Should backyard eggs be washed before storage and/or use, and why?

[mike]

I have heard many times that backyard eggs should not be washed before storing or even using them. I always find this pretty interesting, shall we say. We have backyard chickens and use a lot of eggs. I also sell backyard chicken eggs in my store. So, here this is a poll and discussion thread. Do you think that backyard eggs should be washed? Vote, and discuss why or why not.

[RZehr]

Yes. This is America, not Europe.

[silentreader]

I have heard many times that backyard eggs should not be washed before storing or even using them. I always find this pretty interesting, shall we say. We have backyard chickens and use a lot of eggs. I also sell backyard chicken eggs in my store. So, here this is a poll and discussion thread. Do you think that backyard eggs should be washed? Vote, and discuss why or why not.

Not before storing but possibly before use.

[barnhart]

My grandmother never washed them, she didn't refridgerate either. They sat out in the chicken coop in a gallon coffee tin straight through the Georgia summer. When she needed some, she walked out and brought them in.

[mike]

I'm for washing eggs. We wash ours the day they are gathered (unless the kids aren't doing their job). The idea that they last longer in storage if not washed is moot for us, because we put them in the fridge and use them in short order, probably in a week or two max. I have seen where folks never wash them, and I can hardly stomach to eat eggs with chicken manure on them that were cracked on the edge of the pan. This is flat-out disgusting in my opinion.

[mike]

My grandmother never washed them, she didn't refridgerate either. They sat out in the chicken coop in a gallon coffee tin straight through the Georgia summer. When she needed some, she walked out and brought them in.

Eggs have a certain shelf-life without being refrigerated. What I can't understand is why not washing them would extend that shelf life, which is what some people claim.

[wesleyb]

Yes. This is America, not Europe.

I'm curious about what difference you see between America and Europe

Is their climate or distribution system that different?
Are they willing to accept a greater risk of contamination?
Or are you seeing it as a cultural practice that doesn't really need a reason?

[Bootstrap]

I have heard many times that backyard eggs should not be washed before storing or even using them. I always find this pretty interesting, shall we say. We have backyard chickens and use a lot of eggs. I also sell backyard chicken eggs in my store. So, here this is a poll and discussion thread. Do you think that backyard eggs should be washed? Vote, and discuss why or why not.

I always heard that too. The claim was that they stay fresh longer if you do not wash them due to some coating on the eggs. I no longer have chickens, but when I did, I did not wash the eggs before storage unless they ... um ... clearly needed washing.

But I did wash them before using them.

Was that based on science? Well, no. It's what people around me said.

[Soloist]

What we were always told was that if you wash them it will strip the coating. So if you wash, refrigerate.
This is in connection with the fact that commercially they’re washed with bleach to whiten them I believe.
What we always did as well was float test before we cracked them.
That worked pretty well except with goose eggs… float test don’t work on them.

[steve-in-kville]

We always did.

As far as refrigeration, I'm told that the US is the only first-world country that refrigerates eggs. Perhaps someone can verify that?