Thrifty Thursday (eggs)

I fully stole this idea (by another name) from another blog I follow, which I have not linked here (Blogger friend, I believe you understand why I didn't, and hope you don't mind that I am pilfering your fantastic idea).

The idea behind Thrifty Thursday/otherly named is that in current times of economic hardship, it becomes more important for all of us to find ways to cut back on our spending. Many people already have things they do regularly that can be of help and/or interest to others. The idea of sharing those things to help other people is very compelling to me, so here I am hi-jacking the idea.

For my first Thrifty Thursday post I'm going to quickly discuss eggs. I haven't got alot of time for a blog just now and this subject just came up in my house today as I stood staring at quail eggs in my fridge that had been in there for who knows how possibly long, 1 week, 2, could it be 3?

Eggs don't necessarily go 'bad' once they pass the 'sell by' date. In fact, eggs can be left out on the counter for days and days and still be good. The trouble with eggs is that they are in a nice protective opaque shell that keeps you from readily seeing if they are still any good and no one wants to break open an stinky rotten egg in their house, thus, many eggs find their way to the dump becuase of uncertainty. Sure, eggs aren't a huge expence, but in todays economy, every penny counts!

So, here's my trick to avoid tossing out perfectly good eggs.

Fill a bowl, or pan with cold water about 3 - 4 inches deep, then place the suspect eggs into the water.
If they sink, they are still fit for consumption (it is very common for one end to sort of rise up, but as long as the other end is still resting on the bottom of the container, you should be good).
If they bob to the top, they should be tossed.

Now you can comfortably cross out your 'sell by' date on your egg carton and keep those eggs as long as they are good, rather than as long as the egg sellers want to go before you buy more...

Hope this doesn't freak anyone out whose eaten at my house, but I have kept eggs for as long as 2 months past the sell by date (perhaps could have kept them longer had I not used them).

Of course, don't take my word for it, give it a few test tries before just tossing your sinking eggs into your food.

Happy Thursday!