h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

i want to make some s but am unsure about the eggs i have, the label on the box tells me that they are "best before 7th August"

If I remember rightly, you put them in water and if they float (blunt end up) they're dubious because of a build-up of gas inside the egg. You could then crack them into a bowl and use your nose to double check (pee-yew). I've used eggs that were floaters but didn't smell bad and I'm still here to tell the tale.

You might be pushing it with an August 7th best-by date, but I've had an open carton of milk (or was it orange juice?) that didn't go bad for almost two months. And best-by is a bit more flexible than use-by.

they didnt float and are now in mt mixture and in the oven cooking!

If the egg is hanging around with a bad crowd, taking drugs, violating curfew, vandalizing property, spending its time online reading p*rn, you can be sure it has gone bad.

Otherwise, try Gosho's crack-n-sniff method.

thanks happynerd. the eggs in question did not float nor smell, hopefully the cakes are fit for human consumption, i should know in about ten more minutes.

Why are you baking a at 5.30am, if you don't mind me asking?

i cant sleep! mt sleeping pattern has gone all nocturnal on me! there was hardly anybody else on here to talk to, and for some reason my tv is giving audio and no visual.

eggs keep pretty well - the best before date (AFAIK) is four weeks after they were laid. eggs at this older age are probably best for cakes; what has deteriorated tends to be the white, which is waterier in older eggs - so not quite so good for poaching or frying.

In the last couple of years having used many hundreds of eggs making cakes and muffins I've only experienced one bad egg. If I'd followed Gosho's suggestion it wouldn't have been a disaster, though it can be a little time-consuming if you are baking much. As it was it was the fifteenth egg in the bowl Since this egg was in a box well before the best before date it was back to the shop and money back. If an egg is bad you can't mistake it...

Hope the is nice.