if eggs are bought and left out at room temperature, do they spoil ?

I usually will pull my eggs out and let them get room temp but only for a little while.....

From website www.eggsaftey.org


How should eggs be refrigerated?
Refrigerate raw shell eggs in their cartons on the middle or lower inside shelf, not on the door, and away from any meat that might drip juices or any raw produce that might contact eggshells. Cover or wrap well any egg mixtures or leftover cooked egg dishes. For all perishable foods, including eggs and egg containing dishes, allow no more than 2 hours at room temperature for preparation and serving, 30 minutes to 1 hour when it's 85°F or hotter without refrigeration.



Opps, I just realized I left the egg carton on the kitchen counter overnight. Are the eggs safe to use?
The general rule is that if food items are at room temperature for more than 2 hours, the safest thing to do is to discard the product. If you leave eggs anywhere that is not refrigerated, the best thing to do is throw those eggs away and buy a new carton.


How does Salmonella infect eggs?
Salmonella bacteria are found in the intestinal tracts of animals, birds, reptiles, insects and humans. Salmonella may be found on the outside of the egg shell before the egg is washed or it may be found inside the egg if the hen was infected. It is estimated that one egg in 20,000 eggs may contain Salmonella which is a 0.005% contamination rate. Eggs contain natural antimicrobial substances in the egg white, and all eggs are washed and sanitized before they are packed. Egg recipes properly prepared in individual servings and promptly eaten are rarely a problem. Inadequate refrigeration, improper handling and insufficient cooking are all factors that have contributed to disease outbreaks. Salmonella is destroyed by heat. Eggs that have been handled and cooked properly should not cause human illness

thanks everyone. i'll be heading out to the store for more eggs.

This post may be too late to set your mind to rest but ...

Here in the Netherlands when you buy eggs they are in an unrefrigerated section of the grocery store. So I assume they can be out of the fridge easily for days. I've never had any problems. I do put mine in the refrigerator when I get home... but that is more out of habit.

So if you make your cake with eggs, so it needs to be refrigerated, but cover it with fondant, which shouldn't be refrigerated, what do you do?

Uncooked eggs not cake LOL. Once the eggs have been cooked in the cake is a whole different ball game.

just to reiderate what VickiG said (though it may be too late for this time) Eggs do not need to be refridgerated, although refridgerating them will extend their life by quite lot. for each day eggs are left out of refridgeration they age the same aount as they would in one week in the refridgerater. This reduces the quality of the eggs much more quickly (the go from AA grade to A in about a week or two and from A to B in about 6 weeks) and if your going to whip the egg whites its best to use eggs that are as fresh as posible, especially because grade B eggs are much harder to sperate. Also, its good to know that the "best by" or "sell by" date on eggs is basically worthless. what you want to look for is the set of numbers on the end of the egg carton (usually below the "sell/best by" date). Here is a link that explains it all very well: http://lancaster.unl.edu/food/ciq-egg-dates.htm

As for salmonella (or whatever it is) as long as the egg will be cooked past 160 degrees (F) it should be fine, and if your baking a cake (I think) the temperature it will be is 212 F when its done (I could be wrong, but I know its above 160).

In commercial kitchens here, the limit is 20 minutes at room temperature before you have to discard them.
Hugs Squirrelly Cakes

Remember the good ol' days when eggs were left on the kitchen counter??? I don't but food handling regulations are a lot tighter than they used to be. In addition, if this is something you are selling and you are not licensed or don't have insurance etc. it could get ugly if someone does get sick. Better to be on the safe side than to end up with a lawsuit.




Princess

It's wierd because I remember my grandmother always leaving eggs in her cabinet and those eggs were from the carton. And my aunt and grandmother always cooked them for us to eat. Never got sick. Can someone explain that one to me?

problem with store bought eggs is they can be a couple of weeks old before you get them (thats why you can make deviled eggs from those eggs not from farm fresh eggs) it takes about a 3 wk old egg to peel well!!
Chickens lay eggs at body temp, depending on how long it is before they are collected (a chicken lays 1 x a day) they could be sitting at room temp for many hours before they are collected, this is not a problem.
With grocery store eggs you have no idea how old they are to start with.

also I thought you were suppose to take your eggs out of the fridge before baking so as they whip up better
my 2 cents

I've heard that a bad egg will float come to the top of the water.. has anyone heard that one. Yesterday I was going to boil some eggs and one of them floated to the top and I tossed it out. Always better safe then sorry.

aupekkle, The reason you never got sick, is because a) salmonella is not in ALL eggs and b) cooking kills the bacteria when it IS there. And refrigerating doesn't kill the bacteria, it only slows the growth.

katiecakes, you are right about everything except one: there IS a way to find out exactly how old store eggs are. In my post above, I gave a link that explains how.

sue_dye, I had heard that too, but I recently found out that its not true. As eggs age, the air bubble inside grows, so the theory is that when it gets too big, the eggs float; however, the size of the air bubble also depends on other factors. Its best to go by the date on the carton (not the sell by date). Its all explained by the link I posted above.

Hmmm..
Go with your gut! When in doubt, pitch it out!