Keeping bread in the fridge

parker kent

A long list of different opinions on eggs in the fridge!

Should eggs be stored the fridge? Although fridges come with an egg tray, I read somewhere that putting eggs into the fridge actually makes them degenerate quicker - something to do with the cold and pressure change encouraging air into the shell. Can anyone enlighten me?
Neil Storer, London, UK

My microbiology lecturer at university was quite anti egg refrigeration. He claimed that if the egg was cracked into a frying pan straight from the fridge and cooked until it looked OK, the yolk would only be blood warm and since the yolks at that time were sometimes contaminated by salmonella, this could be harmful.
C Partridge, Manchester UK

Eggs will last longer in the fridge, provided you don't put them in the door. The cold does make them last, but constant changes in temperature can make them go off quicker. They should be kept nearer the back of the fridge, where the temperature is more constant. For cooking, its better to use room temperature eggs, so get them out in good time.
Lizzie, London

I don''t know about degeneration but I know that the yolks of refrigerated eggs are more likely to break when you put them in the frying pan as the change in temperature is more severe.
James Hamling, London England

I don't know about whether they degenerate quicker in the fridge, but it does make them more difficult to cook. A 3 minute egg for example, is cooked for three minutes providing that the egg starts at room temperature. If it has been kept in the fridge, a 3 minute egg would turn out to be far too runny.
Seth, Edinburgh Scotland

Eggs should be stored in the fridge. They are not stored in the fridge in shops because they would amass condensation on your way home and this is what will encourage contamination through the shell.
John Davis, Otley West Yorkshire

How do you like your eggs? Well, how you store them makes a difference. Eggs left out on the counter don't last very long (a couple of weeks if kept cool), but they maintain a fairly high level of quality until they "go off". Eggs stored in the refirgerator remain edible for a long time, but the quality deteriorates quite quickly. And frozen eggs are edible for years after they are laid, but you might as well eat shoe leather!
Paul, Minneapolis USA

Eggs should be kept in a fridge as they need a constant temperature. The fridge is the only place in the kitchen that you can guarantee this. If you can maintain a constant temperature elsewhere in the kitchen then you could keep the eggs there.
Chris, Oxford UK

Wherever the supermarket/corner store had the eggs stored when you bought them is the best place to store them when you get home, they obviously know how to store food. Most supermarkets I've been in have eggs stored in a fridge/chiller.
Gary Byrne, Dublin Ireland

I have used supermarkets in many parts of the world and have yet to see one where the eggs are stocked in a chilled condition. My tour of Ireland occurred in 1993 so I have forgotten my experience there.
Jack Hill, St Albans England

If the same-temperature rule applies, then I would suggest they are stored at room temperature. I know of no major supermarket chain in the UK that displays eggs in a chiller.
Harry Winckworth, Swindon UK

I've also used supermarkets in a number of countries. Some chill the eggs, some do not.
Kevin, Fort Collins, Colorado USA

A recent TV program gave a chef's reason for NOT keeping them in a fridge was because egg shells are porous, and the eggs would absorb food smells from the fridge contents
john cammish, london UK

Eggs have to be stored at less than 20 degrees centigrade. Most supermarkets keep their selling space well below this temperature. However, at home, the easiest way to do this is to keeps the eggs in the fridge.
john dumbrell, Rilhac Treignac, France

An egg kept in the fridge is more likely to "go off" as the porous shell will allow water to be absorbed. I have been led to believe that it is this water absorbtion that actually makes the egg inedible.
Dom, Cirencester, UK

If you buy your eggs in small quantities (half dozen say) at a time then the argument as to where to store them doesn't arise. We get through 1/2 doz a week and keep them out of the fridge.
Bill Peach, Newark, Notts

Really confused now - In the fridge or out?
Liz Forgione, Blackpool

It's all about personal preference as there seems to be no definitive answer. The best advice as already stated, is to buy what you need for each week rather than bulk buying for long storage.
Jay Scott, Blackpool, UK

All perishable foods will store for appreciably longer times in a refrigerator than at room temperature in a kitchen where surface temperatures may exceed 25*C. Whilst a chilled egg will take 5.5minutes to boil, if you do a test to determine comparative shelf life to fully bad state, you will find that the relationship is an inversely proportional line some eggs surviving bacteria free for 4 months. Bacteria cannot penetrate the membrane inside the shell it forms a total barrier to even viruses, this is how viruses in germ warfare are incubated and preserved; if it can't get out, then it also can't get in. This tale of condensation and moisture is all a damned good yarn but only that. When broken into a pan a fresh egg has good elasticity in the albumen and it should stand like a lens in the pan, a flattened egg has deteriorated and aged, and this room temperature stored egg will not produce the same fresh moussed effects as a fresh or refrigerated egg. The best part of boiling a refrigerated egg is that your time to a perfect boiled egg will be very consistent, a room temperature egg has a variable starting point and that is bad for timings. In conclusion refrigeration is all advantage, it may be possible that egg producers are the only ones to gain from room temperature storage as eggs go bad in about 2 weeks at 25 degrees centigrade, in a frig at 7 degrees they will last a minimum of a month. In tests not one egg was bad in 4 weeks under refrigeration. All chemical reactions double in rate for every 10 degree rise in temperature, so 20 degrees above fridge temperature represents 4 times the rate of rotting. All eggs are liable to internal contamination as the last part to form is the outer skin.
Bill Wright, Scarborough, North Yorkshire, UK

What about if you have your own chickens, and the eggs are fresh? Where then? Presently I keep them out of the fridge. Really fresh eggs don't make good boiled eggs as they are hard to peel, so should I want to set some eggs aside to age for a week, where should I keep those?
Heather Ransom, Bolton, UK

Always buy fresh, free-range and,if your budget can stretch to it, organic eggs in small quantities. Keep them out of the fridge and test for freshness by popping them into a glass of water before you cook them. If they sink,they are still fresh. If they float, they're off. This is because the air pocket inside gets bigger as the egg deteriorates. My Dad was brought up on a farm and this was their standard way of checking egg freshness.
Jackie Hamill, Birmingham, UK

I worked as a chef for many years and had large amounts of eggs and they were always in the store room not a fridge. If you fridge them they will spit at you when frying them. Happy days.
Ken Malin, Blackpool, Lancashire

I don't know anything about egg storage. I'm just astonished that people from the UK talk about whether you should keep eggs in the chiller. In the UK, room temperature is the same temperature as the chiller! ;-)
Tony Martin, Melbourne Australia

I bought 120 eggs from the supermarket where the eggs were stored on the shelf. 40 of them were off. So now wondering where I keep my normal supply (this was for a birthday party brunch). More confused than ever, as been led to believe they stay out of the fridge. Will buy less, leave out and use quickly. Interesting. Thanks.
Coral Sands, Auckland, New Zealand

We've always stored eggs in a porcelain chicken on the worktop. When there's only one or two left, its topped up with another half dozen, not taking any notice of old from new. We may just be extremely lucky but in 50 years of marriage we've never experienced having a bad one. Our eggs come from various stores, shops or farms and always taste good. ps: We've lived in Spain for several years and they are equally good in all this heat.
P Kelly, Los Gallardos, Spain

I suggest the loft for the perfect egg storing space and temperature , trust me its worth the effort
Alex Mcluskie, Northchurch, UK

i worked on an egg producing farm for 5 years. There were 50,000 birds there and not at any time were any eggs stored in a fridge,we once stored some in an open sided barn on pallets of 9 boxes each box with 30 dozen in for 6 weeks in the middle of summer but they were in the shade and we turned them upside down each week. Egg yolks gradually move in the white until they touch the inner membrane that is when they go bad so turning them stops them reaching the shell.
vaughan james, birmingham great britain

A bad egg is one that has been contaminated with bacteria. Hens lay eggs and the embryonic chicks develop perfectly satisfactorily over a period of 21 days. i.e. Little bacteria gets into the egg, even with an incubation temperature higher than room temperature while the hen sits on it. One can conclude that eggshells will maintain integrity in room temperature for at least 21 days. However, at low temperatures (say, in a fridge), the outer mucoprotein cuticle (which behaves like wax) covering the shell dries and shrinks, exposing the some 17,000 pores in the calcium carbonate shell. This increases the probability of bacterial contamination but only, according to academics, by about 5%. As the cuticle is soluble in water, you shouldn't wash eggs before storage either. By far the largest contributing factor, however, is the number of bacteria that has access to the egg and, contrary to belief, there is still a large number of bacteria in the fridge. In summary, keeping the fridge clean, or eggs in their box, or a clean porcelain chicken (love it!) is by far the best strategy.
Andy P, London UK

I have always kept my eggs in the fridge, never had a problem!
rob bierd, birmingham united kingdom

I have lived in the states most of my life and we have always kept our eggs in the fridge and my family has never had a problem with eggs. Our stores do not keep eggs out either. They are all stored in a chilled shelving unit that also stores cheese and other items that should be refrigerated. I've never had a rotten egg from a refrigerator but I have had plenty that were bad that had been left out.
Wynter Bradbury, Luray United States

Which came first? The chicken or the egg or the fridge?
JT, North Shore Hawaii

http://www.guardian.co.uk/notesandqueries/query/0,5753,-26086,00.html

Jev/N

deuceswild wrote: »

Ketchup and mayo do go in the fridge

Simples

Enough salt, sugar and vinegar in Ketchup which would keep it from going bad so you don't need it in the fridge. Plus, I hate cold ketchup!

mconigol

gman2k wrote: »

A baker I knew once told me that fridges actually dry out the bread, that's why it goes off quicker. His advice - don't store bread in a fridge if you want it to taste nice.

Re American food lasting longer, it's because of irradiation. I've seen a gallon bottle of milk that was in someones fridge for over a month, still hadn't turned.....

That's UHT milk. But nobody drinks that cause it's ****e......!

Latchy

I buy several loaves of bread a week and always put one or two in freezer until needed through the week . If I need some slices in a hurry and still frozen , a quick thaw out in microwave or toaster and it tastes just fine .

starbelgrade

mayobumblebee wrote: »

my fella insists on salt being kept in fridge - he is convinced it keeps it from clumping so it lives in the fridge.

:eek:

Cellygirl

Bleurgh. Bread from the fridge is vile. Horrible cold hard slimy stuff.

Sandwiches made with bread from the fridge are awful, no taste, all you can taste is the cold.

Bread should be kept in a press/breadbin. Putting it in the fridge is just plain wrong.

Buy half loaves. Eat the fresh bread for the first couple of days. When it starts to go off, toast the bread.

I'm always suspicious of people who put their bread in the fridge. It's weird and wrong. Stop it!

robp

Bread belongs in the freezer. A brief 10 seconds in a microwave and it gains a near bakery quality. Job done.

My name is URL

deuceswild wrote: »

Bread goes in a bread bin

Eggs dont go in the fridge

Ketchup and mayo do go in the fridge

Simples

Why? I've never known red sauce to go bad.. ever.

It tastes just as bad whether it's been open for 1 day or 1000 days.

dermiek

Take slice of bread from bread bin. Put on plate.
Add fried egg.
Add ketchup.
Add another slice of bread
Remember to use lashings of butter.
Butter top slice on outside.
Add another egg.
Add mayonnaise.
Add more bread.
Add more layers as needed.
Store in stomach.
:rolleyes:

chimmy chonga

Stinicker wrote: »

By crumb old boy, this is a fridge too far this time!

Maybe he wants to turnover a new leaf!:)

iamstop

mayobumblebee wrote: »

my fella insists on salt being kept in fridge i think it makes no difference but he is convinced it keeps it from clumping so it lives in the fridge.

I humid places like Thailand and Greece etc they put uncooked rice in with the salt to absorb the moisture to prevent the dreaded clumping you speak of.

kieranfitz

I find that it dries it out, Do freeze it sometimes though.

Angeles

There is actually something different about Irish bread such as Brennan's, that makes the bread last longer and stay fresh for more then 1-2 days, so fridge or freezer requirement isn't really necessary as its mostly eaten before it goes hard.
You don't realize just how much of a convenience that is until you live abroad.
All bread here (Slovenia) lasts at max a day and a half before you can hop it off a wall, so freezing is an actual requirement if you want to keep it fresh to eat in a day or two.
Granted you can still buy that American toast bread sh*te which i think i have sitting at home 2 month now.. not the same, not the same... "i miss my brennans sandwich!"

kfallon

dermiek wrote: »

Take slice of bread from bread bin. Put on plate.
Add fried egg.
Add ketchup.
Add another slice of bread
Remember to use lashings of butter.
Butter top slice on outside.
Add another egg.
Add mayonnaise.
Add more bread.
Add more layers as needed.
Store in stomach.
Make appointment with Massey Undertakers
:rolleyes:

FYP!

Honey-ec

Newsflash: food companies put "refrigerate after opening" on pretty much everything to cover their arses. Not everything labelled as such *actually* requires refrigeration.

Stiffler2

AnonoBoy wrote: »

Just buy half loaves.

I was going to do that but it's a waste of money.
Example - My fav bread is Brennans cause it taste's the nicest IMO & is actually cut old school unlike these "square cuts" these days from other brands.

Full Loaf of Brennans = € 1.87
Half Loaf of Brennans = € 1.35

I wouldn't eat the full loaf but would eat more than half a loaf and due to cost I reckon it's just more economical to buy the full loaf & throw out what you don't eat.

jackie1974

I've never even considered putting bread in the fridge, im going to try it, I hate throwing out half loaves all the time.

I never keep eggs in the fridge, they crack if you boil them too cold, or if you hardboil them for egg mayo they'll have that horrible black stain on the yolk. Omlettes don't fluff up and cakes sink.

Wertz

Reason sliced pans keep so well here is relatively high fat content...stops them going stale as fast as "fresh baked" yeasty bread...also keep mould spores from forming as rapidly.

The whole eggs thing is a case of each to their own I reckon... I mean neither camp here has been struck down by a vicious food bug from eating eggs so it's safe to say chilled or room temp is probably fine.

castletownman

I thought this thread would be encrusted with bad bread puns

Batsy

iamstop wrote: »

How come most people don't do this?

Because if they don't it'd go off quicker.

I put my loaves in the freezer. They last a long time if you do that.

CrazyRabbit

Bake your own bread, and make the loaf small enough to be eaten in a day or 2. Doens't matter where you store it then.

saa

Stiffler2 wrote: »

I was going to do that but it's a waste of money.
Example - My fav bread is Brennans cause it taste's the nicest IMO & is actually cut old school unlike these "square cuts" these days from other brands.

Full Loaf of Brennans = € 1.87
Half Loaf of Brennans = € 1.35

I wouldn't eat the full loaf but would eat more than half a loaf and due to cost I reckon it's just more economical to buy the full loaf & throw out what you don't eat.

or freeze the half you don't eat and make toast with it?
before it goes stale of course.