Egg Freshness Test (Anda): Float Test, Candling and Cracked Eggs

Is that anda still good? Drop it in a bowl of water: a fresh egg sinks and lies flat, an older one tilts or stands up, and one that floats is old enough to throw away. That egg freshness test tells you age, not safety, so this guide also covers the plate test, candling with a phone torch, the smell check, and the thing that really makes eggs risky: a cracked or dirty shell.

How to check egg freshness with the float test (and what it really proves)

Every egg has a small pocket of air at the wide end. It’s called the air cell. When the egg is laid it’s tiny. Over days and weeks, water and gas slowly escape through the shell, which has thousands of tiny pores, and air takes their place, so the pocket grows. A bigger air pocket makes the egg lighter at one end, and that is all the float test measures.

1. Fill a deep bowl or glass jug with about 10 to 15 cm of cool tap water.
2. Lower one egg in gently with a spoon. Don’t drop it.
3. Watch for 5 seconds. Lying flat on the bottom means fresh; tilting at an angle means about a week or two old; standing upright on its pointed end means older but usable; floating to the top means discard.
4. Dry the egg with a clean cloth straight after and use it soon, because a wet shell lets germs move through the pores more easily.

Here’s the honest limit. The float test says nothing about Salmonella, the germ people actually worry about with eggs. A perfectly fresh egg that sinks can still carry it on or inside the shell, and an older egg that tilts can be completely safe. So use the float test to decide how to cook an egg, not whether it’s safe to eat raw.

The plate test: how to tell fresh eggs after cracking

Crack the egg onto a flat white plate and look at it from the side. A fresh egg has a tall, rounded yolk and a thick white that stays in a tight pool around it, with a thinner ring at the edge. An old egg spreads wide and flat, the white turns watery, and the yolk may sit low or break easily.

A slightly cloudy white is a good sign, not a bad one. The cloudiness comes from carbon dioxide that hasn’t escaped yet, which is why very fresh eggs look that way. A very clear, runny white simply means the egg is older.

Always crack eggs into a small separate bowl first, one at a time, before adding them to a batter or your saalan. One bad egg can spoil ten good ones, and it’s much easier to throw away a single katori.

Candling with a phone torch: how to check eggs without breaking them

Poultry farms have checked eggs against a bright light for generations, originally a candle, which is where the name candling comes from, and your phone torch can do a rough home version that’s good enough to spot an old egg or a bad one before you crack it.

1. Go into a dark room or bathroom at night.
2. Switch on your phone torch and hold the wide end of the egg against it, cupping your fingers around to block stray light.
3. Look for the air cell at the top. A shallow sliver, about the thickness of a coin, means fresh; a deep pocket of a centimetre or more means old.
4. Turn the egg slowly. A small dark dot floating inside is often a blood or meat spot; a large dark mass or a shadow that fills the egg means throw it away.

It’s a rough guide, not a lab.

Why a cracked or dirty shell is the real risk

Most egg guides skip this. Salmonella mostly lives on the outside of the shell, picked up from the hen’s droppings. An intact, clean shell with its natural coating keeps most of it out. A hairline crack, a leak, or a crust of droppings gives it a road straight in.

• Check every egg in the tray before you pay. Roll each one lightly; cracks often show as a thin line or a dull patch.
• Skip eggs stuck to the tray with dried yolk. Something broke in there.
• If an egg cracks on the way home, cook it thoroughly the same day, or throw it away. Don’t keep it for later.
• Wash your hands after handling eggs.

Should you wash eggs before storing them?

No. The shell has a thin natural coating (the cuticle or bloom) that helps seal the pores. Washing strips it and can pull dirty water inside. If an egg is muddy, wipe it with a dry cloth or paper towel, store it, and wash it under running water just before cracking.

How to store eggs in Pakistani and Indian heat

In a cool European kitchen eggs can sit on the counter for a while. A summer kitchen in Lahore, Karachi or Delhi is often 35 °C or more, and at that heat eggs age fast and germs multiply quickly.

Store them pointed end down, so the air cell stays at the top and the yolk stays centred. And once an egg has been in the fridge, keep it there: taking cold eggs out into a hot room makes them sweat, and that moisture helps germs through the shell.

Myth: fake eggs are being sold in our markets

Viral videos about “plastic” or “Chinese” fake eggs have circulated for years, in Pakistan and India alike. When suspect eggs from these stories have been checked by food officials, they have turned out to be ordinary eggs. The features that make people suspicious have plain explanations:

• A rubbery yolk: the egg was old, stored too cold or frozen, or overcooked.
• A yolk that bounces or burns oddly: any egg yolk is mostly fat and protein, so it firms and chars when heated. That is not plastic.
• A pale or very orange yolk: yolk colour follows the hen’s feed (maize and greens give deeper orange), not whether the egg is real.
• A tough membrane: the thin skin under the shell is always there and feels papery.

Making a convincing fake egg would cost more than a real one, which is the simplest reason it isn’t a real market problem. The real risks at the counter are old eggs, cracked eggs and eggs kept in the sun. Desi vs farm eggs is a separate question about taste and price. For how many eggs fit a normal diet, see our guide to anda calories and eggs per day.

Surprising facts about eggs

• Brown and white shells come from different breeds of hen. Shell colour doesn’t change the nutrition inside.
• A double-yolk egg usually comes from a young hen whose laying cycle hasn’t settled yet.
• The two white twisted cords holding the yolk in place (chalazae) are more visible in fresh eggs. They’re normal and safe to eat.

More everyday kitchen checks sit in our Desi Remedies section, including why a raw egg in milk isn’t the protein shortcut it seems in egg and milk together.

Egg freshness questions people ask