I’m a homestead farmer. When we collect eggs my wife puts the cracked eggs in the fridge and leaves the intact eggs on the counter. I eat the cracked eggs from the fridge first. The pellicle, the dried mucus on the outside of the egg, protects the egg against infection. When the shell is cracked the pellicle is broken and infection can get inside the egg. As long as they are eaten quickly they are relatively safe but they go bad quickly.
Because store bought eggs with cracks in them are more likely to carry salmonella and other bacteria. The shell and membrane are the egg’s lines of defense against contaminants. So if the shell is cracked bacteria can get inside it. And the longer a cracked egg sits there, the more time the bacteria has to breed like crazy. Which in turn can make us sick with food poisoning if we eat a contaminated egg. I hope this helps!
Edit: better word choice.
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