Bad eggs in baking?
I had some eggs that were a couple weeks overdue and I used them in an off-the-shelf cake batter. I've had eggs that past due date before without issues but these were two weeks overdue and I thought they smelled a bit off but I couldn't be sure.
Would anyone know if bad/old eggs in baking would make you sick? The eggs are cooked in the batter so I was hoping that they would still be ok.
Best Answer
The standard test for eggs is to slowly lower your egg(s) in cold water. If it floats, throw it out. The smell test will only identify severely rotten eggs, while the float test will hint at how well the egg will perform as a binder in baking recipes.
If it helps, the FDA standard best-by dates are normally 1 week prior to the use-by (which is the date the food is considered no longer fit to use). The standard use-by date for eggs in the US is 28 days after being laid. After 28 days the chances of bacterial growth within the egg are significant enough that they're not worth using.
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Quick Answer about "Bad eggs in baking?"
What happens if you use old eggs. If you use older eggs, the cakes will not rise as well and pavlovas will be flatter than they should be. Generally, the cakes will still work as long as you get some volume from beating, they just won't be as tall or light-as-air as they should be.What happens if you bake with bad eggs?
If a person has any doubt about whether an egg has gone bad, they should throw it out. The main risk of eating bad eggs is Salmonella infection, which can cause diarrhea, vomiting, and fever.Is it OK to bake with out of date eggs?
Eating expired eggs may be no cause for concern at all. As long as they've been processed, stored, and cooked properly, you likely won't notice any difference after eating eggs that are a few days or weeks past their expiration date.Can you do anything with bad eggs?
You do not have to throw spoiled eggs away. They can still serve a valuable purpose if you use them to make fertilizer and to feed chickens. You read that right. You can feed your expired eggs to your chickens.Bad Eggs (Baking Alert)
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Answer 2
Always trust your nose!
The "best by" date is a useful reference, but it's somewhat arbitrary and may not be consistent among different producers. Eggs might be perfectly safe after that date, but eggs can also go bad well before their "best by" date, if for example, they weren't maintained at the proper temperature.
Eggs can be dangerous, but still smell perfectly fine. However, if your nose detects even the slightest hint of a suspicious odor, it's not worth taking the chance of cooking with them. In addition to the possibility of getting sick, the spoiled egg could ruin the flavor of whatever you are baking.
When shopping for eggs...
... look for the production date code. This three-digit number identifies the day of the year the eggs were packaged. For example, the eggs on the left were packaged on March 14th, and the eggs on the right were packaged on February 19th:
To buy the freshest eggs, simply choose the package with the highest number (until January, when it starts back at 001 again).
Answer 3
Listeria and salmonella are both dead at 160°.
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