Eggs are an essential source of protein in our diet. Boiled, fried or poached, there are many ways to cook them. However, we do not always have enough time to prepare a dessert or an omelette and the eggs in our fridge or pantry run the risk of going overboard if they are not used up. As if our kitchen were a laboratory, we have all taken on the trick of submerging eggs in a step of water before cooking them to check their condition. We know that if they sink they are good and if they float they are bad, but do you know why this happens?
This experiment is a kind of double expiration factor. The scientific explanation has to do with the shell of the eggs, which, despite its apparent rigidity, is full of microscopic pores that allow gas exchange between the inside and the outside. As the days go by, the size of these pores enlarges, which favors the evaporation of the water found inside the eggs. This varies the proportion of liquid and air in the internal structure of the egg, according to food engineer Mariana Zapién.
The TikToker, who has more than 425,000 followers on this social network (@ingdetusalimentos), explains in a video that submerging an egg in water is one of the kitchen hacks that does have scientific endorsement. An egg with a greater proportion of air inside is much less dense than the surrounding water, so when placed in the container, it will float on the surface. A greater amount of air also indicates a greater degree of bacterial decomposition and, therefore, consuming it would pose a health risk.
An egg in good condition will maintain a greater proportion of liquid than air and, therefore, a greater density that will make it sink in a container of water. If the shell is completely submerged, even if it does not touch the bottom of the glass, it means that it is in good condition and ready to be consumed as soon as possible. On the other hand, if part of the shell is already coming to the surface, it means that the egg is no longer as fresh and could be stale. In this case, the egg would have a larger air chamber resulting from an advanced decomposition process, so it is preferable to remove it and not consume it.
