How Long can Easter Eggs Sit Outside Before They Go Bad?

If your family celebrates Easter with an adventurous hunt for brightly colored eggs, you (and the Easter Bunny) should probably be aware of all the ways you could get ill once the fun has stopped.

How Long Can Eggs Sit Outside?

Your egg hunt is done, but your carton seems to be short a couple eggs. Maybe you were a little TOO GOOD at hiding eggs this year.

Your egg hunt squad has limited time to find the rest of the eggs before they become inedible. The time decreases if your area is experiencing warm temperatures.

Food Network says eggs can safely sit at room temperature for up to 2 hours.

But what about if the conditions outside aren't exactly room temperature? The website says your window is cutdown to 1 hour when temps climb above 90 degrees.

Let's hope mild temperatures this year.

How Long Can You Leave Easter Eggs In Your Refrigerator?

So, you've found all of the eggs in the yard and now you have a fridge full of brightly-colored cartons.

You can only eat so many eggs in a day (seriously, don't test us on this). You will need a plan for all of those eggs before they need to be thrown out.

A common mistake people make around Easter is thinking the timeframe for eggs to be left in the fridge starts on Easter. Instead, the timer started the moment you started coloring the eggs.

The USDA says hard-cooked eggs need to be refrigerated within two hours once they are finished cooking.

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You have up to a week to be able to safely eat the cooked eggs. Cooking the eggs, even when they're still in their shells, makes them spoil more quickly than fresh eggs.

The USDA says a protective coating on the eggs is washed away during the cooking process. You might not be able to see them, but the lack of coating leaves bare pores in the shell that create an easy entry for bacteria.