How Long Can Eggs Be Last Outside of the Fridge? (2024)

FAQs

How Long Can Eggs Be Last Outside of the Fridge? ›

According to the American Egg Board, you can leave eggs on the counter about 2 hours at room temperature (or 1 hour if the temperature is 90°F or hotter). After 2 hours, you'd be safer to throw those eggs out and get a fresh dozen rather than chance it.

Safe Egg Refrigeration

Eggs can sit out on your counter for up to two hours and only one hour if the temperature is above 90 degrees. After that, they must be stored in the fridge.

Give it a smell

Crack it onto a plate or bowl, and give it a whiff. Fresh eggs should either smell fresh or like nothing at all, so if instead, your egg smells putrid, funky, sulfuric, or just plain off, the egg is rotten. Make sure to thoroughly clean and sanitize the plate or bowl to remove any dangerous bacteria.

As mentioned earlier, eggs are shipped after being refrigerated. Therefore to prevent the development of any potential bacteria, they must continue to be kept refrigerated. Keeping them on the counter at room temperature makes them more vulnerable to bacterial contamination.

Once you purchase your eggs, do not let them sit in a hot car for too long. At room temperature, do not leave them out over two hours and if the temperature is sweltering hot (90 degrees F or higher) then no more than one hour.

But in general, if you take them out of the fridge and place them on a towel or in a container on the counter, your eggs will reach room temperature in 30 minutes or so. Eggs left in the carton will take longer.

Hard cooked eggs can be stored in the refrigerator up to seven days, either left in their shells or peeled. Make sure eggs are refrigerated within two hours after cooking, and don't leave refrigerated cooked eggs out at room temperature for more than two hours.

Eggs may be refrigerated three to five weeks from the day they are placed in the refrigerator. The "Sell-By" date will usually expire during that length of time, but the eggs will be perfectly safe to use.

Simply fill a bowl with cold tap water and place your eggs in it. If they sink to the bottom and lay flat on one side, they are fresh and good to eat. A bad egg will float because of the large air cell that forms at its base. Any floating eggs should be thrown out.

How to store fresh eggs. Once they're out of the coop and free of any of the feathers and poop that came with them, eggs should be refrigerated. Although unwashed eggs with cuticles intact can safely be stored at room temperature, refrigerating your eggs will help them last longer; about 5-6 weeks.

Why do American eggs have to be refrigerated? ›

Commercially sold eggs in America go through a washing and sanitizing process that clears contaminants, but also removes the natural protections that eggs have against bacteria. Because of this, eggs are refrigerated during processing and must remain chilled in order to reduce the risk of salmonella contamination.

Processing eggs in Europe

One, various countries in Europe vaccinate chickens against salmonella beforehand. In addition, eggs are not washed like they are in the United States, so the cuticle is left on the shell. As a result, eggs can be stored at room temperature instead of needing to be refrigerated.

A general rule, unwashed eggs will last around two weeks unrefrigerated and about three months or more in your refrigerator. If you're experiencing an egg boom, it's smart to refrigerate any unwashed fresh eggs you aren't planning to eat immediately. This will help them last longer.

Left at room temp, any bacteria on the shell can move with that moisture into the egg, since egg shells are semipermeable. Even clean eggs with no cracks can harbor Salmonella, so it's important not to just go by the appearance of the eggs. Cold will also slow the aging of eggs, making them last longer.

If you leave the eggs at a high temperature too long, too many bonds form and the egg white becomes rubbery.

We recommend discarding eggs that were left out longer than 2 hours at normal room temperature or more than 1 hour at 85F or above. If you forgot your eggs in the car or the garage overnight, it's best to toss them; you never know how much the temperature fluctuated during that time period.

How to store fresh eggs. Once they're out of the coop and free of any of the feathers and poop that came with them, eggs should be refrigerated. Although unwashed eggs with cuticles intact can safely be stored at room temperature, refrigerating your eggs will help them last longer; about 5-6 weeks.

Eggs may be refrigerated three to five weeks from the day they are placed in the refrigerator. The "Sell-By" date will usually expire during that length of time, but the eggs will be perfectly safe to use. Always purchase eggs before the "Sell-By" or EXP (expiration) date on the carton.