I leave my eggs out all night if I am baking in the morning, and my butter. Ask a farmer's wife where she puts the eggs she brings in from the hen house.......
Right on the counter if she's anything like my grandmother -- unwashed (yuck, but they're used to walking in poop all day) and she has a ready supply so isn't concerned about how long they'll keep.
Thanks y'all! I would like to add that I refrigerate ketchup because it says to on the label and it was me that left the eggs out, not the store. I agree if it was the store I'm out of there! I so appreciate all of your answers!
There are 2 answers. If in a commercial (restaurant) setting, the rule would certainly be to toss them because of even the possibility of issues of contamination and bacterial growth. Honestly, at home, I'd use them.
I absolutely agree with ChefOno, but just to a point. I think the USDA can be a bunch of weenies on this stuff. I do have my state food handler certificate and yes, in a restaurant setting you absolutely want to play by USDA rules just in case the county health inspector drops in with his/her anal probe checking for something held outside at 50F (shudder). My experience in LA County was that the places that most often got dinged with a "B" grade were the Chinese ones because they have these broad menus incorporating many ingredients. But some of them were the best damn restaurants in the city.
But hey, I don't eat ketchup anyway. Kimchi, that's another story.
And I agree with you, Pierino, the USDA can indeed be weenies. Ill-informed weenies. McGee and Snyder have researched and written volumes about mistaken beliefs held by the organization. However, they're also the people responsible for many of the advances in food safety we enjoy today and this subject is a good example. The French may be okay with eggs covered in fecal matter, I'll take mine sanitized, refrigerated and sunny side up thankyouverymuch.
Okay. The USDA says nothing should be left at room temperature for more than 2 hours because room temperature is right in the danger zone for bacterial growth.
Honestly, America is the only place in the world that refrigerates their eggs. You should be fine. If eggs coagulate at 149 F. You kill salmonella at 150.
There are two issues here: Deterioration of egg quality, and bacterial growth and contamination.
As to quality, an egg ages 4 to 6 times as fast at RT as compared to under refrigeration. Apparently our European cousins haven't picked up on that fact. Or don't care. Not my concern.
What is a concern is bacteria. The official USDA answer to this question is "Never allow eggs to be unrefrigerated for more than 2 hours"
If the egg is contaminated (a small but not zero chance), by morning it could be deadly.
All USDA-graded eggs are required to be washed and sanitized to remove bacteria from the shell. Unfortunately doing so removes the natural coating that helps protect the egg. Consider the pathway an egg takes on its way out of the chicken's butt if you think washing is unnecessary.
But the shell isn't the only route bacteria can take. The reproductive track of an infected chicken can transfer bacteria directly to the contents, usually the yolk but the white is also at risk. This is why refrigeration is a requirement.
To quote Dirty Harry: You’ve got to ask yourself one question: "Do I feel lucky?"
Most grocery stores and warehouses are not all that careful about keeping the eggs refrigerated. Frankly, Americans are "fridge-happy." We keep things in there that really don't need to be. Like Heinz Ketchup? what's up with that?
To answer the original question: your eggs should be fine.
If you are aware of a situation of improper refrigeration (ambient temperature greater than 45F), you should inform the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (888-674-6854) and consider shopping elsewhere. I can only imagine what violations might exist in the store's meat, poultry and fish department. [Shudder]
Refrigeration retards oxidization. Oils and other compounds throw off free radicals, flavor slowly fades and putrefies. In the case of Hunt's Ketchup, it's a matter of taste and open life. Can you make a case for not refrigerating?
And ChefOno, the CDC in comparison is not made up of a bunch of weenies. Unfortunately their job is to locate the horse after it's already left the barn. Most recent example being Trader Joe's peanut butter. Food borne illness is a fact of human history.
The CDC says 1 out of every 6 Americans will get sick this year from foodborne illness. Most will write the experience off as "stomach flu" (not understanding there is no such thing) but 128,000 will end up in the hospital and will 3,000 die. I would like to point out we do much better than other countries in this regard, thanks in large part to USDA guidelines and regulations.
Last summer I spent a week in Bordeaux and was amused to see that the grocery stores all stored the eggs on a normal shelf next to crackers, un-chilled.
that's because they (most of the rest of the world) don't wash their eggs, so the eggs still have their natural protective coating and don't require refrigeration.
I agree with darksideofthespoon. If you had left them out broken in a bowl that would be different. But you can test them this way; fill a large bowl with cold water and place a few in there. They will likely tip up a bit. If they float, then throw them out. Believe me, if you break a rotten egg you will know right away.
20 Comments
Right on the counter if she's anything like my grandmother -- unwashed (yuck, but they're used to walking in poop all day) and she has a ready supply so isn't concerned about how long they'll keep.
But hey, I don't eat ketchup anyway. Kimchi, that's another story.
And I agree with you, Pierino, the USDA can indeed be weenies. Ill-informed weenies. McGee and Snyder have researched and written volumes about mistaken beliefs held by the organization. However, they're also the people responsible for many of the advances in food safety we enjoy today and this subject is a good example. The French may be okay with eggs covered in fecal matter, I'll take mine sanitized, refrigerated and sunny side up thankyouverymuch.
Honestly, America is the only place in the world that refrigerates their eggs. You should be fine. If eggs coagulate at 149 F. You kill salmonella at 150.
There are two issues here: Deterioration of egg quality, and bacterial growth and contamination.
As to quality, an egg ages 4 to 6 times as fast at RT as compared to under refrigeration. Apparently our European cousins haven't picked up on that fact. Or don't care. Not my concern.
What is a concern is bacteria. The official USDA answer to this question is "Never allow eggs to be unrefrigerated for more than 2 hours"
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/PDF/Kitchen_Companion.pdf
If the egg is contaminated (a small but not zero chance), by morning it could be deadly.
All USDA-graded eggs are required to be washed and sanitized to remove bacteria from the shell. Unfortunately doing so removes the natural coating that helps protect the egg. Consider the pathway an egg takes on its way out of the chicken's butt if you think washing is unnecessary.
But the shell isn't the only route bacteria can take. The reproductive track of an infected chicken can transfer bacteria directly to the contents, usually the yolk but the white is also at risk. This is why refrigeration is a requirement.
To quote Dirty Harry: You’ve got to ask yourself one question: "Do I feel lucky?"
Most grocery stores and warehouses are not all that careful about keeping the eggs refrigerated. Frankly, Americans are "fridge-happy." We keep things in there that really don't need to be. Like Heinz Ketchup? what's up with that?
To answer the original question: your eggs should be fine.
If you are aware of a situation of improper refrigeration (ambient temperature greater than 45F), you should inform the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (888-674-6854) and consider shopping elsewhere. I can only imagine what violations might exist in the store's meat, poultry and fish department. [Shudder]
Refrigeration retards oxidization. Oils and other compounds throw off free radicals, flavor slowly fades and putrefies. In the case of Hunt's Ketchup, it's a matter of taste and open life. Can you make a case for not refrigerating?
The CDC says 1 out of every 6 Americans will get sick this year from foodborne illness. Most will write the experience off as "stomach flu" (not understanding there is no such thing) but 128,000 will end up in the hospital and will 3,000 die. I would like to point out we do much better than other countries in this regard, thanks in large part to USDA guidelines and regulations.
http://www.food52.com/hotline/3855-how-long-can-eggs-be-left-out
Think of it this way: When a chicken lays an egg it doesn't see a fridge for quite a while! ;)