Testing eggs for freshness

Testing eggs for freshness is important if you keep your own free-range chickens. One would hope from the supermarket they are reasonably fine, though you can never be quite sure; but they should last several weeks before going off. Here are some little tips.

Supermarket specials are usually because they are nearing their sell-by date; enjoy them quickly.

Drop your egg in question into a bowl of cold-water. I am sure you know there is a bubble of air at the larger end; the one on the left in the graphic below.

A fresh-egg sinks to the bottom and is quite level.

The shell is porous so air may penetrate it and enter that bubble or pocket making it more buoyant; then the narrow-point will be lower and the larger higher. The egg will tend to stand on end.

This page was last updated by Bernard Preston on 9th August, 2021.

Can you see how the larger-end is slightly raised? But the whole egg is very much still at the bottom, and not even standing upright; then it is getting older.

If the egg floats then it is rotten; chuck it out.

It is good kitchen-practice if you are dealing with eggs that may be past their best, to crack each one first into a separate bowl; the sixth may be rotten and you are obliged to ditch the lot otherwise.

Testing eggs for freshness

Three weeks ago we realised suddenly that our five pullet-hens were no longer laying in their usual nest in the garden; or had stopped altogether.

We had no reason to believe that as they were being fed a top notch diet of sprouted maize and crusts from our sourdough-bread; and running free in our vegetable garden.

There were a few eggs, but not many.

Desperately we searched high and low but nowhere was the nest to be found. Little Eagle-Eyes, our granddaughter who notices everything was called in; she too shook her head after an extensive search.

Had they stopped laying altogether? We doubted it.

Finally after three long weeks I noticed one hen was missing at feeding-time; I roamed the garden knowing full well that she was doing her business. Finally she gave a cry of victory in the most unexpected of places. I could not believe it.

Burrowing in the top of a compost heap, I spied her deep down under many layers of wandering Jew.

Whoever would have looked here for the nest?

Just seeing my grandson's shining-eyes when he spied the nest made our day. He may be only three, but he knows that eggs do not come out of a box; the hens lay them, silly.

These eggs had been exposed to temperatures above 30 degrees; obviously there were concerns that we should be testing eggs for freshness.

We did not want to get sick, especially as we reserved our free range eggs for the grandchildren, having three times as much omega-3; that is the stuff that makes kids more intelligent and suffer less from attention deficit.

Keeping chickens in the garden is hard work, but the benefits are enormous; ask any mother with a child on Ritalin.

Another test for freshness is whether the yolk breaks when dropped into the pan.

When I cracked the egg above that floated with the large end slightly higher, this is how it appeared. You notice the white is very clear and the yolk has broken easily

These are both signs that the egg is not quite fresh, but probably fine to eat.

The last test is whether the egg stinks when you crack it; I sniffed at it, and the smell was absolutely fine. We ate this one last night with no adverse effects.

Notice incidentally the deep orange colour of this yolk; that has nothing to do with age but the fact that these hens run wild. They tuck into worms in the compost heap, lucerne and the weeds in the garden; they are scratching interminably under the autumn leaves that we use for mulch, hunting for grubs.

Therein they do some damage to young seedlings but mature plants are largely unaffected. Except kale which they absolutely adore, same as we do for the lutein^[5]. A chicken with cataracts or macular degeneration is a dead bird.

The final test is for an odd colour; if there are spots in the egg, it's green or some other unusual hue then it's best to discard it. I would throw it to the worm farm; they will not mind a few bacteria. Do not feed it to the dogs.

You can't help noticing that three of these yolks are decidedly dodgy. Interestingly they all passed the float test. The smell here was not pleasant and that, together with the integrity of the yolk are for me the most important factors in testing eggs for freshness.

If you're seriously into the organic garden, then give consideration to the wonder of worm farms. They will turn all your kitchen-waste into a rich humus^[6], and the wrigglies will go to feed the chickens.

Preserving fresh eggs

Anyone who keeps chickens in the garden will know that you get too many in summer and not enough in winter; it has to do with daylight hours apparently. The solution is preserving fresh eggs^[3] for the long hibernation. I can't say I have done it, but apparently it is remarkably easy and successful for up to 8-months or so.  

Either in the refrigerator or by dipping them in hot mineral oil it sounds remarkably simple; but don't wash them, removing what is known as the bloom.

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Here are the back issues.

Chicken tractor design

Chicken tractor design obviates the need for testing eggs for freshness; you know exactly where your hens are laying.

It's quite a lot of work making a chicken tractor design; a portable cage that enables you to move the hens about the garden preventing them from attacking your seedlings.

Make it as light as possible; mine is too heavy. I'd use thinner steel next time; or aluminium.

Eggs Hilton

There must be 10,000 ways of using them but without a doubt our favourite is Eggs Hilton. Poached on a bed of onion, spinach and green beans it is incredibly tasty and nutritious; add some garlic and peppadews for variety.

Served on a slice of toast made from our artisan-bread recipe it ticks all the right boxes; 100% wholemeal and sourdough is incredibly good. By the end of breakfast you have had nearly enough fibre for the whole day.

Pan-fried toast is my favourite.

Bernard Preston

Use the Site Search function in the menu bar above to find subjects related to spinal wellness at our other site; do you suffer from neck-pain?

Hyperactive, attention-deficit Bernie is always looking for something new to keep his fertile mind active; not always entirely successfully. The last eight months it's been to do with rearing free range hens and testing eggs for freshness. Before that it was building a solar farm; a rainwater harvesting model and six worm farms.

Hence the current testing eggs for freshness; I'm actually quite shocked how old many from the supermarket are.

Few foods taste better than a fresh-egg; did you know that the cholesterol from our meals barely affects the levels in the blood? It's refined carbs that are the devil, raising triglycerides and causing fatty liver disease and diabetes.

My retirement sentiments^[4] are important to me; either you keep going, or drop dead of boredom. My seventh novel, Priests Denied, is in the pipeline. If you enjoy this website then buy one of my books; on your Kindle or tablet they are dirt cheap.

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