# Farm Fresh Eggs?



## sss3 (Jul 15, 2007)

Thought I was told a fresh egg white should plump up nicely around yolk. The eggs I've been buying don't do this. They run all over the place. How do you identify a fresh egg?


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## olivehill (Aug 17, 2009)

Put it in a bowl of water, the fresher the egg the flatter it lays on the bottom of the bowl. Older eggs will kind of half float with the big end up and the small end touching the bottom. Old/bad eggs float off the bottom.


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## sss3 (Jul 15, 2007)

Where are you in Mi? I'm in Monroe; right on Lake Erie.


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## olivehill (Aug 17, 2009)

Right about in the center of the lower peninsula.


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## GrannyG (Mar 26, 2005)

How old is that egg?

If not sure you ought-ter
then place it in water.
If it lies on it's side
then it's fresh, eat with pride.

After three or four days,
At an angle it lays.
But, it still is a treat,
so go on and eat.

Ten days, stand on end,
In your baking 'twill blend.
'Cause it's definitely edible,
In your baking, incredible.

But if it floats on the surface,
That egg serves no purpose.
'Cause a floater's a stinker !
Out the back door best fling 'er !


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## Guest (Jan 3, 2011)

GrannyG did you make that up?


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## GrannyG (Mar 26, 2005)

No, it has been around for years and years...I just think it is so cute....and it is true...


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## didaho (Jan 22, 2008)

I just boiled up some today that I just got from the nest today and 3 floated. They are still good eggs, but I do not go by that saying that if they float they are no good.


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## olivehill (Aug 17, 2009)

How much they float is a function of the size of the air cell in the large end of the egg. The air cell enlarges as the egg gets older. The higher they float the older they are. Doesn't mean floaters are going to literally be so bad they're stinky, but they are older eggs. Honestly I've never had a stinker (knock on wood) even eggs that have been in the bator at 100 degrees for a month. Doesn't mean I'm going to eat it just because it doesn't smell bad though.


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## Macybaby (Jun 16, 2006)

Keep in mind that they absorb more air into the cell at room temperature. I've got eggs that are 5 weeks old (always keep chilled) that still lay flat on the bottom. 

However if I leave them on the counter, I'll have them start to float like the poem says. If I'm making pickled eggs, I'll leave them out on the counter for 4-5 days so they are easier to peel. 

Usually if I get a serious floater, close inspection will reveal a hairline crack. Those go as dog/cat food.


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## jwal10 (Jun 5, 2010)

I notice that if I put them in a carton, older eggs have a dimple in the end that was up after boiling and I see it when I peel them. My eggs usually sit in a basket in the spring house until I use them and I don't see that, is it because they sit on their sides? Is it better to put them in a carton?


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