How to tell an egg is bad

Eggs have had a bad press over the years what with salmonella, high cholesterol etc.. The fact is eggs are one of the most natural forms of food you can eat and the bad press mainly comes from business of industry who have a vested financial interest in the public's egg eating habits.

I personally get my own eggs from my neighbour's farm, I know they are laid on the day I buy them so I have no worries. Many supermarket eggs have been through the chemical chain through chickens that have been fed goodness knows what to get bigger and more colourful yolked eggs, however they to have a date on them to give you a guide on how old they are. I personally don't trust anything egg producers (not the chickens!)put on eggs. If I have to buy from a grocer or another source I am not too sure about I have my own method to judge the freshness of the egg.

I simply put some cold water in a bowl with enough to cover the egg. Put the egg gently in the water and observe what it does. If the egg lies on its side on the bottom, you won't get an egg much fresher than this as the pocket of air is small. If on the other hand the egg stands up or bobs up slightly it is slightly older due to more air trapped within. Lastly, and you know what is coming now, if the egg floats on the surface store it is not fit for eating due to being rotten. It does have a use however for throwing at politicians.

A small point but quite important. Only use this way of finding out how fresh eggs are just before you intend to use them for as the immersion in water will block up the shell pores and not allow the egg to breathe.