People putting food that should be frozen in the fridge

Eggs don't need to be refrigerated if they've not previously been refrigerated. Eggs have a protective coating on when they are laid....refrigerating them breaks down this layer so once they've been in the fridge they need to be kept in the fridge.

My parents always kept a tray of eggs in the walk-in pantry....I don't really have anywhere to keep them other than in the fridge.

I love fresh eggs!

Don't forget the egg freshness test, if you're in doubt.  - Put eggs in a bowl / pan of water.  If they float completely throw them out!   

Although it's not used so commonly in modern times, you could use a sodium silicate bath to keep eggs fresh for up to 9 months.

When I first came over and saw MIL had hers in the cabinet with the canned goods, my first thought was 'My God! They are going to DIE!' A lifetime of refrigerated eggs and everything I learned about food safety over the years, including the ServSafe course,  came flooding into my head at once. Then I noticed they sat on the shelves of the shops too. I'd buy them and put them in the fridge, hoping we didn't die. Even though I now know they can sit out, I still keep them in the fridge because it makes me feel better.

I grew up here in the UK, but have always put my eggs in the fridge as soon as I've bought them... I think just because that is what my parents always did so I never thought to do anything different !

I've since learned that eggs are fine to be stored at room temperature as long as they don't go below a certain temperature... but as soon as they've been put in the fridge and reached that min temp, they can't be kept at room temp anymore and must be kept in the fridge.

I think they stay fresher longer in the fridge and the sulphur taste remains a bit tamer.  Not all British people believe in storing them at room temperature either.

I think they stay fresher longer in the fridge and the sulphur taste remains a bit tamer.  Not all British people believe in storing them at room temperature either.

I've come to find out it is a preference thing whether they are kept warm or cold and not everyone over here keeps them out. At first I thought it was just 'one of those differences between the countries' and was okay with it but put them in the fridge because it was the way I prefer them.

I saw someone at work using the waxed paper type ice cream container for soup the other day.  Made me think of this thread.

Soup? Oh, man.

Once, when I was young and poor, I indulged myself in a waxed paper carton of whipped butter. Just to get every last drop, I swirled a bit of hot water around in it and dumped it on my food (pasta, maybe?).

Ohhhh...I was sick as a dog. It must've dissolved some of the whateveritis wax.

My husbands family is in the "it doesn't actually need to go into the fridge at all" party. The don't refrigerate the following if the fridge is too full:

1. Milk
2. Turkey (as in for Christmas -- this is why I haven't had turkey since I came to the UK) (They also defrost it in boiling hot water if it is still frozen)
3. Cheese
4. Eggs (although I only do this about half the time)
5. Orange juice / Apple juice (unopened/open, from the fridge section)

My husband keeps pizzas in the fridge for up to a week. I think he has an iron stomach along with the rest of his family. I got food poisoning several times when I lived with them.

I have noticed there seems to be a far more relaxed attitude about keeping things chilled here. Walking through the market, it astounds me how many stalls will have meat type pies and sausage roll type items sitting out on a shelf instead of in a refrigerated case. I always wonder how many hours some of them sit out before they are sold.

In hubby's bachelor days he'd buy a kebab on the way home from a night out with friends, eat half and put the rest in the microwave for the next day's lunch. I didn't know that until my first visit over before marriage, and we got a kebab each on the way home from being out the first night, and he finished before me. When I went to put mine in the fridge I didn't see his and asked where he'd put it. When I found out he left it in the microwave for nearly 12 hours instead of refrigerating it (and had done it hundreds of times!) I was surprised he was still alive.

TamaMoo and Alundra-- yuck!  And on the other hand, my MiL has this thing about how you can't reheat rice.  I have never had a problem with reheating rice before, don't quite understand it....?

We lived for 2.5 years with essentially no freezer (there was a tiny one, but it was completely frosted over). We'd only buy ice cream if we were going to eat it right away and we never bought ready meals because we didn't have a microwave either.  Yes, I went to the shop pretty much every.single.day.  My waistline could happily go back to the ice cream-free days of yore! 

TamaMoo and Alundra-- yuck!  And on the other hand, my MiL has this thing about how you can't reheat rice.  I have never had a problem with reheating rice before, don't quite understand it....?

My Dh's family is like that too! There is a risk of food poisoning by reheating rice, but there are ways to minimize risk. I have spent most of my life reheating rice and I'm not going to stop now!

Sweetpeach- Regardless if you've been living in the UK for 2 months or 2 years, don't EVER feel like you can't ask questions here. This is what these boards are for! If people thinks it "weird or strange" that you're asking a question/posting an observation then they have a choice not to respond to said posting. I haven't moved to the UK yet and I'm sure once I'm there I'll be trying to figure things out for a long time.. So if people here tried to give me a hard time or make me feel bad for asking a question I would have a similar rection as you have. It's a life change moving from one country to another so let's all try to be a little kind and remember we're all on here to help people out. On that note I do find it bizzare that there are a lot of places that don't offer freezers. I think recycle, reduce, reuse is a good motto too

sweetpeach, I don't think you should not ask questions that you feel like asking.  It's an internet forum - don't read too much into things.  

Sorry, it wasn't meant as a criticism, just an observation. Everyone who replied to this thread seemed surprised that you didn't know about reusing plastic ice cream tubs, or indeed that ice cream tubs are plastic. It's not annoying as such, just surprising.

Thanks everyone.

I know this reply is quite late.

It’s just that this is not the first time I have posted what I thought was an inocuous comment/question for which I believed I would get maybe a few short, succint replies, and the thread has instead  turned into, as my husband would say, “a drama”.

You don’t have to say that this is how internet forums are and that no offense was intended because I know that.

I just can’t deal with it right now.

I  had stopped posting but I just thought I would check the board and couldn’t let these replies to my post go without a thank you.