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TV chef James Martin explains why you should never store eggs in the fridge
By Joanna Sarah-Freedman
24 Apr 2023
2m
Can you store eggs in the fridge? It’s one of those cooking questions that often divides the crowd.
But TV chef James Martin has revealed why refrigerating eggs isn’t actually the best idea whilst talking to Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield on ITV’s This Morning.
“All eggs are porous,” he says, adding this means they “absorb the flavours” of whatever else is chilling alongside them.
James was baking Victoria Sponge cakes on the UK daytime TV show back in January, and imparted the tip during his appearance.
James Matin said you shouldn’t put eggs in the fridge (Credit: ITV)
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“If you have truffle for instance, in the restaurant we put that in a bowl with rice and put the eggs on the top and cling film it and leave it overnight.
“When you break the eggs in the morning for breakfast for customers, [you get] truffle scrambled eggs but there’s no truffle in it.”
Pretty nifty, right?
Backing up the chef’s point, Pennysylvania University explains: “The shell is porous and the large end contains more pores than the small end of the egg.
“There are about 7,000 pores in a chicken eggshell. This permits the transfer of gases through the shell.”
The tip depends where you’re based in the world, as in the UK most supermarket eggs come unwashed, whilst washed eggs – the norm across grocery stores in places like the US – need to be refrigerated for health and safety reasons.
Putting eggs in the fridge can change their flavour (Credit: Alamy)
He suggested storing eggs in the cupboard instead, despite the fact they keep longer in the fridge, to avoid any cross contamination of flavour if you don’t want that.
The chef said another reason for this is that cold eggs aren’t as effective to cook with and should ideally be used at room temperature.
Of course, putting eggs in the fridge isn’t going to be the end of the world, and there are many who argue it is actually optimum due to the fact it preserves their temperature.
As is always the case with cooking tips, experts often disagree.
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Room temperature eggs are best (Credit: Alamy)
Whatever you decide, it’s worth baring James Martin’s tips in mind and at very least cooling your eggs back down to room temp before using them.
He’s also right to suggest keeping any strong flavoured foods out of your fridge if you are cooling eggs – unless, of course, you’re looking to flavour them.
Putting the eggs in an airtight container also works if you want to cool them but have some other stinky foods around, like onions.
Thanks for the tip, James. Did you guys know this one?
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