"To be sold un-refridgerated"
So, anyone know the hows/whys?
Tom
I've been here long enough to know that eggs normally are not refridgerated, but today my daughter bought some at Manor (only store open around on this holiday) that say (translated to English):
You and I both know that eggs do not need refridgeration, but their shelf life can be prolonged by keeping them cool.
Maybe your eggs were not Swiss? Maybe they were from the EU and someone decided the Italians need to be told how to store eggs?
Eggs don't require refrigeration, and can be kept for an indeterminate length of time - all they require is movement (preferably rotation) on a daily basis.
I once saw an egg wheel - like a child size bicycle wheel positioned vertically, with small cups for about 20 eggs. This was rotated a full revolution every day, and the eggs were still good after a year.
Refrigeration is a poor substitute for rotation, but will keep eggs good for a week or so.
It is not good for eggs to undergo continual temperature changes, hence them not being sold refrigerated; if they were, they would quickly lose cooling on the way home, only to be cooled again in the fridge at home - this greatly reduces their keeping time.
Modern equivalent is a helter-skelter - just remove the bottom egg and place at the top.
[](https://www.englishforum.ch/attachments/food-drink/54575d1354983565-eggs-sdc14695.jpg)
Depends on the climate. When you are in a warmer country, refrigration helps keep eggs good longer. Here in switzerland, esp in winters now you have nothing to worry about and keep them outside.
One sailors trick is to store them in vasaline, they then keep almost indefinitely.
Good information however I'd go for the Helter Skelter version for aesthetic reasons.
The exact same question was ask in the radio a few weeks ago. Some guy from Gallosuisse answered.
highlights by me.
A Vietnamese friend of mine stores her duck eggs in a barrel of salt water, she says they keep fresh for months.
It`s the loss of oxygen/air in the egg that spoils it, so I`m told by other sources. Most commercial eggs are coated in a film of oil, to prevent air loss, for storage purposes.
Local retired egg farmer says storing in "Natur" cellar is better, not in the fridge. Fridge dries out the egg, whereas the cellar is moist.
Having lived in Vietnam, this reminds me of one of the local delicacies - hot vit lon (fetal duck eggs). Never could stomach them.
Also called Balut, I'll try anything, but I'll hold off on this, and any form of insect...
In the Phillipines they are called Balut.
Never had a problem with insects. Ate them in Thailand - great for stopping the burning of hot chillies.
A sailor told you to rub your eggs in vaseline? Are you sure you were on the same page?
I actually love insects, shrimp, lobster....a from of bottom feeding sea insect eh?
Anyone have a good trick for a semi hard boiled egg?
I use to take local Washington eggs, keep them in the fridge for a couple weeks and then boil them for 6-7 minutes with a tablespoon of baking soda in the water, shock them in cold water and they would peel extremely easy. all white cooked completely and the yolk runny.
I've tried different ways and store bought eggs (Swiss and Foreign) and the really local eggs from my father in law's chickens. Same result. most of the yolk cooked some of the white still snotty, and it sticks to the shell making peeling a real sob. I've even boiled the things for 10 minutes (hard boiled) shocked them and they still stick to the shell, what do people do for a nice deviled egg here?
I remember my mother preserving them in some sort of grease - perhaps it was lanolin oil.
Hens will lay one egg a day, then keep turning them till they have enough to sit on. That way they all hatch on the same day ( 21 days after the sitting begins.) I worked on the theory that if the eggs were outside and remaining fresh enough to start developing after being there for 2+ weeks, then they were fresh enough for me to cook for at least that long.
Also, if I am uncertain about the freshness, I do the sinking test. Place the egg in a bowl of water. If it sinks, it's fine. If it floats, throw it out.
Also, when broken onto a plate, the white of a fresh raw egg is quite thick. On older eggs it becomes thin and runny. I am aware that often packaged eggs have much thinner albumen than fresher, free range ones.
I have also noticed, as mentioned by another poster, that it frequently seems difficult to peel cooked eggs here, despite having plunged them into cold water. Why is that? I have not noticed that in any other country in which I have had the pleasure of cooking eggs.
If they are not supposed to be refrigerated then why does every fridge you buy have these egg shaped slots in the door
For the Easter bunny to deposit the Cadburys chocolate ones?
Tradition. Not so many years ago stores stored eggs in the fridge. Anything else was considered bad practice. I don't quite remember when the change kicked in here in Switzerland, but our stores in the USA still keep keeping the eggs in the fridge.
http://voices.yahoo.com/the-thousand...47.html?cat=16
these may not look very appealing, but they are actually delicious.
The fresher the egg, the more difficult it is to shell after hard-boiling. The trick to nice hard-boiled eggs is to store them at home for a week before attempting to hard boil them. Plunging them into cold water after boiling stops the yolk going grey, it has no effect on the ease of peeling.
The good news is that if you think Swiss eggs are difficult to peel after boiling, it only demonstrates that they are fresher than what you're used to.