How To Tell If An Egg Is Good

Last week I was making cakes with one of my children. We had already cracked two eggs into the mixing bowl and were just adding the third when I realized that – horrors! – the egg was bad!

I had just broken one of my own golden rules in the kitchen – NEVER crack eggs straight into a bowl of ingredients, because if the egg is bad, then ALL of the ingredients are ruined. Instead, crack them into a separate, small bowl first.

But there’s actually a way to tell whether or not an egg is likely to be bad before you even open it… and if you (like us) have ever opened a rotten egg, then you’ll appreciate that the sight and smell of it are two experiences worth avoiding!

So here’s how to tell if an egg is good…

Simply place the egg into a bowl of cold water.

If the egg sinks to the bottom of the bowl and comes to rest lying on its side, then it is perfectly fresh and good to use.

If the egg floats around at the top of the bowl, then it is bad and should be discarded. It’s floating because the air pocket inside it – which is small in a fresh egg – has grown larger as the egg has aged and lost moisture.

But what if the egg sinks to the bottom, but is still somewhat upright instead of lying on its side?

Well, that’s an indication that – whilst not bad – the egg isn’t one hundred percent fresh either. It should still be absolutely fine to eat (as soon as possible).

The procedure in our house (when we remember to do the test at all!) is to have a good sniff and make sure that we can’t detect any hint of a bad odour. If there’s any doubt – throw it out… and it may be advisable to only use eggs that have passed the floating test with flying colours in your homemade baby food recipes, just to be on the safe side!

Yummy baby food recipes with eggs