How to check eggs for freshness. Video
Experienced cooks recommend before adding an egg to a dish, break it into a separate bowl to check if it is rotten. However, the smell of rotten eggs still lingers and spoils the rich aroma of cooking. It is possible to determine the freshness of eggs without breaking the shell; there are even several ways for this.
One of the most popular tests for egg freshness is the water test. Pour fresh, cold tap water into a saucepan that is at least the length of an egg, or simply fill the sink with water. Lower the eggs one at a time and watch what happens to them:
– if the eggs settle to the bottom, then they are fresh, they are not more than 2-3 days old; – if the eggs fall to the bottom, but at the same time move up and again settle down, then they are about a week; – eggs sink to the bottom with a sharp tip and balance on it, which means that they are stored for about 2-3 weeks; – if the eggs float on the surface of the water, they are very old and, most likely, have had time to dry out.
This test is one of the oldest, it was first described in cookbooks of the early XNUMXth century.
Very fresh eggs are not suitable for all dishes, for example, for hard-boiled eggs it is better to take products that are more than a week old
Another way to identify a rotten egg requires good hearing. Bring the egg to your ear and shake gently, listen. If something splashes and gurgles inside the egg, then it has gone dry. The sound of a rotten egg will be barely audible. Fresh eggs do not sound when shaken.
Wash the eggshells with water or a fragrance-free detergent and sniff the eggshells. Hydrogen sulfide destroys the egg membrane and penetrates the porous surface of the shell, so you can smell it from rotten eggs.
Eggs go out over time or when bacteria enter through the protective membrane through punctures or cracks, therefore, when choosing eggs, pay attention to the date and check the integrity of their shells. If you bought fresh, whole eggs, you don’t have to worry about them for 1-2 weeks. If you have a lot of chicken eggs and can’t eat them all in a few weeks, freeze them.
How to get rid of the rotten egg smell
If you nevertheless in a hurry broke a rotten egg or the rottenness test did not give results, then you are faced with a problem – how to get rid of the smell. Naturally, food spoiled by a rotten egg will have to be thrown away. Open the windows in the kitchen to create air circulation.
In a saucepan on the stove, put boiling water with vinegar, put 100 teaspoon of vinegar in 1 ml of water, you can also add any essential oils with a pleasant smell, especially lemon or orange essential oil. Put spices in the water – cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves. The smell of vinegar will soon disappear along with the smell of hydrogen, and the smell of spices will return comfort to your kitchen.