Here's How Long Fresh Eggs Can Sit Out Unrefrigerated

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If you're buying your eggs from the supermarket, chances are you take them home and stick them straight in the fridge. Do you really need to refrigerate your eggs, though? Lisa Steele, a chicken-keeper and author whose cookbook In Season: 125+ Sweet and Savory Recipes Celebrating Simple, Fresh Ingredients will be available May 2026, says you don't need to do so right away if those eggs came straight from a farm. "As long as an egg hasn't been washed, it doesn't need refrigeration because there's an invisible coating on the outer eggshell called the bloom that keeps out the air and bacteria," she explained.

This is the same reason why you'll often see unrefrigerated eggs at supermarkets in Europe and Asia, where washing isn't standard practice. Unwashed eggs won't last indefinitely, though. According to Steele, "Over time, the bloom does disintegrate ... After about three weeks, you will likely start to see some degradation in the structural integrity of the egg. The eggs will likely still be okay to eat, but the longer they stay out, the more chance bacteria has gotten into the egg and had time to multiply, so I would say three or four weeks would be the limit without refrigeration."

What happens if your farm-fresh eggs have a tiny bit of chicken poop clinging to them, though? (This does happen, since eggs come from the same place.) You'll probably want to give them a clean. "Once an egg has been washed, that protective coating is removed, and that leaves the egg vulnerable to air and bacteria. At that point, the egg does need to be refrigerated," Lisa Steele told The Takeout.

The upside to doing so — besides saving counter space — is that refrigerated eggs last even longer than unwashed, unrefrigerated ones, especially if you store them in the correct space inside the fridge. As it turns out, it's not that inside-door egg compartment, but the back of the middle shelf. You should also keep them in a closed carton, like this egg tray with a lid from Amazon, to prevent absorption of other scents in the fridge. 

Refrigerated raw eggs can last up to five weeks in the fridge. (Hard-boiled ones, however, will only last for a week.) To make the best of both worlds, Steele advised, " ... It's good practice to leave some eggs out on the counter to use first, but then refrigerate the rest — unwashed as long as they look clean — for longer storage."