How long do eggs last

Keep shell eggs in the carton, on a shelf, at 4°C (40°F). The door warms up every time it opens. Do not wash eggs before you put them away. USDA FSIS and Turkey’s Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry say the same thing: washing strips the natural coating and gives bacteria a way in. Wipe a visible speck, and wash only just before you crack the egg.

Once the shell is open, whites and yolks move to a covered container. That fridge window is 2–4 days for whites and 2–4 days for yolks. A date on the carton is a different sentence from the chart. If the pack prints a use-by day that arrives before 3–5 weeks is up, the printed day wins. The split between a safety date and a quality date is on the use-by and best-before guide.

Get perishable food into the fridge within 2 hours of cooking it or bringing it home, and within 1 hour if the kitchen is above 32°C (90°F). USDA FSIS and Turkey’s Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry both publish that cutoff. A closed deep pot stays warm; a shallow box cools.

A chart is a window, not a verdict on the container in your hand. A sour smell, a slimy surface, or mould means it is finished, even on day one. This page is not medical advice.

• A sour or sulfur smell the moment the shell opens.
• Powdery or fuzzy mould on the shell, or a crack that leaks.
• A white that has turned pink, green, or iridescent.
• A hard-cooked egg that smells sticky or strongly sulfuric in the fridge.

A cloudy raw white is usually a fresh egg, not a spoiled one. A small blood spot is a quality mark. If anyone in the house should skip undercooked egg, cook it through anyway.

Do not freeze eggs in the shell. The shell cracks and the texture goes. Beat yolks and whites together and freeze them in a sealed container, or freeze whites on their own. USDA lists about 12 months as the quality window for frozen raw egg. Yolks alone freeze poorly; the FSIS chart says so in plain words. Hard-cooked eggs do not freeze well either: the white turns rubber.

Thaw the container in the fridge and then cook the eggs. They behave better in a bake or a scramble than as a poached egg.

Thaw in the refrigerator, not on the counter. Do not refreeze a portion that has thawed. The ministry states the same rule: thaw frozen food in the fridge and take out only what you will eat.

• The date on the carton is the day the egg becomes unsafe. On the US chart a refrigerated shell egg is 3–5 weeks. That is not the same sentence as a sell-by stamp. If your pack uses a use-by date and that day comes sooner, follow the printed day.
• Eggs sold off a shelf must live at room temperature forever. Once they have been chilled, keep them chilled. The ministry tells people to store eggs in the fridge and not to wash them into the box.
• A floating egg is a laboratory result. The float test shows a larger air cell, which is what older eggs do. It does not replace smell, a clean shell, and the chart.

The windows assume a generally healthy household. Pregnancy, young children, older age, or a weakened immune system are reasons to keep the shorter figure, to skip raw or undercooked food, and to reheat leftovers until the centre is steaming. USDA’s figure for reheating leftovers is 74°C (165°F).

In pregnancy, for young children, in older age, or with a weakened immune system, skip raw and runny eggs: homemade mayonnaise, tiramisu with a raw yolk, a scramble that is still wet. USDA’s temperature for egg dishes is 71°C (160°F). A cooked dish that contains egg then follows the leftover line: 2 days on the UK FSA rule, while USDA lists 3–4 days for egg casseroles and quiche.