Sunday, May 20, 2007

Bad Eggs and OK French Toast

I had the urge to make French toast this morning but the eggs in our fridge have a "Best Before" date of May 4th. Seeing that I was too lazy to get changed out of my pajamas and walk the couple blocks to the grocery store, I decided to check online to see how long after the Best Before date these eggs could be safely consumed.

According to the Canadian Partnership for Consumer Food Safety Education:
How long can we keep eggs that are past their expiry date?
According to the Canadian Egg Marketing Agency, the Best Before date on the egg carton is an indication of the length of time for which the eggs will maintain their Grade A quality. After this date, they are still safe to eat for the next two weeks if they have been properly stored in the fridge and safely handled. They will not maintain their shape as well however, so are better for scrambling and baking rather than frying and poaching.
http://www.canfightbac.org/cpcfse/en/cookwell/ask/eggs/#1251

Ok, so I figured it was only two days after that two weeks after the Best Before date. So I went ahead and made French toast. By the way, I learned that if the French toast is still soggy and not browning correctly, turn up the heat on the stove. And real maple syrup is key!
Well, now my stomach is rumbling a little so perhaps I did push the limit of the eggs' quality. I should have tested the eggs by placing them in water:
When an egg floats it means that it is an old egg. The air cell in the large end of the egg has grown very large, an indication of a low quality egg. A fresh, high quality egg will remain at the bottom of the pan of water.
http://www.canfightbac.org/cpcfse/en/cookwell/ask/eggs/#520

And on a related note, it seems I wasn't off when I told someone that "French toast" is called "pain perdu" in France, which means lost bread. However, in the movie Bon Cop, Bad Cop some French-Canadians referred to French toast as something else. Does anyone know what French toast is called in Quebec?

1 comment:

Unknown said...

It's called "pain d'or" (golden bread) in Quebec.