Why don't UK stores keep eggs refrigerated?

You'll also find that free range eggs are also harder to crack than others...

THAT explains it.  We've been buying free-range because the generic eggs were making me sick.

Any egg will be harder to crack (comparatively speaking) if the chicken is getting plenty of calcium in its diet - free-range chickens are undoubtedly getting a much better diet than 'generic' ones...therefore, the shells of their eggs will be a little bit harder to crack.

I'm guessing 'brittle' shells that have fragmented breaks has something to do with the chicken's diet as well...

Gee, never thought I'd be discussing chickens and their eggs on this forum!   

I agree with that. 

Thanks for making me feel less inept!  I thought it was just me that had trouble with shell fragments. 

Pff! You want esoteric? As early as the 15th Century, the painter Cennini advised not to make egg tempera paint with country eggs, on account of the yolks were a dark gold color (as opposed to pale city eggs). Undoubtedly a free range versus Renaissance factory farming issue.

Also, the membranes of free range eggs are tougher (both inside the shell and around the yolk itself). With any sort of egg, if you're careful, you can separate the yolk from the white, roll the yolk around on a piece of kitchen roll to get off the excess, and actually pick the yolk up as a discrete little sack, pinched between your finger and thumb.

On the other hand -- in defense of American practices -- back home, I regarded eggs as good indefinitely. I'd use eggs that were in the fridge for months, sometimes. Though I always broke them into a cup first, I can't recall breaking open a bad one.

They don't necessarily go "bad," but old eggs take on a different texture, whether they're refrigerated or not. After months, their consistency becomes thick and (to me) icky.

Darn, I missed all the fun about why eggs are different colours!

Its great fun to have different breeds of chickens, getting all kinds of different colours and shades of eggs, as well as sizes.  Small breed chickens have some absolutely gorgeous tiny eggs which are heaven. Of course, any fresh egg is heaven!  Its really fun when you get two yolked eggs! But commercial farms have the special lights to weed that (and other) stuff out, since the general supermarket population would be terrified of 2 yolked eggs! Has anyone ever gotten a two yolked egg in the supermarket?

Don't think I ever have from a supermarket, unless it was many, many years ago before such careful 'weeding' - used to get them every so often in our farm eggs though.

We had bantams as well as larger breeds, so yes, you're right, I'd forgotten, we got eggs in a number of different sizes.  I forgot about shapes too - different shapes, depending on the chicken.  My kids (who collected most of the eggs with their dad) were pretty good at telling which eggs came from which chickens just by their shape!  (Our hens didn't have 'assigned' nests, so you could never tell which chicken laid which egg where!)

Here, we pay attention to sell-by dates and use up eggs within a couple of weeks. Would they keep as long if we didn't? I'll never know...

Eggs keep for ages!  I routinely ignore use-by dates after I have bought eggs, and they seldom go off.  It is easy enough to test before you use them.

Just recalled that my mum keeps eggs in the fridge, but I never do.  10 months of the year my kitchen is as cold as the fridge anyway!

Vicky

From the Centers for Disease Control (US) on eggs and salmonella.

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dbmd/diseaseinfo/salment_g.htm#Salmonella%20enteritidis%20Infection

How eggs become contaminated

Unlike eggborne salmonellosis of past decades, the current epidemic is due to intact and disinfected grade A eggs. Salmonella enteritidis silently infects the ovaries of healthy appearing hens and contaminates the eggs before the shells are formed.

Most types of Salmonella live in the intestinal tracts of animals and birds and are transmitted to humans by contaminated foods of animal origin. Stringent procedures for cleaning and inspecting eggs were implemented in the 1970s and have made salmonellosis caused by external fecal contamination of egg shells extremely rare. However, unlike eggborne salmonellosis of past decades, the current epidemic is due to intact and disinfected grade A eggs. The reason for this is that Salmonella enteritidis silently infects the ovaries of healthy appearing hens and contaminates the eggs before the shells are formed.

What you can do to reduce risk

Eggs, like meat, poultry, milk, and other foods, are safe when handled properly. Shell eggs are safest when stored in the refrigerator, individually and thoroughly cooked, and promptly consumed. The larger the number of Salmonella present in the egg, the more likely it is to cause illness. Keeping eggs adequately refrigerated prevents any Salmonella present in the eggs from growing to higher numbers, so eggs should be held refrigerated until they are needed. Cooking reduces the number of bacteria present in an egg; however, an egg with a runny yolk still poses a greater risk than a completely cooked egg. Undercooked egg whites and yolks have been associated with outbreaks of Salmonella enteritidis infections. Both should be consumed promptly and not be held in the temperature range of 40 to 140 for more than 2 hours.



Reducing the risk of Salmonella enteritidis infection   Keep eggs refrigerated. 
   Discard cracked or dirty eggs. 
   Wash hands and cooking utensils with soap and water after contact with raw eggs. 
   Eat eggs promptly after cooking. Do not keep eggs warm for more than 2hours. 
   Refrigerate unused or leftover egg- containing foods. 
   Avoid eating raw eggs (as in homemade ice cream or eggnog). Commercially manufactured ice cream and eggnog are made with pasteurized eggs and have not been linked with Salmonella enteritidis infections. 
   Avoid restaurant dishes made with raw or undercooked, unpasteurized eggs. Restaurants should use pasteurized eggs in any recipe (such as Hollandaise sauce or caesar salad dressing) that calls for pooling of raw eggs. 

Salmonella infects the hen's ovaries before the egg is laid, so anything you do or don't do to the shell will not prevent salmonella.