Most people just check the date stamped on the carton. Maybe squint at it under the kitchen light, do some quick mental math, and shrug. The problem? Those dates are often confusing, inconsistent, and not always a reliable measure of whether the eggs sitting in your fridge are actually safe to eat. There’s a better method — one that takes about ten seconds, requires only a bowl of water, and has been used by home cooks for generations. And once you know how it works, you’ll probably never trust that carton date quite the same way again.
Carton Dates Are More Confusing Than You Think
Here’s the thing about egg carton dates: they vary wildly depending on the brand and the state. Some cartons have a “sell by” date. Others show a “best by” date, or a “use by” date, or a pack date written in the Julian calendar format — which is a three-digit number most people have never learned to decode. A pack date of “032” means the eggs were packed on February 1st. Did you know that? Most people don’t.
The USDA says eggs are generally good for three to five weeks after the pack date, as long as they’ve been refrigerated. But if you bought them on sale a week after they were stocked, and then let them sit in the back of the fridge for another two weeks, you’re doing a lot of guesswork. The date on the carton becomes less of a fact and more of a suggestion. Which brings us to a method that actually tells you something useful about what’s going on inside the shell.
A Bowl of Cold Water Is All You Need
The egg water test is dead simple. Fill a bowl or a tall glass with cold water. Gently place the egg in question into the water. Then watch what happens.
If the egg sinks to the bottom and lies flat on its side, it’s fresh. Like, reliably fresh. Good for scrambling, poaching, frying — whatever you want. If it sinks but stands upright on one end, it’s still safe to eat, just not as fresh. Think of it as an egg that’s past its prime but not yet retired. And if the egg floats to the surface? Toss it. Don’t crack it. Don’t try to save it. It’s done.
That’s it. No special equipment, no apps, no conversion charts. Just water and gravity doing their thing.
Why Floating Means Trouble
So what’s actually happening inside that egg to make it float? It comes down to air. Eggshells aren’t solid walls — they’re porous. Thousands of tiny pores cover the surface of every shell, and over time, air seeps in through them. As the egg ages, more and more air accumulates inside, particularly in what’s called the air cell. That’s a small pocket between the inner membrane and the shell, usually at the wider, bottom end of the egg.
A fresh egg has a tiny air cell. An older egg has a bigger one. An egg that’s been sitting around for way too long has an air cell so large that it essentially becomes a little balloon — buoyant enough to float the whole egg right up to the surface of your water glass. The shell looks the same on the outside. But inside, the egg has changed significantly. The science here is straightforward, which is probably why this test has stuck around so long. It just works.
Standing Upright Doesn’t Mean Throw It Out
One thing people get wrong about the water test is assuming that any egg that doesn’t lie perfectly flat is bad. Not true. An egg that sinks and stands on one end is just older — not spoiled. These eggs are still perfectly fine to eat. They might not be ideal for a sunny-side-up presentation where you want a tall, perky yolk, but they’ll be great for hard-boiling, baking, or making scrambled eggs.
Actually, here’s a small irony: slightly older eggs are often better for hard boiling. If you’ve ever tried to peel a fresh hard-boiled egg and ended up with a cratered, ugly mess, that’s because very fresh eggs cling to their shells like they’re afraid of the outside world. Eggs that have had a little time to age — the ones standing up in your water test — tend to peel much more cleanly. So that standing egg might actually be exactly what you want for deviled eggs or egg salad.
Creators like Pepper Belly Pete have shared all kinds of egg hacks on TikTok, from cracking techniques to boiling tricks. The freshness test fits right alongside those — quick, visual, and easy to remember.
Your Nose Knows, Too
On the flip side, the water test isn’t the only tool in your arsenal. The sniff test is probably the oldest freshness check in existence, and it still holds up. A bad egg smells like sulfur — that unmistakable rotten-egg odor that hits you immediately and makes you recoil. If you crack an egg into a bowl and it smells off, trust your instincts. Your nose is remarkably good at detecting spoilage.
Sometimes the smell is hard to pick up through the shell, though. So if you’re suspicious but the egg doesn’t quite float, go ahead and crack it into a separate bowl first. Give it a sniff. Look at it. A fresh egg has a bright orange or yellow yolk that sits up high and firm, surrounded by thick, slightly cloudy white. An old egg will have a flat, pale yolk and thin, watery white that spreads all over the bowl. You’ll know. It’s not subtle.
The Shake Test Is Less Reliable but Still Worth Knowing
There’s a third method that some people swear by, though it’s a little less precise. Pick up the egg and hold it near your ear. Give it a gentle shake. A fresh egg won’t make any sound at all — everything inside is packed tight. But an older egg, one where the yolk has started to break down and the whites have gotten watery, will produce a faint sloshing sound.
I’ll be honest — this one is harder to pull off consistently. In a quiet kitchen, sure, you might notice it. In a house with kids running around or the TV on, you’re probably not going to hear much of anything. It works best as a secondary check, not your first line of defense. The water test is faster, easier, and more definitive. But if you’re standing at the counter and don’t feel like filling a bowl, a quick shake can at least give you a rough idea.
The shake test also doesn’t tell you much about eggs that are just past their peak. It’s really only effective for eggs that are pretty far gone. So consider it a backup plan, not a replacement.
Storage Matters More Than Most People Realize
How you store your eggs dramatically affects how long they stay fresh. In the U.S., commercially sold eggs are washed before packaging, which strips away a natural protective coating called the bloom. That’s why American eggs need to be refrigerated — without that coating, the shell is more vulnerable to bacteria and moisture loss. In many other countries, eggs aren’t washed and can sit on the counter. Different system entirely.
Once you get your eggs home, keep them in the main part of the fridge — not the door. The door is the warmest spot and the temperature fluctuates every time you open it. That little built-in egg tray on the door? Kind of a bad design, honestly. The back of a shelf is better. And keep them in their carton. The carton protects them from absorbing odors from other foods (eggshells are porous, remember) and helps maintain consistent humidity.
Eggs stored properly at around 40°F can last well beyond the sell-by date. We’re talking weeks, not days. But if they’ve been left out on the counter for a couple of hours, or if someone left the fridge door cracked open overnight (it happens), the timeline shortens fast. That’s when the water test becomes especially handy — because the date on the carton can’t account for what happened after you brought them home.
A Final Thought About Trust
The water test is one of those rare kitchen tips that’s genuinely useful, backed by actual science, and requires zero investment. Use it regularly and you’ll waste fewer eggs, worry less, and probably avoid one of those awful moments where you crack a bad egg directly into a bowl of otherwise perfectly good cake batter. Here’s something to think about, though: if the freshness of an egg can change so much while the outside looks exactly the same, what else in your fridge might be fooling you with a calm exterior? That’s a question worth sitting with next time you’re cleaning out the shelves.
