How Long Do Eggs Last? (In the Fridge, On the Counter, and Boiled)

More eggs get thrown away on the strength of a printed date than for any actual sign of going off. It’s an easy mistake: eggs feel fragile and perishable, the carton has a date, the date passed on Tuesday. But eggs are one of the longest-lasting fresh things you own, and the date on the box is rarely the day they turn.

The trick is knowing two things: what the date actually means, and the ten-second test that beats it every time.

What the Date on the Carton Actually Means

In the US, egg cartons carry a Sell-By or Best-By date, which is set about 30 days from when the eggs were packed. The USDA is explicit that eggs are still safe to eat for 3 to 5 weeks past purchase, provided they stayed refrigerated — which routinely lands you weeks beyond the Sell-By date. The date tells the shop when to pull the carton from the shelf; it isn’t a verdict on the egg.

In the UK, eggs carry a Best Before date, typically 28 days from lay, and the Food Standards Agency advises eating them by then for best quality — though well-stored eggs stay good a little beyond. British Lion eggs are vaccinated against salmonella, which is why UK guidance is relaxed enough to allow runny and raw yolks for most people.

Either way, the date is a quality guide, not a safety cliff. What actually decides an egg’s fate is how it’s stored — and, for the old ones, what the float test says.

How Long Eggs Last, by State

Numbers below assume a fridge at or below 4°C / 40°F, or for the counter line, a cool room out of direct sun.

Raw, in the shell

Refrigerated — 3–5 weeks from purchase, typically past the printed date.
Room temperature (unwashed, UK/EU style) — 1–2 weeks. Refrigerating them instead roughly triples that.
Washed eggs (US, AUS) left out — 2 hours, then bin. With the cuticle washed off, these have to stay cold.

Cooked and cracked

Hard-boiled, in shell or peeled — 1 week, fridge. Boiling strips the protective cuticle, so they go off faster than raw.
Raw whites (separated) — 2–4 days, fridge, covered.
Raw yolks — 2–4 days, covered with a little cold water to stop them drying out.
Leftover cooked egg dishes (frittata, quiche, scramble) — 3–4 days, fridge.

Frozen

Beaten whole eggs — up to 12 months. Never freeze in the shell; it cracks.
Whites, on their own — up to 12 months in an ice-cube tray.
Whole boiled eggs — don’t. The whites turn rubbery and weep.

To Refrigerate or Not — and Why It’s a Country Thing

If you’ve ever wondered why American supermarkets keep eggs in a chilled case and British ones stack them on a dry shelf, the answer is washing. In the US, Canada, Australia and Japan, eggs are washed and sanitised at the packing plant. That cleans the shell but strips the cuticle (the natural “bloom” that seals the egg’s ~17,000 pores), so washed eggs must be refrigerated from that point on.

In the UK and most of Europe, eggs are sold unwashed with the cuticle intact, which is why they can live in a cool pantry for a week or two. But refrigeration still wins on longevity everywhere: a fridge egg lasts roughly 3–4x longer than a counter egg. The one hard rule: don’t move eggs back and forth. A cold egg brought to room temperature sweats condensation, and that surface moisture helps bacteria migrate through the shell. Pick cold or pick cool, and keep them there.

The Float Test (and Why It Works)

The single most useful egg trick costs nothing: drop the egg into a glass or bowl of cold water and watch what it does.

Sinks and lies flat on its side — very fresh. Use it for anything, including poaching where freshness shows.
Sinks but stands upright on the bottom — older but perfectly fine. Use soon; great for hard-boiling (older eggs actually peel more easily).
Floats to the surface — old. The air cell has grown large enough to lift it. Bin it.

The science is simple: an eggshell is porous, so over weeks moisture and carbon dioxide escape and air seeps in, enlarging the air pocket at the egg’s blunt end. A bigger air pocket means more buoyancy. The float test measures age, which closely tracks freshness — but it isn’t a direct safety test, so finish the job by cracking the egg into a separate bowl and smelling it. A spoiled egg announces itself instantly with a sulphurous, rotten smell; a watery white that spreads thin is a sign of age but not danger.

What to Do With Eggs Before They Turn

The beauty of eggs is that “use them up” is never a hardship. A glut of eggs nearing the back of their range is a frittata, a shakshuka, an egg-fried rice (excellent use for day-old rice too), a tray of muffins, a quiche, a batch of custard, or simply six hard-boiled eggs for the week’s lunches. Older eggs are better than fresh for hard-boiling because the slightly larger air cell makes them peel cleanly.

If you genuinely can’t get to them, freeze them beaten rather than watch them expire — up to a year, ready for any baking job. The waste case isn’t the egg going off; it’s the egg sitting unnoticed behind the milk until you assume the worst and bin a perfectly good carton.

The Habit That Saves the Eggs

Most egg waste, like most food waste, is a memory problem rather than a spoilage one. The carton goes to the back of the shelf, the date passes, no-one’s sure how old they are, and out they go — weeks before they’d actually have turned. The fix is the same one that solves every shelf-life question: a system that knows what you have, when it came in, and what to cook with it before the doubt sets in.

That’s a good part of why we built Pantree. It tracks what’s in your fridge and how long it’s been there, and when a dozen eggs hits week three it surfaces the recipes that use a lot of them at once — a frittata, a sponge, a round of shakshuka — so they become dinner instead of a guess and a bin.

For the bigger picture, see how to stop wasting food and our full shelf-life reference for 30+ foods. For the rest of the series, see how long milk lasts, leftovers, cooked rice, and fresh herbs.

The Point

Fresh eggs last three to five weeks in the fridge, usually weeks past the date stamped on the box. Keep them cold and in their carton, leave them out of the door, and when one looks doubtful, float-test it: sink flat means fresh, stand up means soon, float means bin. Do that and you’ll stop throwing away the most useful, longest-lasting protein in the kitchen on the say-so of a date that was only ever a guess.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long do eggs last in the fridge?

Fresh raw eggs in the shell keep for 3–5 weeks in the fridge — and that clock starts from the day you buy them, not the day they were laid. In the US, the USDA puts it at 3–5 weeks past purchase, which is usually well beyond the Sell-By or Best-By date on the carton (those dates are about 30 days from packing). In the UK, the Best Before date is typically 28 days from lay, and eggs stay good a week or so beyond that if they've been kept cold. Store them in their carton on a middle shelf, not the door, and the higher end of that range is realistic.

Can you eat eggs past their best before or sell-by date?

Almost always, yes. The Sell-By date (US) tells the shop how long to display the eggs; the Best Before date (UK) is a quality estimate, not a safety cliff. Properly refrigerated eggs are typically fine for 2–3 weeks past those dates. The date is a guide — the float test and a quick sniff after cracking are far better indicators of whether a specific egg is still good. Cook them thoroughly (no runny yolks for very old eggs) and you remove most of the residual risk.

Do eggs need to be refrigerated?

It depends where you are. In the US, Canada, Australia and Japan, eggs are washed at the packing plant, which strips the protective cuticle (bloom) from the shell — so they must be refrigerated and kept that way. In the UK and most of Europe, eggs are unwashed and vaccinated against salmonella, so they're legally sold at room temperature and keep a couple of weeks in a cool pantry. Either way, refrigeration extends shelf life dramatically — a fridge egg lasts roughly 3–4x longer than a counter egg. The one rule everywhere: don't switch back and forth. A cold egg left out sweats condensation, which helps bacteria through the shell.

How long do hard-boiled eggs last?

Hard-boiled eggs keep for 1 week in the fridge, whether peeled or still in the shell — boiling removes the protective cuticle, so they actually spoil faster than raw eggs. Store them in a covered container; peeled ones do best submerged in a little water or wrapped in a damp paper towel to stop them drying out. Don't leave boiled eggs at room temperature for more than 2 hours, and don't freeze them — the whites turn rubbery and weep.

How does the egg float test work?

Drop the egg into a glass of cold water. A fresh egg sinks and lies flat on its side. As an egg ages, the air cell inside grows (moisture escapes through the porous shell), so an older-but-fine egg stands upright on the bottom — use it soon. An egg that floats to the surface has a large enough air cell that it's old; bin it. The float test measures age, not safety directly, so back it up with the crack-and-sniff: a rotten egg gives off an unmistakable sulphur smell the moment you break it.

Can you freeze eggs?

Raw eggs freeze well, but not in the shell — they expand and crack. Crack them into a container, beat lightly (a pinch of salt or sugar stops the yolks going gummy), and freeze for up to a year. You can also freeze whites on their own in an ice-cube tray. What doesn't freeze: whole boiled eggs and cooked whites, which turn rubbery. Thaw frozen egg overnight in the fridge and use it in baking, scrambles or omelettes — anywhere the egg is fully cooked.