OK, I'm feeling a little bit stupid about this. I'm talking about eggs. [View all]

[Abolishinist]

When I arrived home this evening, my wife had left a rather non-discrete carton on that little portion of our dining table where my 'transactions' for the day are placed... i.e. letters, bills, flyers etc.

Upon opening up the carton, to my surprise I found six eggs. They were unique as well, as there were two light blue ones, two somewhat tan ones, and two off-white ones.

She explained that a friend has several hens, and that he gave her the eggs. As it turns out, these were from three different hens. So far so good, wonderful in fact.

But here's the crux of my post... I asked "why didn't you put them in the refrigerator, they'll spoil being left out". To which she responded "they haven't been washed, so it's OK".

I must say I had not heard of this. When I buy eggs, the first thing I do is to put them in the fridge. So of course I googled this, and found the following...

https://www.fresheggsdaily.blog/2015/09/do-i-have-to-refrigerate-my-fresh-eggs.html

Apparently eggs are fine at room temperature, which makes sense when you think of a chickens laying eggs in the 16th century prior to cold storage. The reason they need refrigeration, which seems to be more of an American thing, is the washing of the egg.

I understand that many reading this will say "Duh, I knew this". But I must say I never knew.

Is there anyone else out there like me, or is this more or less common knowledge?