Many recipes require fresh eggs as an ingredient. Fresh eggs come with the territory when you purchase from a local farm. Oftentimes, however, this may not be the case when you purchase them from a store. It’s even possible to get old eggs even when you buy organic eggs from a whole foods store.
So how do you know if your eggs are really fresh or less than fresh? Here are three simple tests you can do to find out.
Method 1: Float Test
- Place the egg in a bowl of cold water. Make sure that the water is twice higher than the egg.
- Take note of what happens.
- Fresh eggs will sink to the bottom, lying lengthwise.
- 1-week-old eggs will sink to the bottom, but may bob slightly.
- 3-week-old eggs will balance on its smallest tip with the largest tip reaching or pointing up.
- Eggs that float at the surface are bad and no longer fit for consumption.
Method 2: Slosh Test
- Hold an egg up to your ear.
- Gently shake the egg.
- Listen for sloshing. If you can hear a sloshing sound, the egg is most probably unfit for consumption. If you don’t hear anything, the egg is most probably all right for consumption.
Method 3: Cracking Test
- Crack an egg into a plate.
- Note the appearance of the yolk and albumin (egg white)
- Fresh eggs have globe-shaped yolks that sit high with the egg white gathered closely around it.
- If the yolk is sitting lower but the albumin is still gathered around it albeit transparent, then the egg is probably a bit older. This is still safe to eat, however.
- Eggs with a flat yolk and a runny albumin, then the egg is bad. This should be discarded.
