Replenish as needed, or at least every 2 hours.

Serve small platters of reheated egg dishes at a time to ensure the food stays at the proper temperature.

Keep egg dishes refrigerated until time to serve.

For party planning, keep hot egg dishes hot and cold egg dishes cold:.

Bacteria that can cause illness grow quickly at warm temperatures (between 40° F and 140° F).

Never leave cooked eggs or egg dishes out of the refrigerator for more than 2 hours or for more than 1 hour when temperatures are above 90° F.

Cooked eggs and egg dishes may be refrigerated for serving later but should be thoroughly reheated to 165° F before serving.

Serve cooked eggs (such as hard-boiled eggs and fried eggs) and egg-containing foods (such as such as quiches and soufflés) immediately after cooking.

For recipes that call for eggs that are raw or undercooked when the dish is served - like Caesar salad dressing and homemade ice cream - use either shell eggs that have been treated to destroy Salmonella, by pasteurization or another approved method, or pasteurized egg products.įollow these serving guidelines for eggs and egg dishes.

Casseroles and other dishes containing eggs should be cooked to 160° F.

Cook eggs until both the yolk and the white are firm.

Wash hands, utensils, equipment, and work surfaces with hot, soapy water before and after they come in contact with raw eggs and raw egg-containing foods. When refrigerating a large amount of a hot egg-containing leftover, divide it into several shallow containers so it will cool quickly.

Refrigerate leftover cooked egg dishes and use within 3 to 4 days.

Egg whites can also be frozen by themselves. To freeze whole eggs, beat yolks and whites together. Eggs should not be frozen in their shells.

Use hard-cooked eggs (in the shell or peeled) within 1 week after cooking.

Proper storage of eggs can affect both quality and safety.

Store eggs in their original carton and use them within 3 weeks for best quality.

Store promptly in a clean refrigerator at a temperature of 40° F or below.

Open the carton and make sure that the eggs are clean and the shells are not cracked.

Buy eggs only if sold from a refrigerator or refrigerated case.

You can help keep eggs safe by making wise buying decisions at the grocery store.

To prevent illness from bacteria: keep eggs refrigerated, cook eggs until yolks are firm, and cook foods containing eggs thoroughly.Įggs that have been treated to destroy Salmonella–by in-shell pasteurization, for example–are not required to carry safe handling instructions, but the labeling will usually say that they have been treated. FDA requires all cartons of shell eggs that have not been treated to destroy Salmonella to carry this safe handling statement:

Just crack an egg h-e-b