The bacteria can be inside the shell, so even if you wash the egg or soft-cook it, you could get sick if it's undercooked. The eggs can be missing the whole shell or just part of it, but the membrane is still intact. Always cook fried eggs to well done, cook scrambled eggs until they are 165 F, and cook hard-cooked eggs until they are completely firm. Poached eggs - 5 minutes over boiling water. Dirty eggs can be a health hazard if they are not handled correctly. Soft Shell/No Shell Eggs. Fried eggs - cook 2 to 3 minutes on each side, 4 minutes in a covered pan. The ideal temperature for the solution is 105°F for washing and rinsing. And always refrigerate cooked eggs. A washing solution colder than the egg could cause the contents of the egg to contract, so drawing polluted water in through the shell (hence the USDA’s … Why water or damp wet your eggs when the “Bloom” is there coating and sealing the porous egg shell. “Sandpaper” can clean the surface and not hurt the bloom in the pores. Young hens coming into lay for the first time might lay a shell-less egg or two. I prefer not to wash my eggs unless they are noticeably dirty because when a hen lays an egg, she coats it with a natural “bloom” to seal the shell from dirt and bacteria. Cooling the eggs causes the contents to shrink, which creates a vacuum inside the egg. Soft shell eggs are caused by a calcium deficiency in the hen. This is also how the eggs stays fresh while the hen lays enough eggs to get a clutch to hatch. Bloom, like water will saturate a egg shell pores not just coat the egg surface. Since eggs automatically have something called a “bloom,” which is a natural coating on the shell that helps keep out bacteria, washing them for your own use isn’t really necessary (unless they’re super dirty). The bloom protects the chick inside from bacteria entering the egg and killing it. Here’s common abnormal eggs your chicken might lay, and what they mean. The American Egg Board recommends frying, scrambling or poaching eggs until both the yolk and the white are firm. Eddie Hatricks famous "dirty eggs" menu: all eggs are served from the top position. Washing dirty eggs removes the bloom and invites bacteria to be drawn inside the egg. Scrambled eggs - cook until firm throughout. It can be unnerving (and kind of cool) the first time you see chicken eggs without their shell. 1. Shell-less Eggs. After dying on a clean surface the eggs should only be handled with clean hands. Collect eggs … Not saying anyone is wrong here, just food for thought. They are also much easier to break than regular eggs and many times will rupture all over the nest box the very next time a hen gets in to lay her egg. When eggs are laid, there is a protective covering called the bloom on the outside of the shell. When we wash off this bloom, we reduce the storage life of the egg (store washed eggs only in the refrigerator!) While finding this water-balloon type of egg can be alarming, it doesn’t necessarily indicate any major health problems. In mature hens, it’s also not uncommon to find a shell-less egg under the roost. Soft-cooked eggs - 7 minutes in the shell in boiling water. Egg shells are naturally porous to allow for an exchange of oxygen as the chick grows. Putting soap or bleach on a porous egg shell with the egg (your food) inside it is not the same as putting soap on a dish, rinsing the soap off, then putting food on it later. This is what pulls the contaminated material inside the shell. I give my chickens eggshells as a calcium supplement and rarely have a soft shelled egg. Thats the whole idea behind it, longer storage with protection.