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.
An older egg will either stand on its end or float. The float test works because air builds up inside the egg as it ages, increasing its buoyancy. However, an egg that floats may still be safe to eat, according to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).
The water test for egg freshness
First, fill a bowl or glass with about four inches of cold water and gently place your egg(s) inside. Very fresh eggs will sink to the bottom and lay on their sides. If an egg stays at the bottom but stands on its small end, it's still acceptable to eat; just not quite as fresh.
An egg can sink and still be bad, while an egg that floats may still be fine to eat (2). Checking whether an egg sinks or floats is a popular way to check how fresh it is. However, it can't tell you if an egg has gone bad.
If the egg sinks and stands, it's fine. An egg that sinks to the bottom and "stands" on its smaller end means that the egg is still edible, but probably on its last legs.
If refrigerated, eggs typically stay safe well after their expiration date. Regardless of what that date actually is, the optimal storage time for raw eggs in their shells, according to the USDA, is three to five 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.
Fill a bowl with water, and carefully place an egg on top. If the egg sinks like a stone, laying down on its side, it's still very fresh! If it sinks but doesn't lay flat—and instead it kind of stands up, wobbling—your egg is OK and probably just right for hard-boiling.
If the eggs sink to the bottom and lay flat on their side, they're still fresh. However, if they sink, but stand on one end at the bottom of the glass or bowl, they're not as fresh but still edible. Of course, if any eggs float to the top, they shouldn't be eaten.
While it is ideal to eat eggs before this date has passed, they are often still be safe to eat after this date, but its quality may have decreased. For example, you might notice changes in colour, flavour or texture if you choose to eat eggs after the best before date.
The older a raw egg gets, the more air becomes trapped in an air chamber located at the wide end of the egg. As others have pointed out, when you cook an egg in boiling water, the air will expand too quickly and will burst the shell — the same way a balloon will pop with too much air.
As long are they are kept refrigerated at 45 °F or lower, fresh shell eggs are safe to be consumed four to five weeks beyond the carton's Julian date (the date eggs were packed).
These numbers represent the consecutive days of the year. For example a egg carton with a packaging date of 032, means the eggs were packed on February 1st. You can store fresh shell egs in their cartons in the the refrigerator for four to five weeks beyond this date.
Place your eggs in the water. If your eggs sink to the bottom and lie flat on their sides, they are very fresh. If your eggs stand on one end at the bottom, they are a few weeks old, but still fine to eat. If your eggs float to the surface, they are no longer fresh.
If the egg white is pink or iridescent this is an indication of spoilage due to Pseudomonas bacteria. Some of these bacteria can make us sick when eaten and they will produce a greenish, fluorescent, water-soluble color. Also, a spoiled egg (cooked or raw) will have an unpleasant odor once you crack it open.
To identify a rotten or old egg before cracking it open, the easiest thing to do is the float test. Place the egg in a glass of water. Fresh eggs will sink to the bottom, while bad eggs will float.
These dates make it easier to know how old the eggs are. But if you store them properly, eggs can actually last far beyond their expiration date and still be safe to eat. So the short answer is yes, it can be safe to eat expired eggs.
The case for refrigeration, however, is bolstered by the fact that the shelf life of refrigerated eggs is around 45 days, whereas unrefrigerated eggs are good for only about 21 days.
Information. Bacteria can enter eggs through cracks in the shell. Never purchase cracked eggs. However, if eggs crack on the way home from the store, break them into a clean container, cover tightly, keep refrigerated, and use within two days.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, eggs can be sold for up to 30 days after they were packaged. So when your eggs' expiration date has passed, they could be two months old—and still more than likely safe to eat.
Some egg cartons have sell-by dates on them, while others have expiration dates. Neither should be regarded as an indication of when the eggs are no longer safe to use. Both the Food and Drug Administration and Egg Safety Center agree that eggs are usually good for several weeks past the stamped date.
If an it's less than 5 weeks old, you're probably good to go. Whether you're frying your eggs or using them to bake, you don't have to toss them out just because they're past their expiration date. If your eggs still look and smell good, they probably are good.
How to Safely Store Hard-Boiled Eggs. According to the Food and Drug Administration, you can keep hard-cooked eggs in the refrigerator for up to seven days after they have been cooked. 1 (Here's the best way to make them.)