Eggs. How can you tell if they are bad?

When I worked in a cafe our boss used to bring in eggs that his hens had laid. You were never sure how old they were as his hens used to hide them all over the place. I once cracked one and found it was a fluorescent emerald green inside. Oddly enough I can't remember it smelling bad.

midgey

I do remember my sister trying the egg hair treatment, only she cracked the egg on her head and then used hot water! Still makes me laugh sixty years later ?

I got scrambled once when I first started - awful mess that took ages to get rid of ?

Goodness me Amberone I had never heard of that. I hope it works. Sounds an awful faff

Not a faff at all Grammaretto I've been doing it for nearly 15 years ? Takes 3 minutes to make my shampoo, put it on hair and wrap it, have my morning coffee, rinse off. Nothing new about it either - I got it from a book written in 1921.

Lollin I wouldn't use the lemon as it's very drying. Even the eggs are drying.

There is some science behind it though: eggs contain proteins that act as emulsifiers to get rid of oil, proteins that can stimulate hair growth (the Japanese are looking at how they can be used in shampoos I believe), Vits A and E, folate, biotin and other minerals needed for healthy hair. What's not to like?

Annodomini , similar memory, but we’ve been recommended to use beer, vinegar and various other things as well.

When I had quite bad dandruff as a teenager, my mum took me to an 'alternative' practitioner who advised treating my hair with egg. My mum duly tried it and what happened? Scrambled egg in my hair!

I do remember my sister trying the egg hair treatment, only she cracked the egg on her head and then used hot water! Still makes me laugh sixty years later ?

Goodness me Amberone I had never heard of that. I hope it works. Sounds an awful faff.
Bluebelle wow! that is good news.

I bought some fresh eggs and have eaten several already so maybe I don't need to buy them singly.

We kept hens years ago and I can still remember the awful stink of a bad egg, even before it was cracked.

Thank you Amberone I have seen online that using eggs with lemon can thicken hair but never tried it for fear of ending up with scrambled hair.
bluebelle 2 months! Makes my trepidation with 2 weeks seem silly now

Lollin Normally when I say that I get ? It's not as gross as it sounds. I use my hand blender to blend the eggs and a dollop of honey then add a tiny bit of xanthan gum and it ends up like a yellow cream - a bit like custard ? I pour it into a squeezy bottle and use that to put it in my hair, then use my hands to get it through my hair. Leave in for about twenty minutes or so, then rinse out with warm water then a rinse with cold water. Because they've been mixed with other things the eggs don't scramble in warm water. I would never use hot water on my hair anyway, it makes it frizz. That's my hair done for the week.

Apparently egg white makes a good face mask if you want to use up your eggs.

Now here’s an interesting story I ve gone off eggs and haven’t eaten one for ages I realised I had 6 in their packet sitting on the side in my kitchen I looked at the packet and they are 2 months past their sell by date YES 2 MONTHS I was just about to throw them in the bin when I decided to break one and see what it was like out of curiosity It looked and smelt perfect I cooked it and had it on toast for my tea and .......
I m still here

Amberone do tell more re hair wash! How long have you been doing it do you have to wash hair in cold water?

I was glad to see this thread as I keep using eggs way past their use by date if I am not able to bake. I too use it as a guide and have often wondered how farmers know all the eggs have been collected the same day and not missed any for a day or more.

We buy six eggs a week on average and they sit in the cupboard until they get used. Only once thrown out a bad egg. We do check the dates when we buy, and check for cracks, just to get the freshest eggs at the time.

We make egg mayonnaise for sandwiches during the week, omelettes, scrambled eggs, baking, boiled eggs with soldiers now and again. And I use two a week to wash my hair ?

I can happily assume that the Best before dates on the boxes are a mere guide only?
I suppose suppliers have to err on the side of caution.

Milk is another thing which doesn't change much if kept in the fridge, except that nowadays with homogenisation and all it goes bad rather than sour. Do you agree?
I was shocked to find some teenaged girls going by the date rather than the smell for milk.

Same here Blinko.
My Dh looks at sell by dates so i put eggs straight in the crockery chicken.

I manage to get through some eggs by having an omelette for dinner (2 eggs) and then later in the week boil a couple more and slice or mash them with mayonnaise and have an egg and cress sandwich (1 egg per sandwich) which I love. That way I get through 4 eggs a week. Any baking would use more of course.

Always crack mine into a tea cup, you are very unlikely to get a bad egg unless you have your own chickens and a previously undiscovered egg gets collected. I sent the grandchildren to collect eggs, they were most diligent, found 2 that were 6 months old, they looked suspicious and I cracked them outdoors, very bad indeed.

nanna8 cannot believe that you throw out eggs just because they are cracked. What a waste of good food!!!
I love eggs, in almost any form. I do try to check the boxes before I put them in my shopping bag, but if I find any tha are cracked, etc when I return home, I just keep them in a small glass ready for use.
Why are you thorwing these away???

Our eggs have often gone well beyond their sell by date.
I’ve never had a bad one.
Unless it’s for a boiled egg, I crack them into a saucer first.

Very rare these days but sometimes when you open the box one has a crack in it so I throw that one out.

Eggs float when they are less fresh because the shells are porous and the liquid inside evaporates slightly; it doesn't mean they're bad.
I've eaten eggs that are a couple of months older than the sell by date and they taste absolutely fine - ok they aren't lovely and plump if you are frying them, but they are actually easier to peel if you are hard boiling them.

In 60 years of baking, I've only ever had 1 bad egg.

Blinko me too. We had a neighbour who kept chickens at our French home. She became allergic to eggs, but kept them because her DH and DD ate them. All the excess were put in a basket and given to us on our next visit. It contained eggs laid the day we went home until the day we went home on the next visit. Some were up to six weeks old. They all looked the same.

When I got home I broke each egg into a cup, mixed yoke and white together and froze two eggs at a time in small plastic boxes. They were fine for cooking, scrambled eggs and omelettes, but obviously nothing that required whole eggs. In 5 years I only had one rotten egg and nobody had food poisoning of any kind

I have happily cooked and eaten eggs that are way past the best before date. No problems at all.

The freshest eggs - just laid have no runny albumen at all.

Thanks. I knew you would know.
I have just eaten a hardboiled one which had a date of best before 3rd May and it tasted fine But it had semi-floated in the pan of water beforehand.
I should live but I'll let you know if I become sick!
That is interesting that M&S are selling single eggs. I will ask if our new community store will offer the same.