Eggs are basic food; they’re versatile and great for cooking different easy recipes.
Similarly, they’re nutritious and advantageous for promoting better health, making them ideal additions to our daily diet.
However, proper storage is necessary to keep eggs suitable for healthy consumption.
Are you curious about what happens if you leave eggs in the car overnight?
Eggs left inside a vehicle are still safe to consume if the weather is cold. But, if the eggs start to sweat, bacteria begin to spread in the eggs.
Read the rest of this post below to learn more about the topic.
How to Handle Eggs Left in the Car Overnight?
There’s no harm in leaving eggs on your kitchen counter overnight; however, leaving them inside the vehicle overnight is a different case.
As you might already know, room temperature does not flutter unreasonably. Regardless of your location, your vehicle’s temperature is likelier to fluctuate.
The temperature significantly changes from afternoon to night, all through the evening and in the morning.
Unfortunately, these temperature fluctuations can compromise your eggs’ safe consumption.
Germs or microbes are likelier to accumulate if you leave the eggs inside the car overnight.
Therefore, throwing the eggs away is best to avoid risking your health once you consume them.
How to Determine If the Eggs are Still Safe to Consume?
You can do the following methods to resolve if the eggs are still suitable for safe consumption:
Sniff Test
Smell the egg to check if it still has a neutral odor; otherwise, we strongly recommend discarding it.
You can tell if the egg has gone bad if it smells sour or sulfuric.
Shake Test
While this method is not the most reliable, it is still worth trying.
The step requires you to hold the egg and shake it near your ear to check if there is a sloshing sound.
If you don’t hear the sloshing sound, the egg yolk is still intact and not watery, making it edible.
Float Test
Did you know that an eggshell is semi-permeable, which conveys that air can easily penetrate through it? And, more air can get into the shell and incites it to float.
Therefore, if you place the egg in a bowl or glass of cold water and the egg floats, it is old and unsafe to eat.
On the other hand, if the egg sinks on its side, it is still edible.
Check if the egg sinks and stands up in a vertical position; this indicates that it’s still okay but beginning to get rotten.
The drawback of this method is that you’re not supposed to put eggs in water since they’re semi-permeable.
If the water has bacteria, the eggs are likelier to be contaminated.
That said, it’s best to consume the eggs immediately if they pass to keep salmonella or harmful bacteria from forming within the egg.
What Happens If I Leave the Eggs Inside a Hot Vehicle?
Leaving eggs inside a hot car for half an hour and one hour will stimulate salmonella or bacteria accumulation.
For this reason, you should avoid leaving eggs in a car at 85-degree F or above temperature.
Since eggs are perishable food, when exposed to heat, they get more quickly contaminated than those eggs left in a location at room temperature.
It’s vital to perform the tests mentioned above to ensure that the eggs are still okay to eat after leaving them for more than half an hour on a warm day.
Raw eggs are extra delicate on days with higher temperatures, even those collected directly from the farm.
While farm chicken eggs tend to last longer during warm temperatures than store-bought eggs, they can also quickly go bad in extreme weather conditions.
How Can I Store Eggs Without Refrigerating Them?
It’s better not to store your eggs inside the fridge if you harvest eggs from your vaccinated backyard chickens.
Nevertheless, always make it a habit to wash the eggs thoroughly at once before you consume them.
Avoid washing the raw eggs and leaving them sitting on your kitchen counter for a long time. Likewise, washing your hands thoroughly after handling unwashed or freshly laid eggs is essential.
Secure a storage device specifically made to contain eggs if you plan to store chicken eggs in a cupboard or kitchen counter.
Doing so can help keep the eggs shielded from getting damaged and avoid contamination.
Be sure to consume the unrefrigerated eggs within three weeks as they don’t last longer than those stored in the fridge.
How Can I Store Cooked Eggs Correctly?
It’s paramount to refrigerate or eat cooked eggs at once.
Cooked eggs will remain edible for three to four days if you ensure storing them in airtight canisters.
We strongly advise discarding cooked eggs that you have left out overnight. Please note that the egg’s quality will differ, and its quality will mainly depend on how you cook them.
Fried eggs tend to become tough and rubbery, although it’s still edible; meanwhile, you can consume hard-boiled eggs cold and enjoy their delectable taste.
Egg casseroles, quiche, and scrambled eggs will be mediocre.
While their consistency and texture tend to alter after refrigeration, it doesn’t happen in a strangely lousy manner.
Final Thoughts
It’s good to note that the longer the eggs sit out, the more they heat and depreciate in quality, compromising egg freshness.
As a result, bacteria formation and proliferation emerge quickly, potentially damaging one’s health when the bad egg is eaten.
If you’ve left the eggs inside a car for more than 2 hours and are uncertain whether the temperature has fluctuated, it’s best to examine them before consumption.
Remember, ensuring proper egg storage or handling on days with extreme temperatures is crucial.
Hopefully, this post about “What happens if you leave eggs in the car?” has provided you with the information you’re looking for about food safety.
READ MORE: 35 Easy Egg Recipes
