Eggs and the expiration date....

My husband, who never shops, evidently visited the grocery store sometime in October. I came across a number of outdated items but the one I'm wondering about is the October 19 expiration date for eggs. Is it true that if an egg floats when dropped into a bowl of cold water it should be discarded?

JanetFL
  • Posted by: JanetFL
  • November 3, 2014
  • 2580 views
  • 6 Comments

6 Comments

nutcakes
nutcakes November 3, 2014
Just to add, I use outdated eggs regularly because the other member of my household is allergic so they often linger. I wouldn't consider your eggs in question at all, they just don't go bad that fast. I never encounter rotten eggs unless they were cracked. At worst, the egg white shrinks up and becomes watery but they are still usable. I just made a apple cake from this site last night with eggs dated Oct 15 and they were still fresh with firm whites.
 
JanetFL
JanetFL November 4, 2014
Thank you, nutcakes, for your comments. I just used my eggs for a breakfast casserole and they were perfectly fine!
 
ktr
ktr November 3, 2014
Sorry, I forgot to answer the egg floating question.
It is true that old eggs will float. The best thing to do (unless you want them hardboiled) is to crack the eggs and smell them. If they smell bad, they shouldn't be eaten.
 
JanetFL
JanetFL November 3, 2014
And thank you for this information as well. I won't be eating the eggs hard-boiled so I will be able to give them a sniff test.
 
ktr
ktr November 3, 2014
They should be fine to eat. As you can see at this link: http://www.stilltasty.com/questions the expiration date on eggs is more of a sell by date than an actual expiration date.
 
JanetFL
JanetFL November 3, 2014
Thank you! I'm going with it!
 
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