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In the fridge. If I had chickens that laid eggs, I would store those on the counter.

I'm in the US and I store my store bought eggs in the fridge.

I want to get chickens but it probably won't happen for a few years when we buy a home.

I'm in Canada and eggs go in the fridge. However, my dad grew up with eggs on the counter and will not use eggs straight from the fridge. Figures they don't taste right. There's been many an argument about not taking the eggs out.

Our eggs come from my parents- they have chickens. We keep them in the fridge... I didn't know we could keep them on the counter!

I've seen them sold on store shelves in the UK and was very confused. What is different about how eggs are cleaned in the US that makes refrigeration necessary?

I'm from the US. I put store bought eggs in the fridge if we have them. We have our own chickens though and that's where the majority of eggs come from. Those we keep on the counter or in the fridge if we aren't going to use them with in a week or so.

I have never heard of leaving them on the counter.

I always put chicken eggs in the fridge. Farm fresh or store bought. The only time I leave them out is when they're preserved eggs.

When I lived in England, eggs in the supermarket were out on a shelf and it weirded me out. I put them in the fridge when I got home and my roommates thought I was nuts. I didn't know about the difference in washing techniques back then, though. Since I've been back in the US, I keep them in the fridge but try to pull out the ones I'm going to use a little while in advance so they warm up. Cold eggs don't cook as well or mix as well into recipes as room temp ones.

I have heard about preserving eggs by rubbing mineral oil all over them so they repel bacteria and the like. A quick search yielded this website which talks about how different places store eggs differently, though it doesn't talk about the cleaning process of eggs.

"When a chicken lays an egg, it has a natural coating on it known as the bloom. This bloom is a layer of protection for the egg which keeps out oxygen as well as harmful bacteria and germs. It’s very, very common for those who raise chickens for their eggs to collect them and then keep them on the counter until they are ready to use—not put them in the refrigerator. And in fact, the majority of the grocery stores in the world don’t put their eggs in a refrigerated environment. When they’re ready to use the eggs, they either wash them, which eliminates the bloom and any bacteria or germs, or they crack them open—just as is—but take care not to do so over food that they are going to eat. ... ... While it’s absolutely normal for you and I to get our eggs from the refrigerated department of the grocery stores, it’s actually very unusual in the rest of the world; eggs, butter, and most cheese products are usually just sitting on the shelf, not in a refrigerated display. Mind you, that doesn’t mean that the U.S. is wrong in such practice, but it’s important to remember that the majority of steps taken by the food industry are to avoid a lawsuit or to comply with whatever figments of grandeur the USDA wields as it creates various requirements. Such policies are not necessary to practice in your own home. Keeping that in mind, there are several steps you can take so that you can take advantage of great sales on eggs and not have to worry about whether or not they will all fit in the refrigerator."

Then they go on to talk about how to preserve them with oil.

http://www.preparednesspro.com/safely-preserving-eggs

@Mrs. Polish: I only know because I have a friend who has chickens. So she told me they are fine on the counter but eggs you bought in the store are cleaned so those have to be refridgerated. I'm in the US btw.

This is so interesting. What exactly is it about the process that makes refrigeration necessary here in the US? (I store in the fridge. :))

When I lived in Europe, eggs were unrefridgerated in the store, but I would put them in the fridge when I got home.

The eggs sold commercially are washed which removes their protective coating. If you have your own chickens (or farm fresh eggs) this coating is still intact and the eggs do not need to be refrigerated.

Growing up my family lived abroad for a while, and the eggs in other countries were never refrigerated. It is just in the US that eggs are washed in a manner that removes the coating.

This explains it well!

http://io9.com/americans-why-do-you-keep-refrigerating-your-eggs-1465309529

in the fridge! never heard of leaving them out before!

I'm in Canada, and everyone I know keeps them in the fridge.

In the US. Store = always in the fridge.

If I get them from my parents' chickens, I'm never in a rush to refrigerate but try to remember to put them in by the end of the day just to keep them fresher longer.

I've honestly never thought about how I treat the two different sourced eggs, I just figured that the ones from home had been out for a while anyway.

In the fridge. When I studied abroad in France my host family would keep fresh chicken eggs out on the counter, and it totally weirded me out!

@Mrs. Polish: my ILs had chickens and kept them on the counter but they did wash them (just soap and water) and once washed they out in the fridge.