How to tell if a boiled egg is fresh or not. Visual assessment of freshness

Surely every home has such a product as eggs. Many housewives, without hesitation, take this product from store shelves and place them in their refrigerator. But already during the cooking process, the most important question arises: how to check the freshness of eggs.

Egg

This product itself may be a separate dish, and can serve as an ingredient. It is this ability that makes eggs such a unique and sought-after product. They can be boiled or fried, baked in the oven as an omelet or soufflé, or added to broth. With just eggs, sugar and flour you can bake delicious biscuit. The variety of recipes is amazing. There are several types of eggs that humans eat, but the most common are chicken and quail.

Mandatory inspection is required before cooking. of this product. After all, it will not be very pleasant to eat spoiled eggs. There are several ways to check the freshness of eggs. It is worth considering each of them in detail. Only then will you choose the option that is right for you.

Shaking

It is worth noting that it is almost impossible to externally determine how long an egg has been stored. How to check freshness quail eggs? The same as chicken ones, for example, using shaking.

Take the egg with two fingers and bring it to your ear. Move your hand and make several sharp swings. If you hear the characteristic sound of the yolk hitting the shell wall, it is better to avoid preparing this product.

Weighing

There is a way to check the freshness of eggs using a regular kitchen scale. If you initially know what the mass of the product was, then after weighing it after a certain time, you will see that it has become smaller. This happens due to the fact that during long-term storage moisture escapes through the porous structure of the shell and the egg becomes much lighter.

Buoyancy

Perhaps the most popular testing method is to check the freshness of eggs in water.

In order to carry out this manipulation correctly, you will need a glass clean water and a tablespoon of salt. Add the free-flowing substance to the liquid and wait until it dissolves. After this, carefully lower the product into the water. If the egg sinks to the bottom, feel free to eat it. If it completely rises to the surface, it means it has been stored for at least a month.

This method can be used to check the freshness chicken eggs, and decide on quail.

Breaking

This method is only suitable if you need to cook a cracked egg. Open the shell and pour the contents onto a plate. It is desirable that it be black or dark in color. This will give you a better look at the squirrels.

In a fresh egg, the white is dense and completely surrounds the yolk, which rises beautifully and has an elastic consistency. If the inside of the egg is flimsy and sticky, you should stop cooking it.

Smell

Another popular method for determining the freshness of an egg is to check for odor.

In order to carry out this manipulation, you need to break a raw egg and just smell it. A good, unspoiled product has virtually no odor. If the egg is spoiled, you will feel a sharp bad smell. It is better to simply throw away such a product.

In order for eggs to retain their freshness for as long as possible, they must be stored correctly. To do this, after purchasing, place them in the refrigerator in a special compartment. It is worth saying that the shell allows strong odors and various microbes to pass through quite well. That is why it is worth keeping this product away from others, especially those with a strong aroma. The required temperature for finding eggs is from five to ten degrees.

At proper storage eggs can remain edible for several months. The opened egg must be stored in the refrigerator, pouring the yolk cold water. It can remain in this state for up to two days. Protein tends to retain its freshness for up to two weeks. It is worth saying that during storage broken eggs, it is necessary to separate the white from the yolk so as not to damage the consistency of the latter. There is no need to fill the whites with water.

For longer storage of opened eggs, it is recommended to freeze them. In this form, they can remain edible for up to four months. The whites are frozen separately from the yolks and placed in a plastic or glass container.

Conclusion

Summarizing all of the above, we can conclude: how to check the freshness of eggs depends on the method of their preparation. Choose the method that suits you.

Be sure to check the quality and freshness of this product before eating, this will protect you from possible food poisoning.

Store eggs correctly - and then they will remain fresh for as long as possible.

Chicken eggs are used for cooking almost every day. Whatever the housewife has in mind - from baking to cutlets - everything requires the addition of an egg. This product contains many vitamins and useful microelements, besides, chicken protein perfectly absorbed human body. But if it passes, the rotten taste can ruin the entire dish. to avoid such a situation?

Method one - water test

The simplest way is to determine the freshness of eggs using cool water. You just need to put the product in cold water and see what happens. Fresh ones, like chicken ones, immediately sink to the bottom, turning slightly on their side. The old ones try to float up or float up, and the higher the egg is, the older it is. This method is based on the fact that over time the contents of the shell dry out, more air accumulates under it, which helps rise to the surface of the water. Therefore, it is better not to use all the eggs that confidently float in the water for food.

Method two - shaking

How to determine the freshness of an egg if you don’t have a container of water at hand, but you need to figure it out quickly? Just shake it, placing it between your thumb and forefinger. If the product is fresh, nothing will move under the shell, even if you shake very, very hard.

If your fingers feel the yolk moving in different directions, you can safely throw away the egg.

Method three - inspection of the shell

For those who cannot complain about observation, there is another way to determine the freshness of an egg. Examine the shell carefully - in fresh eggs it is hard, smooth, and looks matte and dry in appearance. If it shines, seems greasy and has a gray tint, the expiration date has already expired. Moreover, you should not use foods whose shells are soft to the touch. The contents in them are definitely rotten.

Method four - content evaluation

If all the previous methods did not reveal anything suspicious, but doubts still remain, break the egg into a separate flat plate. Examine it: when fresh, the yolk should be firm and round, quite high.

The white should surround the yolk in a thick layer, without spreading over the surface of the dish. In stale eggs, the yolk looks more compressed and less elastic, and the white spreads all over the plate.

Why is a spoiled egg dangerous?

It is best to remember how to determine the freshness of an egg and use at least one of the tests described above. Otherwise, the possibility of a rotten product getting into the dish cannot be ruled out. The taste of all other components will definitely be spoiled. If the eggs were purchased quite a long time ago, you should first use those methods that evaluate appearance and do not require violation of the integrity of the shell. If the contents are rotten, it will smell intensely and unpleasantly. It is advisable to avoid this and not to violate the integrity of eggs that have caused suspicion, immediately and carefully discarding them. This way your dishes will always be appetizing, and the kitchen will retain its cozy aromas.

Do you have eggs in the refrigerator and you can’t determine how edible they are now? Knowing how to check rotten egg or not, you will be able to find spoiled specimens without breaking the shell. There are several ways to do this.

Check by appearance

Fresh and rotten eggs differ in appearance. In fresh specimens, the shell is smooth and slightly shiny in the light. For those that have had time to lie down, the shell becomes matte and a little rough to the touch. And if it becomes stained and becomes a little soft, then the egg cannot be used - it is definitely rotten.

Checking with an ovoscope or a regular lamp

Pick up an egg and look through it at any source of bright light. Fresh whites shine through perfectly, and the yolk is located in the center. After a week or two, the white will still show through, but there will be small dark areas visible. Rotten eggs will not show through.

Hearing test

If you have keen hearing, then bring the egg to your ear and shake it. Inside a fresh specimen, no particular shaking is felt, but something that has been sitting thoroughly will gurgle a little, and its contents will actively move when shaken. The harder the contents hit the shell, the more likely it is to become rotten.

Smell test

Rinse the egg with water and smell it. Hydrogen sulfide, released by spoiled contents, gradually corrodes the egg membrane and penetrates the shell. With a well-developed sense of smell, this smell can be detected.

Water test

Fill a saucepan with cold water. Dip the eggs one at a time into the water and see what happens to them. The most recent, 2- or 3-day-old specimens will simply settle to the bottom. Those that are already about a week old will also first lie at the bottom, then begin to move up and sink down again. After 2-3 weeks of storage, the eggs will sink to the bottom only with the sharp tip and will balance on it. This means that they are no longer very fresh, but are still edible. But those specimens that remain floating on the surface can be safely thrown away - even if they are not rotten, they are still no longer suitable for food.

Visual assessment of freshness

If you are not sure about the freshness of the eggs, but for some reason do not want to check them using one of the above methods, then before starting cooking, simply break them over a separate bowl and look at the whites. You will notice a rotten copy immediately. Its characteristic smell and dark spots on the surface will not leave the slightest doubt. But the degree of freshness of an egg that has not yet spoiled will be a little more difficult to determine. To do this, look at its protein. Fresh protein will be fluffy and quite dense; it has two noticeable layers: jelly and liquid. The density of stale protein will be significantly lower; it will spread across the plate in a thin mass.

We present to you ways to determine the freshness of quail eggs

Quail eggs, despite their miniature size, are healthy dietary product. They differ from chicken not only in size and set of microelements, but also in their short shelf life. And due to less demand, they often sit on shelves for a long time. Everyone should know how to determine whether a quail egg is fresh or not. An expired product can cause harm to the body.

How to choose in the store

In the store it’s not as accurate as at home, but really bad options can definitely be discarded

Quails have strong immunity and eggs are practically not infected with salmonellosis. Quail eggs contain a lot of lysozyme. This substance prevents the development of bacteria. After long-term storage they simply dry out. How to find out whether quail eggs are fresh or not, these tips will help:

  • When buying eggs at the store, the first thing you need to look at is the shell. There should be no signs of damage. Pathogenic microorganisms can easily enter cracks and chips.
  • You need to look at the expiration date indicated on the packaging. Pay attention to the conditions in which they are stored. Whether they are in the refrigerator or not. If the eggs are sold at the market, are they exposed to direct sunlight? The storage period directly depends on the conditions. At room temperature eggs can be stored for up to 30 days. Keeps it fresh in the refrigerator for 60.
  • Minor contamination is acceptable. This does not affect the quality of the product.

Counting eggs from big amount stains more useful. In fact, this opinion is wrong. The composition of quail eggs is the same, regardless of the color of the shell. It depends on the breed of bird.

How to check the freshness of quail eggs in water

Determining the freshness of a quail egg in water

Before cooking in an effective way will test them in water:

  1. Take a glass or deep plate.
  2. Pour water and lower the egg.
  3. Has it sunk to the bottom? This indicates freshness.
  4. Stuck in the middle of the container? This means it has already started to dry out. You need to eat it soon.
  5. Anything left to float on the surface? This means it’s already more than half dry. It is strictly forbidden to eat it.

How to check the freshness of quail eggs at home

Home inspection of quail eggs

When you get home, you can determine the freshness of eggs in several more ways:

  • Weigh on electronic scales. Fresh weight ranges from 10 to 12 grams. If you are underweight, you should not use it.
  • Break the egg onto a flat plate. A fresh egg has a round yolk, and the white is dense and does not spread much. If the yolk loses its shape and the white spreads like water, then it is better to refuse preparing such an egg.

Quail eggs lose moisture through their pores. To prevent this from happening too quickly, you can periodically lubricate them with vegetable oil during storage.

If you know the testing methods, determining their freshness will not be difficult.

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By purchasing eggs, we are essentially buying a pig in a poke. After all, the stamps on the packaging do not always correspond to reality, and on the market when selling home product and are completely absent.

If properly stored, eggs can remain edible for more than a month. But not always at poultry farms and points of sale of eggs necessary conditions are observed, thereby accelerating the spoilage of the product.

In order to verify the freshness of eggs or determine its degree, you can use a simple technique, which we will discuss below.

Checking eggs for freshness in water

You can easily and quickly determine the freshness of eggs using salted water.

Fresh eggs have practically no air inside, and the shell fits tightly to the membrane, so if you lower such an egg into a container with salted water, it will sink to the bottom and take a horizontal position.

When stored through pores eggshells air gradually penetrates inside, the membrane moves away from the shell, thereby increasing the air sac. The longer an egg is stored, the more air there is inside, which, if not properly stored and high temperature promotes the development of bacteria and rapid spoilage of the product. Such an egg, when lowered into water, will float on the surface.

Using water, you can not only check the freshness of eggs, but also determine its degree. By carrying out a simple test, you can find out whether the eggs you buy are suitable for poaching and dietary nutrition or they are only suitable for hard-boiling and adding to a salad.

Determining the freshness of eggs in a glass of water

  1. For the first seven days, eggs are considered dietary and can be used to prepare poached eggs, scrambled eggs, biscuits, as well as various desserts and other dishes where the freshness of the product is important. If an egg, immersed in a glass of water, sinks to the very bottom and takes a horizontal position, it is undoubtedly fresh and can be used for any dish.
  2. Eggs that have been fresh for a week or two will float a little blunt end upward, but the edge will still touch the bottom. Such eggs can be hard-boiled and used for frying an omelet, but when preparing poached eggs, such an egg will simply scatter in the water. If you break a two-week old egg into a frying pan, the white will spread across the pan like a pancake and beautiful scrambled eggs will not work.
  3. Eggs that are more than two weeks old, but are still edible, will take a vertical position in the center of the glass with the blunt end facing up. The sharp end no longer touches the bottom. Such eggs can only be used within ten minutes or more from the moment of boiling and used in salads or other dishes as needed. The advantage of such unusual freshness of eggs is that, unlike fresh ones, they are always perfectly cleaned.
  4. If, during inspection, the egg floats to the surface of the water and takes a horizontal position, it is definitely spoiled, the process of decomposition has begun in it and it can no longer be used as food.

How to check the freshness of quail eggs in water?

The structure is the same as that of chicken, so you can check their freshness in water based on the information described above. Fresh eggs will sink to the bottom, and spoiled ones will float to the surface of the water in the glass.

Now you know how to find out the freshness of eggs in water and can determine it at any time at home. But in order to keep eggs fresh for as long as possible, you do not need to wash them before putting them in the refrigerator immediately after purchase. And it is better to check for freshness in water immediately before use. Upon contact with water, the protective shell that covers the pores is washed off from the eggs, which significantly reduces the shelf life of the product, since air begins to penetrate inside much faster.