How Long Does Large Egg Last?

Whole eggs in the shell hold for 3-5 weeks from their purchase date when kept in the carton in the fridge, a genuinely long window driven by the shell's natural protective coating and the fridge's cold, stable temperature — a cracked or visibly slimy shell, a strong sulfur or off smell once cracked open, or a discolored white or yolk are the real signs an egg has gone bad, distinct from the pinkish or greenish iridescent sheen that can appear on an egg white from certain bacteria, which is also a spoilage sign worth checking for.

Keeping eggs in their original carton, rather than transferring them to the egg tray built into many fridge doors, protects that full window better than it might seem — the carton blocks more light and temperature swings than an open door tray does, and the door is one of the warmer, less stable spots in most fridges. The float test (a fresh egg sinks and lies flat, an older egg tilts or stands upright, and a truly spoiled egg floats) is a useful freshness check tied to the growing air pocket inside an aging shell, though it signals declining freshness rather than actual spoilage on its own — a floating egg is worth cracking into a separate bowl to check by smell before deciding whether to use it. Eggs bought from a store that keeps them refrigerated should stay refrigerated at home too, since letting a previously cold egg warm up and cool back down repeatedly speeds moisture loss through the shell's pores.

See Large Egg's full storage & shelf-life guide (with spoilage signs) →