determine if your egg is spoiled is by cracking it open into a bowl. If the egg white is pink or iridescent this is an indication of spoilage due to Pseudomonas bacteria. Some of these bacteria can make us sick when eaten and they will produce a greenish, fluorescent, water-soluble color.
The theory is that, as an egg ages, the air pocket inside it grows larger, buoying an old egg to the surface. But, according to Dr. Schaffner, “there is no scientific basis for the egg float test.” So experimenting to see if your egg sinks or swims is not a reliable way to measure its quality.
An egg can float in water when its air cell has enlarged sufficiently to keep it buoyant. This means the egg is old, but it may be perfectly safe to use. Crack the egg into a bowl and examine it for an off-odor or unusable appearance before deciding to use or discard it.
In short, you can eat eggs two months out of date. It'll be fine. If you eat an outright bad egg, that's a different story. Eggs pretty exclusively spoil from contamination, and the signs and symptoms are pretty clear if you consume an egg that's been harboring salmonella.
Information. Eggs may be refrigerated three to five weeks from the day they are placed in the refrigerator. The "Sell-By" date will usually expire during that length of time, but the eggs will be perfectly safe to use. Always purchase eggs before the "Sell-By" or EXP (expiration) date on the carton.
If an egg sinks to the bottom of a bowl of water and lies sideways, it is very fresh; if it stands on one end in bottom of the bowl, it is less fresh but still good to eat. But if it floats to the surface of the water, indicating that air has permeated the shell, it is no longer fresh.
As long are they are kept refrigerated at 45 °F or lower, fresh shell eggs are safe to be consumed four to five weeks beyond the carton's Julian date (the date eggs were packed).
Place your eggs in the water. If your eggs sink to the bottom and lie flat on their sides, they are very fresh. If your eggs stand on one end at the bottom, they are a few weeks old, but still fine to eat. If your eggs float to the surface, they are no longer fresh.
Old eggs should always be disposed of responsibly to avoid contamination and food-borne illnesses. You can choose to compost, feed them to animals, recycle them at local centers, or throw them in the trash. Eggs with foul odors or discoloration may be spoiled and should not be eaten.
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.
Of course, it is recommended that you consume the eggs within this date but they are often still safe to eat after it. If refrigerated you can eat them 2-3 weeks after the best-before date.
The water test for egg freshness
First, fill a bowl or glass with about four inches of cold water and gently place your egg(s) inside. Very fresh eggs will sink to the bottom and lay on their sides. If an egg stays at the bottom but stands on its small end, it's still acceptable to eat; just not quite as fresh.
Here's What Fresh Eggs Daily Tells Us:
By law, an egg can be sold for up to 30 days after the date it was put in the carton. And farmers have up to 30 days to go from when the egg is laid to the carton. That means those supermarket eggs can be two months old by the time you buy them.
Question: Do eggs need to be refrigerated? Where should I keep my eggs? In Europe it's a health risk to store eggs in the fridge. In Australia, it's a health risk to store them out of the fridge.
An unwashed egg will last for 6 months or more in the refrigerator. If the fresh eggs have been washed, then the shelf life will be similar to a store bought egg - about 4-5 months.
The best way to test if your eggs are still good after you've boiled them is, again, the smell test. Basically, you'll notice the smell is off if an egg is starting to go bad. This is true for raw eggs and it's true for boiled eggs—the funk doesn't lie.
Never use cracked or dirty eggs in the preparation of food. Dirty eggs may have harmful Salmonella bacteria on the shell. Cracked eggs allow Salmonella to enter and grow inside the egg. However even eggs with clean, uncracked shells can pose a risk if handled incorrectly.