How to cook your eggs every way
Whether it’s scrambled, over easy or poached, here’s how to cook your perfect egg.
Don’t go serving egg-spired food this summer. (Sorry.)
Egg salad, deviled eggs and hard-boiled eggs are all popular picnic, cookout and potluck dishes. But while egg-based dishes can make a tasty addition to your menu, they can also spell disaster if not refrigerated properly.
Foodborne illnesses can spike in the summer months, especially given the higher temperatures and rise in outdoor dining at picnics and cookouts. So experts say this time of year is one that requires consumers to pay extra attention to storing their food.
“The warmer weather makes bacteria that cause foodborne illness multiply faster, and if these bacteria have time to multiply, they can reach dangerous levels and produce heat-resistant toxins that then won’t be killed by cooking,” says Meredith Carothers, MPH, a public affairs specialist on the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) food safety education team. “Therefore, it’s very important to handle food safely in warmer weather.”
Here’s how to make sure your food remains at safe temperatures, according to food safety egg-sperts. (Sorry again.)
How long do boiled eggs last in fridge?
As a rule of thumb, hard-boiled eggs should be consumed within a week, Carothers says.
While uncooked eggs usually last in the fridge for longer, the process of hard-cooking eggs creates a thin layer of water between the cooked egg and the shell, which becomes an inviting environment for bacteria to grow, including the kinds of bacteria that lead an egg to spoil, per the USDA.
After initially preparing hard-boiled eggs, they should be put in the refrigerator within two hours; food at room temperature for longer than that runs the risk of growing bacteria that causes foodborne illness. Keeping anything prepped for consumption at a later time should remain safely behind refrigerator doors at 40 degrees Fahrenheit or cooler.
How to tell if they’ve gone bad? There’s a reason “rotten egg” is a catch-all description for anything that smells horrible. If an egg has gone bad, you’ll likely be able to tell.
“Spoiled foods will develop an off odor, flavor or texture due to naturally occurring spoilage bacteria,” Carothers says. If that’s the case, “it should not be eaten.”
Do hard-boiled eggs last longer peeled or unpeeled?
Hard-boiled eggs can safely be stored in the refrigerator peeled or unpeeled, Carothers says. Either way, they shouldn’t be eaten after a week of cooking them to be safe.
