Can You Eat Expired Eggs?
Before you toss that carton, do a little sleuthing
You’re getting ready to make your favorite cookies, but when you open the fridge to grab a couple of eggs, you notice the date on the carton was two weeks ago. With the cost of a dozen inching up (again), you wonder whether it would be risky to use the eggs anyway.
It may surprise you, but probably not.
Egg cartons in the U.S. are stamped with a date and the words EXP (for expiration), “best by,” or “sell-by”—the term used depends on the state where you live.
However, like other food expiration dates, the one on eggs has to do with freshness, not safety.
Judging an Egg's Freshness
As eggs age, their quality does deteriorate. “The fresher the egg, the more of that eggy flavor you’ll have,” says Michael Makuch, chair of the interdisciplinary food studies department at Johnson & Wales University in Providence, R.I. Fresher eggs also have a higher, rounder yolk. Over time, the yolks flatten, and both the yolk and the whites get runnier. “The membrane that protects the yolk loses its integrity, so there’s also a greater chance of the yolk breaking,” he says.
Whether any of this matters, though, depends on what you’re using the eggs for.
Go as fresh as you can for dishes where eggs are the star. Poached or fried eggs will taste best and look nicer. Fresher eggs are best for omelets and quiches for the flavor and because they’ll give the dish a lighter, airier texture.
If you’re baking, older eggs are fine to use, unless you’re whipping egg whites for volume for meringues, macarons, or soufflés; that’s when a fresher egg—and “tight” vs. runny whites—are key, Makuch says. Older eggs are also good for scrambling, hard-boiling, or deviling, Makuch says. Add some spice, herbs, or vegetables and you’ll never know they weren’t at their peak.
If you don’t want to crack an egg to judge its quality, you could try the float test. Place one egg, uncracked, in a bowl of water. “Supposedly, if the egg sinks and falls over, it’s fresh. If it floats, you’re dealing with an older egg, but that doesn’t mean it’s spoiled,” says Makuch. (An older egg floats because the air pocket that’s inside every egg expands as the contents shrink with age.)
How to Store Eggs
To keep your eggs fresh as long as possible, store them in the refrigerator at 37° F to 40° F. “Keep them in their original carton toward the back of the refrigerator, not in the door, where the temperature can fluctuate with opening,” Makuch says. Make sure the narrower end is down, which is the way they should come in the carton. That keeps the air pocket at the top and away from the yolk, helping to maintain freshness.
