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This morning I decided to make some eggs. I cracked open the first egg and it just all sort of splashed out onto the pan, the yolk already liquefied and the whites with this yellowish-greenish hue.

Picture of it

I cracked open a second egg to see if the whole carton was like that, and it came out just fine, with white whites and an intact yolk. I still threw it out because that does not look safe to eat.

The carton shows a Best By October 2020, so it's a little out of date but not by much.

What happened here?

Kate Gregory
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Kefka
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    It means you're living a Dr. Seuss story. – GdD Jan 05 '21 at 13:48
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    I've never been a strict adherent to 'best before' dates, always using a bit of judgement as to how long I will keep something, but even I would consider 2 months past best before to be pushing it for eggs, even if refrigerated. – Tetsujin Jan 05 '21 at 15:07
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    I'd rather repeat this exercise, even if the eggs were fresh... – Vickel Jan 05 '21 at 21:42
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    @Tetsujin Pushing it, sure - but eggs do actually keep a long time and the currently only answer is absolutely right in stating that if the eggs smell ok, then they are ok to eat when properly cooked. – Nobody Jan 06 '21 at 01:41
  • related : https://cooking.stackexchange.com/q/109775/67 ; but also worth mentioning that 2 months past the best by date is going to be significantly different if you're in a country that refrigerates eggs or not. – Joe Jan 06 '21 at 16:38
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    `Two months out of date` is not much for canned foods; it's significantly more for fresh foods. – RonJohn Jan 06 '21 at 18:10
  • @Nobody Still, there is not much sense pushing it, unless your finances are very tight. I would rather just get new eggs and try not to leave them so long, this time. – user253751 Jan 06 '21 at 18:31

1 Answers1

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From The Splendid Table:

Older eggs (which are still safe to eat) tend to be more alkaline, which encourages a green reaction similar to that green ring you can get around a hard-cooked egg yolk. The green is harmless, but pretty much inevitable in older eggs.

From Quora:

If the yolk is breaking easily then the eggs are either older eggs or lower grade eggs. The highest grade eggs is AA which not only looks at shell quality, but also the yolk quality. AA eggs should have a tall firm yolk. Over time the yolk becomes less firm and resilient causing breaking when it's cracked. Just because the yolk is breaking doesn't mean the egg is no good, just lower quality.

Conclusion:

As long as the egg doesn't smell, it should be safe to eat, making sure to cook it thoroughly instead of leaving some parts liquid.

Anastasia Zendaya
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    Older eggs becoming more alkine is the result of a natural ammoniac fermentation (which in turn is due to the nitrogen content of the proteins in the egg). The ammoniac fermentation itself is completely harmless and doesn't render the egg inedible. – András Hummer Jan 06 '21 at 14:13