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Q: egg, ji dan, 鸡蛋
To refrigerate or not to refrigerate? That is the question.
Ok, I just got home after being out of the country about three weeks and I have a few eggs sitting in their basket on the kitchen counter asking me why they don't deserve to be made into a yummy Cheese Omelette too...
So, what's the consensus around here regarding whether or not it's safe to eat eggs that have spent their time the Chinese way, that is.... unrefrigerated.
I do this... Fill water in the jar, drop the eggs in them... If they float ; through them out right away, IF they lay down at the bottom of the jar horizontally (they are good for a week more), vertically (use them the same day) they might be good enough to be used, break them and smell it. If nothing smells funny... you can probably eat them.
On the shelf I have no idea, though once I ate few eggs from the refrigerator which were almost a month old... after doing this process obviously, and I didn't die or fell sick...
diverdude1:
cool,, I'll give that a try. I had no idea eggs had so much in common with Witches! 
When in doubt throw it out, just go to the store with ten kuai and buy some new eggs. It's not worth the risk of getting sick.
diverdude1:
good advice and honestly that is what I do 90% of the time, throw out left-overs I feel iffy about.
I was really just trying to get to the refrigerate or not question though. Seems common to refrigerate eggs in the US, but I think probably most of the world doesn't. So, I guess there is an applicable shelf-life on shell eggs?
I do this... Fill water in the jar, drop the eggs in them... If they float ; through them out right away, IF they lay down at the bottom of the jar horizontally (they are good for a week more), vertically (use them the same day) they might be good enough to be used, break them and smell it. If nothing smells funny... you can probably eat them.
On the shelf I have no idea, though once I ate few eggs from the refrigerator which were almost a month old... after doing this process obviously, and I didn't die or fell sick...
diverdude1:
cool,, I'll give that a try. I had no idea eggs had so much in common with Witches!
Go to the source:
http://www.eggs.ca/eggs101/view/39/egg-storage-freshness-and-food-safety
Or: http://www.eatbydate.com/eggs-shelf-life-expiration-date/
diverdude1:
haha,,, I'm too lazy to study about eggs. darn, I miss the SZ days when I ate out (or home delivery) every meal! this cooking at home blows!
Sinobear:
I have the same problem...great ideas for home cooking that get put off...too much of something or not enough.
If you're lucky, maybe you'll get the fake eggs and don't have to worry about it anyway.
Why not just look at the use-by date?? 
diverdude1:
haha,,, mine usually disappear in just a few days... it was just this being out of the country that gave me this new set of variables to consider.
It's very simple:
Eat the eggs. If you get violently sick then it means they did, in fact, go bad.
(But really, 3 weeks old un-refrigerated Chinese eggs? Do you have a death wish? Even in Europe I don't eat eggs that stay in my fridge for more than two weeks)
diverdude1:
haha,,, that's kinda really been my philosophy living in E/SE Asia these past 12+ years.... eat whatever and take my chances. I'll never forget the old dude/dudettes telling me about eating grass an tree-bark an the bugs 'n rats that were left-over after the rice harvest. Bet they would've loved to get their hands on these eggs....
I'll never get used to seeing unrefrigerated eggs at the supermarket. It just seems so wrong. The Chinese seem averse to using the refrigerator for much of anything. I put almost everything in the fridge, even bread.
Shining_brow:
Oh no, they use the refrigerator.. they just don't turn it on! :p
I'm just posting this as an experiment to see if I can get a .gif working on here.
*apologies to ecc
diverdude1:
agreed. one of the best websites there is for wasting time. I honestly try not to click on it much. sidenote: was 'just hanging around' real?? if so, that ranks First Place with a Gold Star for Beyond Stoopidist thing I've ever seen. kid redefines Dumb~
Eggs have a natural coating called bloom, which is the egg's natural protective layer. When washing destroys the protective layer, the eggs can easily spoil. This is why it is necessary to store them in the refrigerator. Here is information about the shelf life of eggs. https://gobadtips.com/how-long-do-eggs-last/
