If the eggs sink to the bottom and lay flat on their side, they’re still fresh. However, if they sink, but stand on one end at the bottom of the glass or bowl, they’re not as fresh but still edible. Of course, if any eggs float to the top, they shouldn’t be eaten.

If the egg sinks or stays at the bottom, it is still fresh. An older egg will either stand on its end or float. The float test works because air builds up inside the egg as it ages, and this increases its buoyancy. However, an egg that floats may still be safe to eat.

An egg can float in water when its air cell has enlarged sufficiently to keep it buoyant. This means the egg is older, but it may be perfectly safe to use. A spoiled egg will have an unpleasant odor when you break open the shell, either when raw or cooked.

If the egg stands on its pointed end at the bottom – it is still safe to eat but best used for baking and making hard-cooked eggs. If the egg float – they’re stale and best discarded. A hard-boiled egg will sink into simple water and it will fall into salt water.

If you’re wondering how to tell an egg is hard boiled, set it on the counter and give a quick spin. Once it’s moving, tap your finger on it to stop the spinning. Eggs that are cooked will spin easily and rapidly and stop quickly.

Raw eggs do have all the same benefits as cooked eggs. However, protein absorption is lower from raw eggs, and the uptake of biotin may be prevented. Most concerning is the small risk of raw eggs contaminated with bacteria leading to Salmonella infection. Buying pasteurized eggs will lower your risk of infection.

The hard boiled egg spins for much longer (and faster) than the raw egg. This is because the inside is solid, so the entire thing is one solid mass. The raw egg has liquid on the inside, which is not attached to the shell. The liquid inside it much harder to spin, and it slows the egg down much faster.

This is because the fluid insides kept the inertia that the shell lost when the finger held it in place allowing it to continue spinning after the shell stopped. When the boiled egg was stopped by my finger the solid inside was stopped by the shell opposing its inertia.

Hard-boiled eggs are easy to overcook The biggest issue with hard-boiled eggs is one that you probably wouldn’t notice if you’ve been eating them the same way all your life, and that’s that you’re overcooking them, which is where the dark ring around the yolk comes in — plus bad texture.

If you boil an egg for five or 10 minutes, it becomes firm and cooked. If you boil it for hours, it becomes rubbery and overcooked. Beyond that, things get a little mysterious. Eggs are full of coiled-up protein molecules.