I have three egg cartons sitting next to me. I have had all three cartons in the fridge for considerably longer than one should have any egg cartons, but on Saturday, when I came back from the store and put the fourth egg carton in the fridge, I realized things had gone too far. I emptied all the eggs out of these three into the trash on Sunday, but I kept the cartons so that I could take note of the expiration dates.
Jan 5
Oct 18
Jul 23
I don't actually know if that first one was this Jan 5 or last Jan 5. I think, I hope, it was the Jan 5 we just had.
I don't eat eggs alone very often. I bake things with them, which is how I ended up with three cartons of expired eggs in my fridge. Most things I bake only need an egg or two, but once a carton is a month or so expired, I usually give up on it. I would be more casual about using expired eggs except that I had some bad experiences with old eggs the last time I was in Liberia.
Apparently there were worries about avian flu or something not long before I went to Liberia in 2006, so they killed all the chickens. I am basing this completely on rumor that I heard four years ago, so it's very likely that I have it all wrong. And surely I would remember if Liberia were chickenless? I didn't spend that much time on farms while I was there, but a Liberian farm inherently has chickens. So I don't actually know. All I know is that the eggs that were sold in Monrovia tasted weird.
When I asked, someone told me that the eggs were imported from India or Indonesia, I forget which one. (Yes, I know that they are very different and very far from one another. I just remember that it was a country that started with an Ind.) It must have taken a very long time for them to reach Liberia, because again, weird.
To me, the eggs tasted like metal. I could not stomach an omelet made with those eggs (omelets are usually my backup plan in countries/restaurants where it is hard to find vegetarian food; lots of salt makes almost any omelet palatable). I could not even eat the cake we made with those eggs. I could taste the metallic taste through the chocolate (no one else could taste it, though, oddly).
The result is that, while I will merrily throw moldy yogurt or curdled milk into my baked goods, I will not do the same with expired eggs. I know, in my head, that eggs are still good after the date on the carton, but when I think of it, I think of that metallic taste in the ancient eggs in Liberia, and I buy a new carton. And then I add it to the collection of half-empty cartons in my fridge, apparently.
Jan 5
Oct 18
Jul 23
I don't actually know if that first one was this Jan 5 or last Jan 5. I think, I hope, it was the Jan 5 we just had.
I don't eat eggs alone very often. I bake things with them, which is how I ended up with three cartons of expired eggs in my fridge. Most things I bake only need an egg or two, but once a carton is a month or so expired, I usually give up on it. I would be more casual about using expired eggs except that I had some bad experiences with old eggs the last time I was in Liberia.
Apparently there were worries about avian flu or something not long before I went to Liberia in 2006, so they killed all the chickens. I am basing this completely on rumor that I heard four years ago, so it's very likely that I have it all wrong. And surely I would remember if Liberia were chickenless? I didn't spend that much time on farms while I was there, but a Liberian farm inherently has chickens. So I don't actually know. All I know is that the eggs that were sold in Monrovia tasted weird.
When I asked, someone told me that the eggs were imported from India or Indonesia, I forget which one. (Yes, I know that they are very different and very far from one another. I just remember that it was a country that started with an Ind.) It must have taken a very long time for them to reach Liberia, because again, weird.
To me, the eggs tasted like metal. I could not stomach an omelet made with those eggs (omelets are usually my backup plan in countries/restaurants where it is hard to find vegetarian food; lots of salt makes almost any omelet palatable). I could not even eat the cake we made with those eggs. I could taste the metallic taste through the chocolate (no one else could taste it, though, oddly).
The result is that, while I will merrily throw moldy yogurt or curdled milk into my baked goods, I will not do the same with expired eggs. I know, in my head, that eggs are still good after the date on the carton, but when I think of it, I think of that metallic taste in the ancient eggs in Liberia, and I buy a new carton. And then I add it to the collection of half-empty cartons in my fridge, apparently.
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