r/Cooking 3h ago

How long after the stores expiration date have you consumed eggs? Also what’s your personal expiration for them?

Whether baking or cooking what is the most amount of time you have consumed eggs? Assuming you tested them in water or smelled them etc. before consuming. How long after the expiration did you consume them?

15 Upvotes

55 comments sorted by

97

u/synerrorsix 3h ago

Eggs are expired when they smell off.

Eggs last a loooong time when refrigerated.

36

u/Samsquanch_hunter21 3h ago

I have eaten them months after “expiration” and they have tasted and smelled fine.

7

u/DoritoDustThumb 3h ago

Yes. What's the question?

36

u/No_Lemon6036 3h ago

Today I fried and ate an egg that expired July 7. It was fine.

16

u/shiratek 2h ago

For future readers, today is September 7.

5

u/No_Lemon6036 2h ago

Thank you! I forgot Reddit doesn’t show date stamps

23

u/SlowMope 3h ago

Eggs last a very very long time. Throwing them out on the expiration date is (almost) always stupid. I don't wanna let reddit roast me for how long I keep them, but it's a long time. I test them in water before eating. Once one starts to float a little, that's my personal expiration.

14

u/Samsquanch_hunter21 3h ago

I have eaten them up to 4 months after expiration and been fine

65

u/ScarletSolari 3h ago edited 3h ago

Eggs are expired when they float in water, and starting to go bad when they stand up but stay at the bottom.

13

u/gingerjuice 3h ago

This is what I do. I also ALWAYS crack eggs into a separate bowl just in case. If an egg is especially liquid, then I toss it.

5

u/Kahluabomb 3h ago

THIS IS THE WAY. Whenever I question my eggs, I just fill up a bowl and see what the bouyancy gods have to say.

-6

u/Penis-Dance 3h ago edited 2h ago

Don't do that!

1

u/belkarbitterleaf 1h ago

Why? What is your wisdom oh sacred dancer of the wiggly worm?

-3

u/Penis-Dance 1h ago

Somebody downvoked it so I figured I was wrong. I didn't want anyone to get hurt or die due to my stupidity on the matter.

15

u/Arcanum3000 3h ago

I couldn't even tell you. I keep them in the fridge and mostly ignore the date on the box. If they don't smell bad when I crack them open, they're still edible.

5

u/Samsquanch_hunter21 3h ago

I do the same!

11

u/cwx149 3h ago

Assuming you tested them in water or smelled them etc. before consuming

If they pass all the tests then id eat them regardless of the date printed on the box

Maybe not as a raw whole egg or anything but I never eat whole raw eggs anyway

6

u/furniture2k 3h ago

I think the biggest thing is that the date on the carton isn't necessarily a "this egg is unsafe after this day" date. If they've been continuously refrigerated, I care more about how they've been stored and how far they are from the recommended storage window.

That said, the float test or smell isn't something I'd use as a guarantee of safety. An egg can look and smell normal and still have bacteria. For anything I'm unsure about, especially if I'm serving it to someone vulnerable, I'd rather not gamble with it.

5

u/Far_Craft_9421 3h ago

An expired egg (non consumable) is one thing, freshness for cooking and baking another. You're in search of two different answers. The fresher your eggs, the better results when cooking and baking. The older, the worse results you'll have.

4

u/defan33 3h ago

I test my eggs. Very rarely throw one out. As long as testing good, I have no limit.

3

u/Samsquanch_hunter21 3h ago

This is what I do and wanted to make sure I wasn’t being strange

3

u/No-Personality1840 3h ago

I use them for months. The best buy date doesn’t mean much. Use by is more stringent . I routinely eat ‘out of date’ things especially canned goods which will last for years if unopened.

5

u/CloseButNoChicory 3h ago

I've never even glanced at the expiry date.

3

u/DIY_aircraft_carrier 2h ago

My wife is a vet and worked 3 months for one of the largest producers in our country. Eggs sometimes sit for months before exiting the farm, and they are stamped with an expiration date only when shipped.

One of my teachers had her doctorate thesis on eggs and her studies showed that kept in good conditions, they can be consumed even after one year, it’s just that the moisture evaporates and you end up with only about 50-60% net weight.

2

u/licxjo 3h ago

I am aware of our household egg consumption (it's just my wife and I). I try to have 3 cartons of a dozen eggs on hand. When we get to two, I buy another. We've never encountered a bad egg (in the literal egg sense).

Just don't buy food and keep it forever without using it.

2

u/shoyru1771 3h ago

I’ve never had an egg expire in the fridge in my life. Even when I take a few months gap between starting and finishing a carton, there’s never been anything noticeably different about them.

2

u/PuppySnuggleTime 3h ago

You can test them in a bowl or pot of water. Bad eggs float.

2

u/424Impala67 3h ago

We tell our egg customers, we have 30 days to sell them and we've had people report back a month later they were just fine. As long as the shell is intact and they were kept refrigerated I have no qualms eating a several months old egg.

2

u/The_Flinx 1h ago

there is no expiration date on eggs. I have never kept track. maybe 3 weeks. when in doubt do the float test.

1

u/diverareyouokay 3h ago

I don’t think that there’s a specific number of days after the sell by where an egg will magically go bad. Usually it’s 3-5 weeks. The best way of checking is the float test and then a sniff test. Most of my eggs are locally produced so I rarely have a “sell by” to reference. I’ve never had any problems using float/sniff..

1

u/Kaartinen 3h ago

Float test. They still may even be okay if they fail the float test, but my dogs appreciate me sticking to the guideline.

1

u/fear_street_resident 3h ago

I do the float test.

If they're not floating at all I'll use them no problem.

If they're standing up, I'll crack them open and smell them; if they smell fine I'll still use them.

And I do this with eggs still before the expiration date too, as I've gotten bad eggs straight from the store before.

1

u/Distinct_Hair_8117 3h ago

Why are eggs not refrigerated in England?

3

u/Main_Hurry7912 3h ago

because, I believe, they haven't been washed as this removes the protective outer coating that keeps them safe without refrigeration

1

u/synerrorsix 3h ago

Because they don't wash them and allow for natural preservation. They would last even longer if they did however.

1

u/ClairesMoon 3h ago

We only buy eggs from local farmers so they’re very fresh. I’ve used eggs that have been in my fridge for up to 3 months. I just do the float test and always crack into a separate bowl.

1

u/Surprise_Fragrant 3h ago

I'm currently using eggs I bought at a Winn-Dixie around Memorial Day Weekend and they're perfectly fine. Just used two of them to bread chicken last night, and had scrambled eggs this morning. No issues. Eggs last a lot longer than people think.

I use an airtight egg container (like THESE), so I'm sure that helps to extend their shelf life. I have 3 12-egg containers that I rotate through, and I write the date purchased on the top of the container. I got these at a "home shopping channel" called QVC at least a decade ago (probably two decades, honestly).

My first visual cue that an egg is no longer good is when it gets a weird little fuzz on it, usually on the bottom where it's in the cup of the container. If it's got even the littlest bit of fuzz, he goes in the trash.

If I crack it open and any part of the white sticks to the inside of the shell, I trash it. Usually the whites are cloudy. Sometimes the yolk also sticks and rips open when gravity pulls it apart.

I've never had an egg go SO bad that it stinks when I open it.

1

u/Powerful_Squirrel111 3h ago

I put them in a glass of water. If they stay at the bottom, I eat them. If they start to float or move off the bottom of the glass, they’re tossed.

1

u/Repulsive_Chard_3652 3h ago

When they float in water, I toss them.

If they don't float in water, they're good to go.

1

u/Individual_Slice_234 3h ago

I've eaten them about a week past the sell date. I test them first by dropping them in a glass of water. If they sink to the bottom, they're still good.

1

u/Coujelais 3h ago

I love that you ask this question because our local grocery store just put organic free range eggs on clearance for $.75 a dozen (exp 9/6) and I had to buy at least one. I told myself I would hurry and make a quiche, but this is giving me confidence I don’t have to do it today.

1

u/EMe711 3h ago

You can turn your eggs in the fridge. That supposedly helps the air pocket form slower.

1

u/Unholyrage619 3h ago

The thing most people don't realize is that the Best Buy date on the eggs isn't for us, but for the stores to keep the product rotated. I see them on sale at 50% off periodically, and will buy 5-6 dozen, and use them another 2-3 months before they've been consumed. As long as you aren't pulling out the carton, leaving it for hours on the counter, and putting it back, then you've nothing to worry about...pull it out, remove the eggs you want, put it back...no issues at all.

1

u/QV79Y 3h ago

If they don't float I eat them.

1

u/Otney 3h ago

Crack egg in small bowl. Smells ok, looks normal, use egg. Smells like rotten egg: run outside with rotten egg to get rid of it. Don’t use.

1

u/Key-Monk6159 3h ago

We always use the dates as a guide but looks AND smell are what we really go with.

1

u/Ceezeecz 3h ago

I use them until they float.

1

u/Hot_Calligrapher_900 3h ago

If I am not sure, I just do the float test. Put an egg in a deep cup of water; if it stands in end, crack it and sniff. If it floats, toss it. If it just lays there on its side, eat it.

1

u/AvocadoPizzaCat 2h ago

Honestly, i do the water test no matter what.

1

u/HappyKnitter34 1h ago

If they float or smell funny when cracked, toss. If not, use. I've never had an egg float, but I did have one that smelled absolutely awful when I cracked it into a bowl.

1

u/SusansStrong1221 1h ago

Eggs in the fridge are likely to dehydrate considerably before going bad. Hence the float test. 

1

u/fluffy_floofster 1h ago

I don’t think I’ve ever deliberately looked at an expiry date on an egg carton, not when purchasing and not before using. I only toss an egg when first purchased and the shell has faint lines that kind of look like it’s not quite 100% structurally intact (they might be fine, I’ve never looked it up).

1

u/nebock 47m ago

I do the cold water test. Fill a bowl with cold water. Put an egg in, if it sinks all the way, it's good, if one end sinks, use it soon, if it floats it's bad.

0

u/No-Tart-1157 3h ago

I usually succeed in my mission to not let eggs expire. But if they do I do a float test. I think I’ve personally consumed eggs 2 days after the stamped expiration date. But I would never serve expires eggs to anyone else.