There are certain times when we cannot decide whether an egg is fresh or not. Never fear there are some little tricks that you can apply to know if your egg is good or bad. By law, eggs must have the expiration date written on the shell, but it can happen that we buy eggs without writing on them especially if we are sourcing from small local farmers. It is, however, useful to know that eggs must be consumed within 15 days of the laying date for optimal quality.
Tricks for figuring out the age of eggs
Buoyancy Test:
This is the easiest method to be able to put into practice because all you need is a glass filled with water in which a little salt has been dissolved. Just insert the egg inside it and see where it sits:
if it goes down or has a slightly raised tip which makes it a good egg.
if it stays halfway, it is still good but it is about a week old and should be consumed “cooked” in a short time.
if it floats, it is unfortunately no longer good and should be thrown away.
Visual Testing:
More complicated and deceptive is the visual test. If the eggs have a shiny shell, they are no longer fresh. However, we can try opening the egg in a small bowl and see if the yolk remains firm and separated from the white. If the yolk breaks and mixes with the albumen, it is no longer good.
