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The Bad Egg…

I can’t get it out of my head. I keep thinking about it now, ever since it happened. And it freaks me out every time I think about it.

Jason had a friend spend the night on Sunday night since there was no school on Monday. I wanted to make it a special night for them, so we ordered pizza for dinner and watched Shanghi Knights. The boys played Age of Empires II through the LAN (yeah for WiFi!) and had a really good night. I decided to make them pancakes for breakfast on Monday morning.

That’s when it happened.

I had all the ingredients mixed together, I had just added my milk, and the last thing to go in was the egg.

The egg that I can’t stop thinking about. The bad egg.

I cracked it on the glass measuring cup and dumped it in to my bowl without looking at the egg first, and I kid you not … as I saw it go in to the bowl, I realized that the yolk was black! Black! Ok, maybe it was just a dark green, but definitely on the black end of the color spectrum. Black! Thank goodness it slid under the other ingredients fast so I didn’t have to look at it, because otherwise I might have lost it right there on the kitchen floor.

I don’t think I have ever dumped something down my kitchen garbage disposal as fast as I did yesterday morning. I was doing the heebie jeebie big bug dance too – that dance you do when you see a really creepy bug that freaks you out. Eek!

The eggs were a week old, and the expiration date had not passed. It didn’t matter though – I pitched the remaining eggs in the trash, went to the store and got a fresh carton, and cringed as I made a new batch of pancake batter.

It took a lot of effort to make it through my breakfast taco this morning. I kept thinking about that bad egg. Veruca Salt can keep those geese that lay gold eggs for Easter – I seriously need an educated eggdicator! Don’t care how … I want it now!

By Christine

Christine is an Avenger of Sexiness. Her Superpower is helping Hot Mamas grow their Confidence by rediscovering their Beauty. She lives in the Heights in Houston, Texas, works as a boudoir photographer, and writes about running a Business of Awesome. In her spare time, she loves to knit, especially when she travels. She & her husband Mike have a food blog at Spoon & Knife.

72 replies on “The Bad Egg…”

Reminds me of some Dateline or 20/20 show I saw about what they really do with eggs. Apparently in many places (can’t remember if it was everywhere or not), eggs that aren’t sold are returned and repackaged in new containers with new dates.

Blech. I can’t even imagine how nasty that looked.

Oh ick! I’m sorry! I woulda been so grossed out, I simply can’t handle stuff like that. I’ve never seen an egg with a black yolk before, but I have seen red streaks in them. For some reason, my mom must have had problems with eggs going bad in the past, because she always made us get a new measuring cup to crack the egg into. That way, she said, if the egg was bad, it wouldn’t ruin everything else we’d put in the bowl! I still find myself doing that just in case!.

I always check my eggs in a separate cup. If there is a blood spot, the egg is not kosher and I throw it out. Of course, in all my years of checking, I’ve only seen one blood spot. I did have an egg with two yolks recently.

I actually worked in an egg factory for a few months when I was in college back in the 80’s. I was in the loading and ‘candle’-ing section.
When you’d see an egg roll across the lighted section, and it was black, you’d pick it up like it was a bomb (’cause it was) and set it very carefully into the trash. If it broke open, the whole line would have to evacuate from the smell.
It has only been the last few years that I can eat eggs again at all.

That right there is the reason why I eat Egg Beaters. I’ve never had a bad experience, I’ve only heard about them, but just reading someone else’s account makes me want to hork.

Egg Beaters baby. They’re the only way to go. 😉

Reminds me of my days in fast food… you’d crack ten eggs to scramble, go to do the last two of the dozen and WHAM. Bloody or a little chick in there and you’d have to scrap the whole bunch and start anew.

Gross, though… I got the shivers just thinking about it.

I’ve never got a black egg, but once I was baking something and I needed three eggs … tell me why each of those three egs had double yolks. Freaked me out! I’d never seen a double yolk egg before and I think it’s considered bad luck in my culture. I still shiver to think of it.

Ewwwww! Christine! I’ve never seen a black egg or a double yolk or a bloody egg or any of these things! Why is it that I think I’m going to go have my eggs tomorrow and run into the one egg that is black with a double bloody yolk and a beak in it?

I’ve seen some darker yolks on boiled eggs and it always made me wonder….

I’ve totally switched to “Egg Beaters” (not the support group – the actual product) but I’m going to be extra careful with those from now on, too!

I’ve never experienced any nasty egg things myself, but I do know missionaries, and they have lots of weird egg stories!

I know one lady that bought eggs at the market and put them away. The next day when she went to make something there were little fluffy chicks there instead! They had hatched during the night. The quality control isn’t quite the same in Africa as it is here I guess 🙂

Any Chinese peeps here who want to testify with me that the black “thousand-year-old eggs” are yummy? They are! But of course, they are preserved to turn black. I would be grossed out to see a “fresh” black egg.

But I could not imagine eating duck fetus, which is a delicacy that I can’t appreciate even from afar. Blecch.

Black yolk…yeah, I think I’d throw that out too. LOL. Yuck.

But there is nothing wrong with one that has a spot of blood or is a double yolk. The one with a red spot somehow got fertilized. (Rooster got in the hen house)

The double yolk is twins, lol. You just got 2x the yolk for the price of one. 🙂

Actually, eggs don’t go bad that easily. God knows I’ve used some past the expiration date. I just check them to make sure they don’t smell or look funny before I use them. And make sure they are cooked good. Don’t want any Salmonella poisoning, LOL.

But the black egg, I suspect was bad to begin with. Or it got left out in the heat. Of course, I would have cracked open a few more from the carton just out of curiosity, LOL. 🙂

I just now found this site because I did a quick web search after I cracked an egg today and it had a black yolk! Yikes. Gag, etc. There’s almost no info about it on the web. I can’t imagine what causes it. But it’s not just age. I’ve had very old eggs in the back of the fridge but they just sort of dry out, and feel empty, but this one wasn’t even old, and the others with it were fine. It will be a long time before I can stand to eat an egg, no matter how fresh. And when I cook with eggs, from now on I’ll crack them into a separate bowl so I don’t have to dump the whole pan if something yucky turns up. Chickens are so mistreated in egg production –stuck in tight cages where they can’t move; having their beaks cut off so they can’t peck at themselves, which they will do because they are so miserable. It’s no wonder strange things happen to some eggs. When I start to buy eggs again, it will definitely be only organic eggs from free-range chickens, which I notice are in almost all the supermarkets now. Now I have to go find something else to eat. PS What are Egg beaters/Scramblers made from?

I was so happy to see this page as unfortunatley this morning I found my first bloody egg. I had a bad experinece a long time ago with a green/half formed chicken but the eggs were bought from my Moms neighbor not the store and it took forever to get back to eating eggs and not thinking of it but the egg this morning has changed my mind again and it almost makes me sick when I think about it. Of course my entire breakfast went into the trash.

On the two yolk phenomenon: Anytime you buy larger sized eggs you are more likely to get a double yolk. Also, larger eggs tend to have thinner shells. Small eggs have dense shells and rarely have more than one, small yolk.

I actually prefer jumbo sized eggs because the shells are so fragile that I can easily crack it neatly in half and empty the eggs into a bowl with one hand. Also, I like the double yolks.

I grew up on a farm, so I guess I don’t gross out as easily as the rest of you. These are animal products. That is even a euphemistic way to discuss it. Eggs come out of a chickens rear. THat makes them pretty untidy, I admit.

But Egg Beaters are made out of eggs, mostly. They have some additives, also. You aren’t escaping the yuckiness of eggs when you buy these products. You are just trusting to some kid in a food processing plant to handle your eggs for you. You hope that if he comes accross something disgusting he will toss out the whole batch, but maybe he doesn’t care as much as you would, and he just scoops up the one offending yolk.

You would be better off getting a stronger stomach and learning to crack your own eggs. At least that way you could be certain of the quality control. You can test for bad eggs. That float test thing works.

Put an egg in a bowl of water deep enough to completely cover it by about one or two inches at least. If it lays horizontally, it is fresh. If it tilts a little, it is a little older, but still good to eat by itself. If it stands up on it end, you might want to use it only for baking, or if you don’t bake, maybe toss it out. If it floats, remove it very carefully to an outside garbage receptical. Don’t break it unless you really hate everyone who is going to be in that room in the next few days.

Well I had my first black/green egg experience and like the rest of the people here I’m pretty much done with eggs for a while. I usually have a pretty strong stomach for things, but this was just nasty.

For the person going organic, I must tell you that this egg came from a batch of organic eggs and it was the first batch I ever bought. I think I will go back to the regular kind when I can stomach eggs again. Then again I will probabaly go with Egg Beaters anyway…there better for you.

the thousand year eggs by the chinese–they’re not black. the outsides are. they are kind of a tan hardboiled color, but that’s just becuase they are preserved. it’s like if you pour balsalmic vinegar on hardboiled egg whites, the whites will tint tan, but it’s only because of the marinade, not because it’s bad.

if you’re still reading these, i had almost an exact same story about 6 years ago and never forgotten how weird it was.
first of all, no one’s mentioned a smell. mine didn’t smell bad. i asked my partner and he said it didn’t smell bad. it was just black, inky black.
second, there’s nothing wrong with a touch of red in the yolk. just means it was fertilized but didn’t become a chick.
but i did throw the batter out also. it just can’t be a good thing to have a black egg. i’ve worked food service for years and cracked hundreds of eggs, whole cases at a time and never gotten this. eggs are actually better if you leave them in the fridge a week or two.
thanks for the story. it’s the only thing i found on the internet describing this phenomena. i have to assume it WAS a rotten egg, maybe a pinhole was in the shell.

okay, i just cracked my first black egg yolk last night and it was the grossest thing in the world. and it scared me, like a scary movie would: “oh no! the yolk is black! what a terrible sign!” but yes, it ruined the one egg that was already in the bowl, so i poured them both down the disposal. but it STUNK, how it stunk! regardless, there were two eggs left in the carton so i cracked them, scrambled them, and ate them. and as far as i know, they were all a month over expiration. (but i’ve got a pretty tough stomach) i, too, couldn’t really find anything on the web about this, and it was my first (and hopefully only) experience with it. my roommates weren’t home so i had no one to share it with. i am a vegetarian, but eggs don’t bother me. they’re just chicken periods, coming out of their butts. haha. but you’re not killing anything so it’s fine in my opinion. i get free range, organic chicken eggs. i never really wanted to eat egg beaters because they seemed really unnatural to me. just my two cents. and my advice: stay away from the black egg yolk!

On the black egg thing, I had a dream that someone was eating a balck egg yolk, so was wondering what it ment. Guess it mean a bad egg! thanks for the site

hi guys
i also cracked a monster sized paper mache looking egg laid by a hen purchased about eight weeks ago. it contained a double yolk completely surrounded in blood . it cant be fertile as there is no rooster for approx 30 k’s . gross . do i have the worlds first haemophrodite chook ?

I’m so glad someone else has seen a black egg yolk. It was the most disgusting thing I’ve ever seen, The SMELL, I’ll be haunted by it for the rest of my life.

I went to Denny’s for breakfast and ordered my eggs sunny side up as usual. My girlfriend noticed that one of my eggs looked a little odd so I poked it with my fork and blood started coming out of the center of the yolk. I told the waitress and they made a new plate. I am glad I didnt eat it. The thought of eating a bloody egg makes my stomach a little uneasy.

I can’t believe that people are still posting to this page after four years . . . . But I’m happy to join you – I just found my first black egg also! I’m 52 years old and have cracked plenty of eggs . . . and I’ve NEVER seen anything like this! I wish in retrospect I’d saved it, though. It went into the trash before I had much of a chance to think about it. Needless to say, none of the farmers I spoke to (who’ve only been dealing with chickens their entire lives!) had ever heard of anything like this. They all said they would have liked to see it . . . .

Of course, every other egg in the house went in the trash also!

Wow seems like we are all here and there is no other place to go, I just went for a midnight snack. while talking to a friend on the phone I cracked an egg and it was totally Black!!!!!!!! no smell until it cooked. I cracked it right in the fry pan and then I feel to the floor so freaked and my stomach wrenching hard , only to be met with a smell that was so bad and I have never smelled anything that bad! My firend told me to get over it but wow I am so freaked out! First thing I thought too (never am I like this ever) was Vodoo cruse of doom! I was so scaredd and messed up until I found this site. Thanks

Another black egg yolk to add to the lore. Didn’t smell, instant trash like much of the rest… will have to see how my luck runs for the next few days…

this is still the only site for black eggs. just this morning my husban and i had our cage free organic eggs *brown shells and all* and his yolk didn’t smell or look black until he went to eat it. all of his are sunny side up (he had 3) and ate the other two fine with no black stuff until he got to the 3rd one. and now i’m freaking out about food poisioning. but if he didn’t eat it and only ate the other ones that weren’t bad i’m sure he’s fine. but i’ll crack my eggs in a cup from now on 🙂 and i hope to never see a black egg again. that’s strange.

The net is a source of comfort. Like many people here, I’ve had my first black yolk experience and now, two hours later, I’m googling “black yolk”. I’m 44 and have never seen this in my life. (I’m in Melbourne, Australia.) What struck me was the way that superstition kicked in – I thought, “Bad omen or just bad egg?” I’ve calmed down now, but I’d still like to know the science behind this phenomenon. What makes it go black? I’ll be taking up my Mum’s procedure from now on: each egg should be cracked into a cup or jug before adding to the mix, just in case.

May 29. 2008
While baking a cake, I usually do break the eggs into another container before adding to batter… this time I didn’t.
When I saw the egg go into the batter, I nearly vomited! The smell was beyond anythig I can describe; so I called my 94 year old mother- she said she had never seen such a thing. Upon continuing with eggs in this carton, one other one hissed, as if full of gas, 3 others were watery without a formed “yoke”. Needless to say ALL batter went into the garbage. I will return these to the store where I bought them, maybe these eggs were exposed to something? Expiration date is 2 months away! I think I’m finished with eggs for a while.

Ditto. I just cracked open a black egg this morning. It kind of exploded when I cracked it, so I jumped back before I even saw what it looked like. Then the SMELL!!!!!! UGHHHHHH!!!!! I took it outside immediately and wondered if I better throw out my pan, too. I guess not. But it came in a batch of 5 dozen eggs. I don’t think I can throw out the rest of the batch, but I don’t want to check the others, either. We are halfway through the box. I think I’ll just try to stomach it. Ugh! I still smell it, and I don’t know if it’s just my imagination torturing me or if there is some I missed cleaning up somewhere. Yuk! I think I’ll go change my shirt just in case. Sure wish somebody could post the cause of the black egg.

A few months ago I was cooking breakfast with my friends. I cracked the egg, and out came black yolks. Possibly the worst smelling thing I have ever endured. I wanted to die. I ran out of the kitchen and told my friend to get rid of it. The trash was not enough to cover the smell. I wanted to dispose of the entire kitchen. Stupidly, we cracked open the other eggs which didn’t have black in them. But the second I took a bite I could tell the egg was bad. VOMIT.

What in the HELL is a black egg. And how does something smell THAT vile.

just today i was cracking a egg in the pan when the egg just poped and i got scared and fell.The EGG WAS COMPLETELY BLACK I NEVER SEEN THAT IN MY LIFE OF CRACKING EGGS lol.

wat is it?

I’ve just Googled “black egg yolk” and come up with this site. We got a couple from a lady my husband works with who sells the eggs that her free-run chickens lay. There was no noticible odor, just the blackish coloring. So, maybe one or two chickens tried to outsmart her and laid where she didn’t find the eggs for a while. Her chickens definitely aren’t mistreated, I’d like to come back as one in the next life! I’m no closer to finding out what a black yolk means, but it doesn’t put me off eggs, just makes me more cautious about boiling them instead of scrambing.

I just made some scrambled eggs and when I cracked the last egg into the bowl it was strait blood. There wasn’t a yolk or anything else, just blood. I threw all the eggs out but I don’t know if I could ever eat eggs again after that. YUK!!!!

Same story as everyone else….I was baking a cake that called for 3 eggs. All ingrediants in the bowl, cracked the third egg and it seemed weird just for that split second when water ran out of the egg rather than the slow drip of the egg white. I cracked it the rest of the way right over the cake mix and out came the black yolk. I have never smelled anything that bad in my life. It was disgusting and so creepy and freaked me out. I ran with the bowl and flushed what I could down the toilet as I don’t have a garbage disposal. Sure would like to know the reason for this. I’m still traumatized.

HELLO EGG EATERS!
ALL EGGS BOUGHT AT THE STORE ARE NON FERTILIZED EGGS. ALL CHICKENS LAY EGGS IF THERE IS NO ROSTER “MALE” TO FERTILIZE THE FEMALE YOU WILL NOT HAVE A BABY IN THE EGG. ALL EGGS BOUGHT IN THE STORE ARE FROM FARMS WITH FEMALES CHICKENS NO MALES AROUND. UNLESS YOU OWN A FARM THEN MAYBE YOU WILL GET BABY EGGS. MASS PRODUCE EGGS FOR YOUR DINNER TABLES TO EAT ARE FROM FRAMS WITH NO MALES ON THEM. HENSE: DON’T LET THE ROSTER IN THE HEN HOUSE!

There are plenty of websites out there if you google rotten eggs.

We had one at Christmas, and it was totally black and stank. I didn’t want to eat eggs again for ages. When I did I went and bought some chickens so I know the eggs will be fresh.
We went back to the shop we bought the eggs from and they gave us all the ingredients which were ruined by the rotten egg for free. They did say they had another person report a rotten egg in the same week.

My husband and I were in China in 2006. We took several overnight trains during our trips. In each car there are about a dozen rooms with four beds (two bunks) in each. During a trip to Shanghai, we traveled with a woman and her daughter. She offered me an egg and having eaten century eggs before (which are delicious but shocking to look at), I was understandably cautious. Could I eat a whole one with out the ginger and soy chaser? I wasn’t sure. I was relieved to see that it had a white shell and even after taking off the shell, it was still white. A good old-fashioned hard boiled egg. Right? Alas, no. I broke the egg in half and looked down in shock because THE YOLK WAS COMPLETELY BLACK. JET BLACK. ALL-CAPS BLACK. AND THERE WASN’T A DAMN THING I COULD DO ABOUT IT. Because, when offered half, my loving husband clenched his mouth shut and wordlessly, he shook his head. So, my friends, I ate it. I ate the black egg. All of it. And I lived to tell. And to tell you that it was damn tasty. After I ate it, and once the woman and her daughter were asleep, my husband produced a bottle of wine from his backpack and managed to convince me that if I drank half of it, straight from the bottle, the alcohol would kill any bacteria from the egg. I see now that he was trying to get me drunk on a train. Perhaps the egg was all part of his plan. That night, I wrote several postcards to my friends and family, telling them of the gastronomical encounter and professing my love and appreciation for them, lest I never see them again. Drunken, black-yolk postcards: I will never learn.

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