I’ve just bought a new fridge and it comes with a section to hold eggs. I’ve never stored them in the fridge since salmonella isn’t really a problem here because our chickens are vaccinated. Does anybody in the UK actually refrigerate their eggs?
As an aside, I tend to decide what goes into the fridge based on where it was in the supermarket. If they don’t refrigerate it, neither do I. So for eggs, I don’t.
Secondary question - what am I gonna use the egg holder in the fridge for now, other than maybe briefly cooling my balls?
It’s not just vaccination - European eggs aren’t pressure washed like American ones to remove the protective coating.
I’ve honestly never understood why America does that to their eggs.
Salmonella. It’s carried in chicken dung, sometimes eggs get a bit of feces on them, so the US washes them to attempt to reduce exposure.
Problem is that without the protective coating, the eggs are more permeable and susceptible to bacterial infection, hence the refrigeration.
So it’s a question of whether it’s better to reduce bacteria exposure or susceptibility. I am sure there’s research out there with numbers indicating one works better than the other, but it’s been such a long-standing thing at this point that I don’t think Americans would trust unrefrigerated eggs.
The research shows both methods are equally effective at controlling salmonella, afaik
Another reason I’m glad I’m not american or living there today
Refrigerating eggs also roughly doubles their shelf life.
Is salmonella vaccination required in the UK now? It’s been a few years but last I knew it was voluntary and roughly 3/4 of egg farmers did do it.
Egg farmers? Chicken ranchers? Poultry producer? Idk what they’re called.
Refrigerating eggs also roughly doubles their shelf life.
Yeah that’s fair enough, although they already last for ages. “Can’t wait to eat these eggs in a month”.
Do yourself a favor and find a local small farmer to buy eggs directly from. They are much better than supermarket eggs. It’s not necessarily a matter of keeping eggs from going bad, it’s more about preserving them at that peak flavor/texture. I have no clue where this picture is from, so I don’t know if the data are sound, but you get the idea. https://digitaleggtester.com/wordpress/wp-content/themes/nabel/files/images/egg/img_yi02.png
To be honest, I live rurally and there’s no shortage of roadside eggs available from nearby farms. A lot of them actually stock local shops, including the bigger chains where I live, because there’s an overall community preference to buy local where possible.
In terms of flavour, that’s actually something that’s recommended by at least one celebrity chef here, who suggests not putting them in the fridge so that they don’t absorb tastes and smells from other foods within.
In the US, eggs are washed, which significantly decreases their shelf life.
I’ve always done that, here in germany. They are supposed to last at least ~2 weeks (or so, idk) at room temperature, after all they are stores. But the eggs I have right now are more like 3-4 weeks old, so I prefer to put them in the fridge, because why not? They don’t take much space and last for double as long, so 6 weeks.
in the US the eggs are washed so that they won’t last as long if not refrigerated. https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2014/09/11/336330502/why-the-u-s-chills-its-eggs-and-most-of-the-world-doesnt
Yeah I know, that’s why I was focusing on UK egg-fanciers.
yeah but your talking an appliance which is not necessarily just produced for the UK.
It’s what’s going in the appliance I’m asking about, not the appliance itself.
Why are you limiting your answer to UK? My decision to store eggs in the fridge has nothing to do with salmonella concerns and I believe it’s likely people in the UK may also have similar judgement.
Because in countries that don’t vaccinate their chickens (like the US) the risk of salmonella is much higher so the recommendation is that eggs should be refrigerated to reduce bacteria growth.
This doesn’t really answer my question, but I’m glad someone from the UK already voiced my reason- as I predicted
It answers the question as to why I limited it to the UK. Advice for eggs from non-vaccinated hens is to refrigerate them. So in a country that doesn’t vaccinate, the proportion of refrigerated eggs will be much higher than a country where it isn’t necessarily advised, and the decision comes down to personal choice. That’s what I’m interested in.
But you are not asking the whole country, and you are not asking to a representative of a country. You’re asking individuals. Anyone who refrigerates eggs for reasons other than salmonella could give you an equally valid answer regardless of where they live.
I think this is bordering on becoming an absurd discussion on the validity of demographics, which I’m not really interested in.
Besides which, the last time a whole US population was polled about something, they decided to make the worst possible decision, so my interest in US opinion is even less today.
Then just ask about vaccinated eggs. Making it about the UK is just weird.
Yeah you’re right, I should really be more invested in global egg storage.
The methods of salmonella mitigation, storing eggs from vaccinated chickens unwashed at room temp or storing washed eggs in the refrigerator, have roughly equal outcomes. There are still many egg-related salmonella outbreaks across Europe each year, roughly equivalent to the US. One method is not superior to another as far as outcomes, they’re just two different systems that already exist and therefore are unlikely to change without a good reason
As an aside, I tend to decide what goes into the fridge based on where it was in the supermarket. If they don’t refrigerate it, neither do I.
There are quite a few items that are fine to store unrefrigerated until opened, but need to stay cold afterwards. Jam comes to mind.
Yeah that doesn’t really apply to eggs though, their “container” is unopened. Otherwise your fridge will get messy.
But yeah, obviously I’m gonna put stuff in the fridge that would go off once the seal has been broken.
Idk, I think my family, as Germans, does this.
Dumb question: where do you store your eggs now, if not the fridge? My American mind is reeling.
This is actually a very big difference with the USA and the UK (and possibly most of Europe, not sure though). We generally store eggs outside of the fridge. On a shelf or in a pantry/cupboard for example.
Eggs survive in the wild at ambient temp because when they are laid, a coating basically seals off the egg. Unfortunately, chickens have one hole, and they are messy animals, so there’s often some poop, too. In many countries, this coating is left intact, and technically, you should wash eggs before using them so nothing from the shell ends up inside when you crack it. As Americans, we have bigger houses and bigger fridges, and we love convenience, so we wash our eggs prior to packaging. This means they have to be refrigerated.
Either approach works, but the important thing is not to leave washed eggs unrefrigerated.
This’ll blow your mind, but I actually put the box on top of the fridge. It makes sense in my kitchen layout, but I understand how much of fridge-tease it is for them.
We do… but we don’t need to. Just force of habit.
Why bother? They’re safe at room temperature unless they’ve already been refrigerated, might as well use that fridge space for some that actually benefits from the cold.
At room temperature they’re good for a month or two. If you want long term storage you might as well prep and freeze them which will last you about a year, or there’s a ton of other long-term preservation techniques.
I live in Canada, where eggs need to be refrigerated, and yet I’ve never seen a fridge with an egg holder. I already have an egg holder. The box they came in.
Still one too many pieces of packaging for my liking. Put the OG egg holder in the fridge. The chicken.
Everyone
Apart from pretty much every single supermarket
When I buy supermarket eggs, I refrigerate them because they are washed (in the US). When I get unwashed eggs (from a farm or a friend), I still refrigerate them and just wash them prior to use. I don’t have to refrigerate them since they have the cuticle intact, but refrigerating them still makes them stay fresher longer, so if I have the space for them, why would I not?
That said, the eggs already come in a carton, so I’m not going to transfer them into a separate container in my fridge for no reason.
