hard boiled eggs for backpacking?

[Odd Man Out]

There are many misconceptions about food storage. I was once over at a friend's mother's house. The mom was making sandwiches for lunch. I wanted butter on mine, others wanted mayo.

The mom got the butter from the fridge and tried (unsuccessfully) to spread the hard butter on the bread. I pointed out that if she kept the butter dish on the table, it would be soft and easy to spread. She said "no it would spoil!" and was surprised to hear that I had eaten room temperature butter my whole life with no ill effects.

Then the mom got the half-empty mayo jar from the shelf to put on the other sandwiches. I was shocked and said "you can't keep mayo at room temperature, it would spoil" and was surprised to hear that she had eaten room temperature mayo her whole life with no ill effects.

[FlyPaper]

What is your experience with this? How long will they last? Thanks!

I usually take a dozen eggs on a 4 day hike. Usually, I boil some, for midday snacks, and leave some uncooked, so I can scramble them at breakfast.

Usually I've finished all eggs within 2 days of a hike because their weight to calorie ration is not good and I'm trying to eat my heavy food first.
Since I often pack the night before leaving and include several hours of driving, this means the uncooked eggs have gone around 3 days with no refrigeration.
So far, I haven't got sick and the eggs haven't tasted bad.

The boiled eggs, sometimes I have one or two left on the third day. Taste great, and I've never gotten sick.

It is my understanding that uncooked eggs are good for around a week.

[gizzy bear]

There are many misconceptions about food storage. I was once over at a friend's mother's house. The mom was making sandwiches for lunch. I wanted butter on mine, others wanted mayo.

The mom got the butter from the fridge and tried (unsuccessfully) to spread the hard butter on the bread. I pointed out that if she kept the butter dish on the table, it would be soft and easy to spread. She said "no it would spoil!" and was surprised to hear that I had eaten room temperature butter my whole life with no ill effects.

Then the mom got the half-empty mayo jar from the shelf to put on the other sandwiches. I was shocked and said "you can't keep mayo at room temperature, it would spoil" and was surprised to hear that she had eaten room temperature mayo her whole life with no ill effects.

i have only heard of one person that ate unrefridgerated mayo and she did it ALL her life without ill effects...the thought disgusted me and i feel sure that her body had built up a tolerance for all the bacteria...i also feel pretty sure, had eaten her mayo, i would have been puking... as for butter... ive never heard of someone getting "butter poisoning"

[vamelungeon]

i have only heard of one person that ate unrefridgerated mayo and she did it ALL her life without ill effects...the thought disgusted me and i feel sure that her body had built up a tolerance for all the bacteria...i also feel pretty sure, had eaten her mayo, i would have been puking... as for butter... ive never heard of someone getting "butter poisoning"

We keep a butter dish on the counter all the time. None of us has ever gotten sick.

[gizzy bear]

We keep a butter dish on the counter all the time. None of us has ever gotten sick.

i grew up eating room temp butter as well.... no worries here...

[bigcranky]

We keep a butter dish on the counter all the time. None of us has ever gotten sick.

Yup, our butter lives on the kitchen counter so it's soft and spreads easily when the homemade bread comes out of the oven.

[Rain Man]

Agree about keeping butter on the counter/table. Same should be true of eggs, but it's habit to refrigerate. Same for ketchup.

As far as hard-boiled eggs and hiking, I do that all the time, but have found the most convenient thing is to pick up a two-pack (or several) from the grocery store or truck stop. They are already shelled and are sealed in plastic. Convenient and more safe, I think. Look for them with the pre-made sub sandwiches and potato salads.

Rain Man

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[1stgenfarmboy]

Good thread.....my grandma would cook sunday dinner for 30-50 people every other sunday ( thats the way it was done back in the day) and we would eat, then she would cover the entire table with a bed sheet (to keep the flys off the food) and we would eat super at 6 or so that evening, nothing was ever kept cool and she had no AC in the house. no one ever got sick.

i leave my eggs with a little poop on the shell so they keep longer, (WHAT) you don't eat the shell do ya.

[Odd Man Out]

i have only heard of one person that ate unrefridgerated mayo and she did it ALL her life without ill effects...the thought disgusted me and i feel sure that her body had built up a tolerance for all the bacteria...i also feel pretty sure, had eaten her mayo, i would have been puking... as for butter... ive never heard of someone getting "butter poisoning"

My story in the last post was from when I was in college. When I went to grad school and lived in my own apartment for the first time, I recalled that event, so I bought a jar of mayo, opened it, used some, and kept it on the shelf. I don't eat a lot of mayo so it sat there for 6 months as I gradually ate it all. Sure enough, at the end, it look, smelled, and tasted fine and I didn't get sick.

For more details on the "Mayo Myth", go the food safety web site of The Association for Dressings and Sauces (they have an association for everything, eh?).

http://www.dressings-sauces.org/Mayo...Dressings.html

The bottom line is that commercial mayo does not spoil at room temp due to the pasteurization, acid and salt. However, when mixed to make other foods (potato salad, tuna salad, cole slaw, etc...) then the condition change and these prepared foods may be very perishable.

[rocketsocks]

A buddy at work use to eat em at coffee break with a dollop of Horse Radish on each bite, he grew and ground the radish himself, said it would kill anything alive. One morning I tried it, and after I got up off the ground flopping like a fish and cleared my eye's, I said in a soft half scratchy voice..."That's pretty good"...he laughed, and for years after when we would get a job finished he'd say in a soft scratchy voice..."that's pretty good"...and then we'd laugh together.

[Nutbrown]

I raise quail... the protein content is higher, and the bite sized eggs are a perfect snack.

[Mountain Maiden]

PICKLED eggs take care of any spoilage possibilities. YUM! (especially if u use liquid from pickled beets--BONUS: you get pretty "sunrise" eggs when u slice 'em)

[jeffmeh]

For keeping butter at room temperature, one of these is keeps it more sanitary, away from the ambient air. Not required, but it provides an extra margin of safety and extends freshness.

[atraildreamer]

I would say rasty is dead on, two weeks is a solid window in 50F-80F, colder longer, warmer call it a week. The real trick as suggested by rasty is to get yourself a flock or find friends with them, fresh eggs will last a month without a cooler. If you want to be all UL about get a Bantam!

And if the bird stops laying...roast chicken for dinner!

[slow mind]

A "jar" of store bought mayo is not mayo.

[Bronk]

Who's willing to do a two week old hard boiled egg eating test?? Cook egg. Leave on counter for two weeks. Eat. Hope you don't get sick. [/FONT][/COLOR][/FONT][/COLOR]

I've left eggs unrefrigerated on my kitchen counter for as long as 6 weeks and they haven't spoiled. Of course they are uncooked. Many places around the world eggs aren't refrigerated.

[Rain Man]

Many places around the world eggs aren't refrigerated.

Not just geographically, but temporally,-- for the past 100,000 years or so,-- eggs were not refrigerated.

Rain Man

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