Sep 18, 2008
And Now A Word From The Old Farmer’s Almanac.
It’s been a while since Bossy checked-in with her friends over at The Old Farmer’s Almanac offices in Dublin New Hampshire.
As you can see, there have been quite a few changes since Bossy’s last visit. For one thing, the wind is blowing south! For another: a Suburu Outback!
Despite all of this excitement, The Old Farmer’s Almanac still managed to issue their Question and Answer of the Day:
- Q: How can I tell if an egg is fresh?
- A: In water, a fresh egg will rest flat on its side at the bottom of the pan. A stale egg will stand up on the broad end. If the egg floats, it’s most likely spoiled.
Although Bossy would argue there’s another way to tell if an egg is fresh:
Cook it up and eat it. If it tastes like dirty socks, it’s spoiled.
Wouldnt one know IMMEDIATLEY UPON CRACKING IT OPEN? That’s the plan I’ve been going with all these years!!
Hallie
Last year my husband started to eat a hard boiled egg that had gone bad in our fridge. I greeted his dismay with a bark of laughter. He was not amused.
But have you ever seen the look on someone’s face right after they’ve bitten into a rotten egg? Priceless!
I thought eggs lasted forever. They seem to in my life. In Mexico they don’t even refrigerate them. Those are some tough-ass eggs.
When I was a kid, my mom broke a rotten egg into a frying pan. We could tell IMMEDIATELY. We ran from the room gagging from the smell!
Hey the Almanac webcam shows lots of activity at 9:40am!
Broke open a Rotten Egg. Stink. Oh the Stink. Dared my brother to eat it. He did. He said it tasted like Hot Trash.
Later on in life I bet this guy I worked with that he couldn’t eat a Tablespoon of Wasabi.
That was a fun one.
Thank the Lord for Bossy and all her infinite wisdom. She keeps us from having to ask the googles how to find the farmer’s almanac.
This reminds me of when my mother-in-law moved and shipped us a bunch of things she thought my husband might want to keep, including some egg shells she had beautifully dyed one easter when my husband was a boy. Knowing that my MIL was very Martha Stewarty, I assumed that, like Martha, she stuck a needle in the top and bottom of the shells and gently blew out the yolks before dyeing them. But no. She died raw eggs. And kept them for more than 20 years. And then she mailed them to us. And then one of them broke. Ever smelled 20+ year old eggs?
Well, we’ve kept eggs in the fridge for literally WEEKS that were still good when we finally ate them. So I don’t think many people need to even worry about whether or not their eggs are going bad.
I once smoked weed that smelled like dirty socks.
IT WAS AWESOME.
Cooking geek that I am, I actually know WHY eggs do this…. so I have to share with you just so you don’t lose any sleep over wondering (yes, I know I’m projecting). Eggshells are slightly porous. Over time, the moisture in an egg evaporates. When the egg ages, the moisture content goes down, and it develops an air pocket. Once the shell has an air pocket in it, an end tends to want to float to the surface (air being lighter than water and all). The older the egg, the more air (and less moisture) it contains. The more air, the more it floats. A floating egg doesn’t conclusively PROVE that it’s rotten – just that it’s been around SO long that it has enough air in it to float… and if it’s been around that long, yes, it probably is rotten. It takes a good few weeks to develop an air pocket – so most of the time you never need to worry. Incidentally, eggs a few weeks old make the best boiled eggs – that bit of air in the eggshell makes peeling it about a billion times easier (after you’re done cooking it, crack the shell and leave it in cold water a few minutes. Water re-enters the shell through the cracks between the shell and egg and allows for really easy peeling afterward). Now you know more than you probably ever wanted to about eggs
PS: I’ll understand if you have to ban me from posting comments from now on.
…Yeah, nothing beats a fresh egg. They’re best when you get ‘em right outta the chicken…lol… ;o)
…Wanna meet my peeps? Here’s a link:
http://humbleorigins.blogspot.com/2008/06/hangin-with-my-peeps.html
…Love the Farmer’s Almanac – they’re one of my fav’ reads…
…Blessings…
)
I don’t trust that test. That’s the test for a witch, too, isn’t it? This feels somehow dangerous to women–eggs, witches, sinking. I can’t nab it, but be careful!
You know how an ostrich egg shell is so strong that it can support the weight of an adult human, unless it can’t and it’s rotten?
Really funny if you’re upwind.
Wow. Weird. I just Googled this same question last night when I read the “sell by” date on my carton was Sep 12.
Dirty socks for breakfast… tempting…
Another way to tell if your eggs are spoiled…your dog runs from the room the minute you crack one of those bad boys into a frying pan.
I’m not sure that is a fool-proof litmus test. I’ve cooked some eggs that tasted like dirty socks and they were plenty fresh.
HOT TRASH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thats a brother for ya!!
LAugh
My
Ass
off on that one!
Lisa
coastal nest
What would we do without the Old Farmer’s Almanac?
I’ve decided to believe them (this year) because they’re claiming I’ll have a mild winter.
They know everything, those Farmer’s Almanac people.
What does the egg do in a bowl of gin?
I just checked the webcam, and there were eight (count ‘em, eight) cars parked out front.
Hmmm. How can you tell if a child is spoiled? Same way? That’s what I thought.
Wow Bossy, I just checked in on the Old F.A. webcam. It looks like NIGHT time is the RIGHT time there. A whole ROW of cars, plus a motorcycle.
I love the almanac now if they could only make winter go away… I heard Western New York is going to have a cold one….makes me cringe..when I think of our heat bills.. Good information regarding the eggs..
Dorothy from grammology
“that girl” made me snort laughing.
Ask the Googles…………..that’s my new phrase for the week….maybe the month Thanks Pamela!
Has Bossy Black Boxed yet btw???? Enquiring minds…………..
I knew bad eggs floated, but I didn’t know about the broad end standing. lol
I grew up on a ranch, and I will never forget cracking open an egg to find it had a partially formed baby chick inside. That was unusual. And not cool. SO not cool.
I stopped eating eggs for a while.
Dirty socks? We’re grossed out. Plah.
Dirty Socks. Hot Trash. Blech!
Yay! I love OFA and egg trivia! (Warning: even nerdier confession comming) When I was a 4-Her I was on the poultry knowledge bowl team. We spent months after school learning tons of random facts about all sorts of fowl and then went to compititions to test our knowledge. We won the region, state and even national contests. I was a poultry PIMP! LOL! Worse yet (?) I still volunteer to help coach the team.
Check out my new blog
http://sunshineonmytoes.blogspot.com/
No dorky chicken trvia there (yet!)