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The Forbidden American Egg (Original Post) bucolic_frolic Aug 2019 OP
this is actually interesting. IcyPeas Aug 2019 #1
i did. mopinko Aug 2019 #2
same here Kali Aug 2019 #3
Yes, when i had chickens, i never refrigerated the eggs. dem in texas Aug 2019 #5
Salmonella is extremely rare in US eggs Major Nikon Aug 2019 #4
as a dedicated sampler of raw cookie dough and cake batter yellowdogintexas Sep 2019 #6
Thanks for perspective, Major. I'm also a lifelong dough and Hortensis Sep 2019 #7
It's important to differentiate between pathogenic and spoilage bacteria Major Nikon Sep 2019 #8
Thanks. I didn't remember spoilage versus pathogenic. Hortensis Sep 2019 #9

IcyPeas

(21,747 posts)
1. this is actually interesting.
Wed Aug 28, 2019, 06:13 PM
Aug 2019

people often wonder why stores in the UK don't refrigerate their eggs.

I didn't know that British chickens were vaccinated against salmonella. wonder why we don't do that here?

so the whole washing system of american eggs breaks the cuticle of the egg.

who knew?


Kali

(54,990 posts)
3. same here
Wed Aug 28, 2019, 07:29 PM
Aug 2019

I don't sell and only wash if they are really gross, but that is rare unless nests haven't been refreshed regularly. (I just use hay)

dem in texas

(2,672 posts)
5. Yes, when i had chickens, i never refrigerated the eggs.
Thu Aug 29, 2019, 02:46 AM
Aug 2019

Nothing like cooking with fresh eggs, makes dreamy omelets and the whites beat up so high for cakes and pies.. We used to make ice cream with raw eggs. I wouldn't dream of doing that with store bought eggs.

Major Nikon

(36,814 posts)
4. Salmonella is extremely rare in US eggs
Wed Aug 28, 2019, 10:39 PM
Aug 2019

About 1 in 10,000 eggs from the US contains salmonella. So if you consumed 2 eggs per day for 15 years, you would just break even on the chances of getting an egg with salmonella and even if you did and consumed it raw that doesn’t mean you’d get sick. It takes a certain amount of pathogen cells to make you sick and for eggs stored cold those pathogens probably aren’t going to multiply enough to cause a problem.

For eggs stored at room temperature it’s a much bigger issue because even a few salmonella cells can multiply significantly before they are consumed.

yellowdogintexas

(22,119 posts)
6. as a dedicated sampler of raw cookie dough and cake batter
Sun Sep 15, 2019, 08:11 PM
Sep 2019

I can tell you the number of times I have acquired salmonella as a result.

Z E R O

I also put raw eggs in dairy based smoothies from time to time and eat my scrambled eggs loose. Fried, poached or soft boiled - they have to be runny.

I have been food poisoned by a Thanksgiving turkey though. (Leftovers to be technical about it.)
My then mother in law warmed up the whole damn leftover turkey for one sandwich for her husband, then left it in the oven all afternoon at 200 degrees.

Come suppertime, my sister in law and I made this gigantic batch of turkey and dumplings. Which we devoured. The dogs and cats had a field day with various bits of turkey. It was delicious .....however.......

Around 3 am we started hearing our cats going insane in their litter boxes....like every 5 minutes... then the dogs started demanding to get outside right the hell now...
then it hit us ! 4 adults and one bathroom..

It was a long long night, which included my husband going outside and making use of a bucket which was in the yard. Across town, his sister and her husband were taking turns with the toilet and the tub.

Fortunately it was not the food poisoning that makes you hurt from head to toe, gives you fever and makes you hurl your guts out. We actually were fairly chipper the next day all things considered.

Hortensis

(58,785 posts)
7. Thanks for perspective, Major. I'm also a lifelong dough and
Tue Sep 17, 2019, 10:21 AM
Sep 2019

street food devotee who's never been hit. Not too long ago, stopped traffic on a freeway allowed us to see some kid selling his grandmother's tamales in the parking lot of a factory, and we probably spent 20 minutes driving around surface streets until we found them. The CDC says about 1 in 10,000 eggs has INTERNAL contamination.

When I was first married, in trendy West Hollywood, storing eggs in decoratively on the counter in wire baskets was very "in." I could barely boil an egg in those days, but I had to have one and my kitchen made me feel very...housewifely. Sadly, turned out we weren't going through our eggs quickly enough in those days. The first rotten one and a friend was glad to take the basket.

It'd probably work fine now, and I'm wondering if the perceived richer flavor could be partly from allowing quicker aging from the beginning. After all, aging doughs and a lot of other foods adds to their flavor. ??

Major Nikon

(36,814 posts)
8. It's important to differentiate between pathogenic and spoilage bacteria
Tue Sep 17, 2019, 11:22 AM
Sep 2019

Most of the bacteria that makes food go "bad" are spoilage bacteria and many of these produce pungent odors and flavors. OTH, pathogens, the bacteria that can make you sick, are generally odorless and tasteless. The conditions that allow spoilage bacteria to multiply are the same conditions that allow pathogenic bacteria to multiply, but it's often that one will be present without the other.

Storing eggs on the counter is how we did it when I was a kid, however I lived on a farm and our eggs were never more than a few days out of the chicken.

The USDA recommends you refrigerate all commercially bought eggs in the US. The reason is because eggs in the US are washed which removes the protective coating from the egg. So they no longer have any resistance from external contaminates. In other countries they will routinely leave eggs unrefrigerated, but those eggs are unwashed and never refrigerated. The worst thing you can do with commercial eggs is leave them out after they have been refrigerated as the condensation which develops on the outside produces an ideal environment for pathogens.

Hortensis

(58,785 posts)
9. Thanks. I didn't remember spoilage versus pathogenic.
Tue Sep 17, 2019, 12:17 PM
Sep 2019

Darn, though, for the death of the idea of bringing my store eggs out for a little flavor enhancement. I have a handsome bowl they would have looked great in too.

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