hard boiled eggs for backpacking?

[MrMiner2]

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

[1234]

It is cold outside so same as being in frig. great way to clean a shelter!

[Wise Old Owl]

Damn long time tape a few salt packets to the outside.

[MrMiner2]

I've been getting mixed opinions. Something regarding bacteria layer and room temp. And I am referring to general use. Obviously now super warm temps.

[Wise Old Owl]

no way - its cooked

[Rasty]

Up until around 1990 most health codes didn't even require refrigerating eggs. Two weeks is an good shelf life. Even longer if you raise your own chickens.

See my signature for how much I adore chickens!

[bigcranky]

Hard cooked eggs are great on the trail. (DON'T FORGET THE SALT. :) ) You can eat them out of hand, or with a couple of mayo packets and some mustard make egg salad. Wrap it in a tortilla or put it on Ritz crackers. Mmmm.

[Donde]

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!

[MuddyWaters]

If the shell is unbroken, they will keep a long time for sure.

In some countries, eggs are sold on the shelf in grocery stores, un-refrigerated. So is milk btw.

They use radiation to kill bacteria, and the unbroken eggs, or un-opened milk containers keep a long time

Cooking does the same thing.


For some reason, irradiated products arent approved here in the US.

But, cooking also removes a protective coating and opens the pores of the egg shell supposedly allowing bacteria to enter.

So authorities reccomend cooked eggs be refrigerated and only kept a week.

[MrMiner2]

According to many websites, "You can keep hard-boiled eggs at room temperature for up to two hours. After that, you should refrigerate or dispose of the eggs. If the temperature is on the warmer side, dispose of eggs after one hour."

[Rasty]

According to many websites, "You can keep hard-boiled eggs at room temperature for up to two hours. After that, you should refrigerate or dispose of the eggs. If the temperature is on the warmer side, dispose of eggs after one hour."

The same experts also recommend refrigerating hard cheese at all times. There is so much fear mongering with food safety. Yet at the same time these experts inspect 1% of imported beef with an average 10 minute inspection time for an entire shipping container.

[capehiker]

Once the egg's natural form is changed, storage rules become increasingly shorter. When the egg is straight from the tap, it is coated in a natural lining and can withstand room temperature. If store bought, the egg is washed and then dipped into a mineral oil which seals the pores. The natural state is altered and it becomes a potentially hazardous food. I would be leery of taking a hard boiled egg on multi-day hikes.

[T.S.Kobzol]

I usually eat them the same day. I just had 3 last sunday on the cross country trail.

Fresh eggs I usually carry for up to two days before I made scrambled eggs.

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[Northern Lights]

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

They don't last long for me, I eat them too quickly :( I boiled up 6 at a hostel and ate them in two days.

[Hairbear]

thats a good meal on the trail.Tap holes in the end with you knife ,and put them on a forked stick with some sausage. wrap blueberry bannic around the sausage .damb fine breakfast.

[on_the_GOEZ]

I have no qualms about taking eggs on the trail, but I always eat them quickly and they never have a chance to spoil. Earl Shafer was noted for having some eggs in his pack..

For me: HB eggs, avocado, chunk of hard cheddar, and gobs of spicy mustard wrapped in a tortilla.. Mmm mmm

[leaftye]

It would seem to me that the OP is asking about carrying hard boiled eggs.

Interesting...


http://www.netwellness.org/healthtopics/poison/hardboiledeggs.cfm

With egg dyeing just around the corner, many may be wondering how long hard-boiled eggs can be kept before they spoil. Generally, hard-boiled eggs can last a week in the refrigerator. Even with its natural (but easily cracked) calcium-carbonate container, a hard-cooked egg is a perishable food, so it shouldn't be kept at room temperature for more than two hours.

Interestingly, hard-boiled eggs do not keep nearly as long as raw eggs, which can last three to five weeks in the refrigerator. There is a good reason for this. When a hen lays an egg, it puts a naturally protective coating on the outside of the shell. The bad news is, during the washing and sanitizing process before packaging, eggs lose that coating. But the good news is, processors replace it with a tasteless, natural mineral oil coating. However, that coating is removed when you hard-boil the egg. So, even if the egg's shell remains uncracked, it still is slightly porous and, without the coating, is more exposed to the elements.

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.

[daddytwosticks]

I usually bring a few hard boiled egges as part of breakfast on every hike. Great source of protien. I eat them up within the first two days. No problem with spoiling over two days even in the summer. :)

[capehiker]

For me: HB eggs, avocado, chunk of hard cheddar, and gobs of spicy mustard wrapped in a tortilla.. Mmm mmm

That sounds really delicious.

[Wise Old Owl]

For some reason, irradiated products arent approved here in the US..


We have one facility somewhere in the southwest.... seen the video. they operate 24/7


FDA approves irradiated beef for school lunch

http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/cidrap/content/fs/irradiation/biofacts/irrad-bkgd.html

[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" :eek:

[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" :eek:
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... :D

[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" :eek:

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/Mayonnaise_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 (http://www.amazon.com/Norpro-284-Stoneware-Butter-Keeper/dp/B0000VLURQ) 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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