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I like to hard boil eggs because they are one of very few foods that help when my sugar levels are too low.

But now Im a little paranoid. The other week I read online that if you take an egg out of the refrigerator and shake it, if you can feel stuff moving around inside then its not safe to eat.

I just did that with all 12 eggs I have and according to what I read, they're all bad.

But the usedby date on the carton says 21 August. So, are they safe to eat? How else can I determine if they are safe to eat without cracking the shell and without boiling it first?

Ching Chong
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jay_t55
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    Aeron, I would question the original thing you read. were there any references to research? – Jennifer S Jul 15 '14 at 19:19
  • I dare to say that you can always feel the yolk moving around if you just shake hard enough... (eggs, which contain hardly any sugar, help against low sugar levels?). – SAnderka Jul 15 '14 at 19:21
  • Nah, but I just asked a friend too and he said the same thing but he said it could also be a myth. I cant even find the page I read it on anymore. – jay_t55 Jul 15 '14 at 19:21
  • @SAnderka I have Hypoglycemia but eggs contain carbs and are oretty high in protein which helps hypo episodes alot (for me, at least). Unless I've been misdiagnosed, again. – jay_t55 Jul 15 '14 at 19:23
  • @Aeron A large egg contains less than one gram of carbohydrates, so I don't see how it could raise your blood sugar much. A glass of milk, juice, or anything sugary would do so much faster. Perhaps the protein content of eggs has some beneficial effect on your metabolism that smooths out the hypoglycemia, but I seriously doubt it has anything to do with the carb content. – Carey Gregory Jul 19 '14 at 00:36
  • Thanks Carey, there is a lot of mis-information about Hypoglycemia. There is one thing though that I have found and also have heard by others is that protein helps Hypoglycemia alot. I still haven't ruled out a mis-diagnosis, so I don't want people reading this to just assume this will fix everything. – jay_t55 Jul 19 '14 at 02:09
  • Good lord, why are we questioning what the OP said about their medical condition? This is SE about cooking, not armchair MD's. Answer the question. That's it. – MarsJarsGuitars-n-Chars May 13 '18 at 14:03

2 Answers2

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I have heard it stated before, but here it is from various sources:

Source 1

Source 2 (confirms the shake test)

Source 3

In general, the air pocket in an egg gets bigger as it gets older due to the permeability of the shell. I think the shake test is a little hinky, unless it actually sounds like water sloshing. I would try the float test; fill a bowl to twice the height of the egg, and place it in. If it sinks to its side, it's fresh. If it stands on its end, it's probably good, but needs to be used quickly. If it floats, toss it.

JSM
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    None of those sources are authoritative. They're all just repeating the same test for telling whether an egg has passed some arbitrary point of freshness - if it fails, it means it's not fresh, not that it's not safe. – Cascabel Sep 15 '14 at 20:15
  • @Jefromi that's the best you are likely to get. The only other info I can find online is that the USDA recommends you not keep refrigerated eggs longer than five weeks. I gave the best answer available with the best information you can find on google. If an egg is of questionable freshness, it should be tossed. The question specifically asked if they are safe to eat, and being 'arbitrarily fresh' implies that they probably are. – JSM Sep 15 '14 at 21:29
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    It's not quite that simple. It's possible to get eggs that fail this test but are still before the expiration date - they've just dried out quickly. Those eggs are still safe. – Cascabel Sep 15 '14 at 21:35
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    Given that I raised chickens for a couple of decades, here's my take on it: if you try to float an egg and it touches bottom at all, it's safe. If it doesn't touch bottom, even if it only barely breaks the surface, I'd throw it out. You might end up turfing out an occasional safe one, but chances are good that it would not have been the best tasting (or smelling) egg anyway. – Shalryn May 18 '17 at 22:31
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It means they are not extra fresh, so they have to be cooked long enough. Raw or soft-boiled eggs need to be extra fresh, but hard-boiling them is just fine if they are not !

When an egg gets old (only a few days old actually), the white part tends to loosen itself (you can break a fresh egg and an old egg and see for yourself), so the yellow part can move more freely ; that's why you can feel it when you shake it.

nathou
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    Why do raw or soft-boiled eggs need to be extra fresh? As long as eggs have been stored properly and aren't spoiled, I would feel comfortable cooking them by any method. – Carey Gregory Jul 19 '14 at 00:40
  • In general, the more old eggs are, the more they have to be cooked. The risk of salmonella and other bacteria gets higher when the egg gets older, and the only way to get rid of these potential bacteria is to cook the egg completely. – nathou Jul 19 '14 at 11:55
  • Storing them properly can slow down the process, but if bacteria are present they will spread eventually. – nathou Jul 19 '14 at 12:01
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    If bacteria such as salmonella have grown to the point that the egg is dangerous, then no amount of cooking will make it safe because cooking does not destroy the toxins they produce. You'd need to show me a citation if you believe otherwise. – Carey Gregory Jul 19 '14 at 16:33
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    "Thorough cooking kills the bacteria" : http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/salmonella-faqs-1.774707. The FDA also advises to cook thoroughly to kill the bacteria (in addition to proper handling and storing of course) and seems to say that eggs are safe this way : http://www.fda.gov/food/resourcesforyou/Consumers/ucm077342.htm. Seems like the toxins they produce are not enough to make you sick. – nathou Jul 20 '14 at 16:51
  • By the way, I just updated my answer because the explanation was the other way around. But the consequences (feel something moving -> the egg is not extra fresh anymore) are still the same. – nathou Jul 20 '14 at 17:06