Guidelines on how not to get sick from Bad Eggs

You always hear warnings to stay away from rotten eggs, but how do we know whether they're good or not to eat?

With summer and the high temperatures of Thailand we bring you all the ways to identify whether it’s a fresh egg or it's not.

Whilst some some bought eggs have the expiry date embedded on them, locally bought ones are unlikely to.

Sometimes this embedded date is too restrictive, and actually the egg can be used after the last date written.

How do you know whether it’s a good egg?

Unlike vegetables, fruit or meat, in the case of eggs, you cannot rely on your sense of smell or touch.

So what to do? Well, there are several ways to know whether our eggs are fresh and good.

The flotation test
This test is probably the most familiar and recognisable forms of how to test for a fresh egg. How it works - Fill a bowl or cup with water and place the egg inside.

If the egg sinks, it is fresh and good to eat but if it floats then it is not.

What is the rationale behind the test? The eggshell, although solid, is still penetrated by air. Hence, the more time passes, the more air enters into the egg.

Test the break
Another way is to break the egg into a wide bowl or plate. If the white and the yolk are solid and separate then this is a fresh egg.

If they break easily and blend then the egg is not fresh. In general, if the egg 'spreads' on the surface of the tool - it is not fresh.

Why? You may have noticed the yolk has a kind of thin white coating. It’s job is to stabilise the white from the yolk center. As more time passes, the more it is weakened, which causes the yolk to move more freely.

Test a hard-boiled egg
Although less convenient it is well known that the more difficult to peel a hard-boiled egg, actually the more fresh it is.

Rattle test
This way is less recommended, but still works. You can rattle the egg to your ear.

If you hear a rattling sound then this means that the egg is not fresh. If you do not hear anything, it’s a fresh egg.

The principle behind the test is the same principle as the flotation test; as time passes, the more air enters into the egg. The more air, the more rattling.