Opinion

This Egg Carton Debate Is Taking Over Twitter

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February  8, 2018
13 Comments

Like any good internet maelstrom, it all started with one tweet. Early Saturday morning (like, before 6 a.m. early), Twitter user @BrianFaughnan posed a question that really got people talking. The premise seemed simple enough. Faughnan wanted to know if people had a method to the way they emptied their egg cartons. Did they progress from side to side, and if so, which? Or did they employ a different method altogether? The tweet reads:

Immediately, the answers began to roll in. Many chimed in with pithy retorts (“left” and “right”). But others began to present quite interesting alternative theories, like this one:

This user has a point. If you’re cautious and take eggs from both sides, at a similar rate, you’ll never have to deal with a pesky, droopy carton, and you’ll eliminate the danger of dropping the heavy side. Faughnan, who’s shaping up to become quite the eggs-pert, was quick to poke a hole in this centrist perspective:

Because apparently, this is a thing:

And so is this (??):

And then because there’s always an outlier:

I had no idea that egg-carton methodology was such an incendiary topic, but I’m glad it is—the thread is intensely entertaining to read. It’s been a big week for eggs, and it doesn’t seem like it should slow down anytime soon. It’s fun to see the breakfast staple drumming up such drama on social media. This Twitter user couldn’t have said it better:

We have to know: Where do you stand? Tell us your (strong) opinions in the comments section.

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Valerio Farris

Written by: Valerio Farris

Valerio is a freelance food writer, editor, researcher and cook. He grew up in his parent's Italian restaurants covered in pizza flour and drinking a Shirley Temple a day. Since, he's worked as a cheesemonger in New York City and a paella instructor in Barcelona. He now lives in Berlin, Germany where he's most likely to be found eating shawarma.

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13 Comments

Nancy
Nancy February 14, 2018
All ways sound good.
For me, most important is putting eggs in body of refrigerator, which is cooler than door, so they last longer
 
Mike S.
Mike S. February 11, 2018
I start from the side away from the expiration date. When I get down to six I cut the empty half of the carton off with a sharp bread knife. This saves space and reminds me I don’t have many eggs left without opening the carton.
 
Robby H.
Robby H. February 10, 2018
From end to middle and then turn it around in the fridge and from the other end. I'm usually doing this one handed. Also, keep the eggs in the carton from the store, they stay fresh longer because a) the door is warmer and b) more protection from the dehydrating effect of the fridge.
 
Megan H.
Megan H. February 9, 2018
Always from the outside in so that it's balanced. I'm not a monster. :)
I usually give my empty cartons to my friend who has chickens.
 
AbnerRavenwood
AbnerRavenwood February 9, 2018
My fridge doesn't have an egg holder; I reuse a cardboard egg carton. But the compartment in the door is too small to hold a dozen, so my homebrew egg holder keeps 10 eggs (I cut two spots off from a dozen carton).

I buy eggs six at a time, and place them in the right-hand end, leaving four empty spaces on the left. When I've used two eggs, I shift the remaining four over all the way to the left, then fill the empty six spots with a fresh half-dozen. I always remove from the left and shift to ensure I never use an old egg.

I am completely serious. And probably nuts.
 
Smaug
Smaug February 9, 2018
My frig doesn't have an egg holder, so I cut the top off and put the carton in a shelf on the door. I use the eggs right to left, and sometimes use the empty slots for half limes, tiny pieces of cheese and the like. In my youth, it was customary to use empty egg cartons as sound proofing for garage bands- it didn't work very well.
 
juwu_eats
juwu_eats February 9, 2018
Usually take them out from both sides. If I use many eggs at once, I will redistribute the eggs in the most stable way before I put them back in the fridge (a diagonal of 3 for example, on a 9 egg box...)

When I first opened this article I thought that it'd be something about what is done with eggs carton after the eggs are finished. I have always found it a waste that that perfect carton of eggs is simply discarded after used. I used to pile them up when bought from the supermarket and take to the Farmers market. The lady would re-use them.
 
Hannah O.
Hannah O. February 8, 2018
I take them from the middle and work my way out to the edges.
 
BerryBaby
BerryBaby February 8, 2018
One end and when 6 remain, CUT the carton in half. Ours don’t snap in half, use scissors or a serrated knife. I akso kepp a rubber band around the carton. Added security!
 
SMSF
SMSF February 8, 2018
Never considered this before - so I just checked the egg carton. Based on the lack of pattern or order, apparently I remove the eggs randomly.
 
weshook
weshook February 10, 2018
I was hoping someone would use the eggs randomly or perhaps from the middle! Yay for you!
 
eatquestnyc
eatquestnyc February 8, 2018
i actually never knew u could snap the carton in half. and i'm mortified. however i do it evenly from side to side with opposite diagonals and suppose i will continue this way in spite of the new info.
 
eatquestnyc
eatquestnyc February 8, 2018
i actually never knew u could snap the carton in half. and i'm mortified. however i do it evenly from side to side with opposite diagonals and suppose i will continue this way in spite of the new info.