Eggs and use by date

I bought a chicken shaped egg basket to put on my worktop, but then a friend put me off it because she said she used to keep her eggs in one but they went off quickly, so I still keep mine in the fridge!

Agree with everyone. I use quite old eggs - eyesight isn't good enough to read the date - if they smell OK, they are OK to eat.
The "use by" and "Best Before" dates are a load of tosh, IMHO. Surely, people have the nous to see, smell, or taste if things are off?
I gave DGS some chorizo the other day with had a BBE date of 16 November. DH was appalled, I replied that the clue was in the name "preserved meat", DGS was happy to eat it, so he did!

Eggs if refrigerated can keep a long time after date on box. Break individually, sniff and if smell ok I would use them. If not sure about smell then ditch. I have used eggs 2 weeks over date on box and perfectly fine.

I agree with you grandMattie - I have a pot of cream that is past the date on the lid, but if it smells OK and looks OK (I do taste a tiny bit first) I'm still eating it on my mince pie!

Eggs in my experience don't go off. I have never had a bad one. I do store them in the fridge, contrary to the advice of others, but not the very cold Champagne and wine fridge.

I find they are fine weeks after date on box, break individually a quick sniff and get cooking.

ps if they are off you will hardly need to sniff them it will knock you out!

"Fresh from the hen" eggs don't boil very well-- the whites go milky. Did you hear on the radio today that the Co-op is going to sell food that is past its best-before date, such as tins and pasta , for 10p an item? Brilliant idea. Their slogan is "Don't be a binner, have it for dinner".

I'm with the float/sink, crack and smell brigade, though if the white is totally runny I think twice about using them.

We store ours at room temperature too. I don't even bother to check the best before dates. If it looks right and smells right, I use it.

Kept mine for over a week took the advice of the chef James Martin, don’t keep them in a fridge, I keep them in a basket on the kitchen worktop.

You can freeze eggs, as long as you freeze the yolks and the whites separately. Then join them up again for making omelettes, baking or Yorkshire pudding

In countries where protein is in short supply you go to the market with a tall jug of water. Fresh eggs sink to the bottom, rotten ones float. Anything in between it is up to you but once you break them you will know for sure!
When I have loads of eggs I make frittata. Tonight it is butternut squash, sweet potato, onion and colourful sweet pepper frittata with a side salad. Mmmmm yummy!

I have always kept eggs in a cool larder but read the other day that they should be kept in the fridge. We get so many contradictory pieces of advice. It all just adds to the confusion.

I keep chickens and was told that eggs keep for 3 weeks out of the fridge and 4+ weeks in. I write the date of laying on the shell and use them in order. I do the float/sink test if in doubt

I agree with a lot of the egg knowledge. Do crack separately and sniff and mine are stored in a pottery hen-on-nest and last week's after the date printed on them. If going away I have frozen them in ice cube trays but use in cakes or puddings, not good in omelettes after freezing

Last weeks not week's, sorry. Predictive text!!

I take absolutely no notice of use by/best before/sell by dates. All complete poppycock, imo. If it looks ok, smells ok, tastes ok, then it gets eaten. No ill effects - ever!

I agree with Lilyflower and all the rest. Eggs almost never go off. Only in very hot countries or if they were bad from the beginning. My God, you can smell a bad egg as soon as you crack it! Haven´t had one for years and I never look at use by dates.

If eggs are about to go out of date I like to hard boil them and keep them in the fridge. Handy on toast for breakfast.

Years ago before all the best before/use by dates came in I kept eggs for weeks and they were always ok. Unfortunately now I can't smell if they've gone off so tend to throw them out if they're quite a long way past the sell by date but OH will just use them anyway and he's always been ok.

Crack them open when you need them, and if they smell OK they are OK. I use the 'smell by date'as a guide with lots of groceries.

Eggs last for weeks. I'd not worry too much. Break them into a cup if you're worried or put them into a deep pan of water to see if they float to the top. I used to keep chickens so believe me they last for weeks past the best before date.

If you keep them in the fridge they last way longer. As said, all you have to do is crack them and look at them. The yolk should be nicely intact and not running into the white. I know the argument about not putting eggs in the fridge but I always do and they are fine.

I have always kept my eggs on the work surface, never notice the use by date as we use them up so quickly. Never had a problem