To see if your egg is hard-boiled, you can spin the egg. If the egg spins on its own, it’s hard-boiled; if it wobbles and stops spinning, it’s not. It would be a good idea to spot your egg in case it’s not hard-boiled.

I’ve never tried this experiment, but ehow.com says it works.

The Black X method sounds like a good one too!

For example, if you look under eggs, there’s entries for egg scissors, egg slicers, egg separators, egg timers, and Egg Sardou (a poached egg dish that is “a specialty of Antoine’s restaurant in New Orleans”). There’s great info in this book!

I don’t think I’ve ever had eggs that were four/five months old. Did they look different (was the yolk runny for example)? Just curious!

Your post got me wondering how long eggs are supposed to last so I went back to On Food and Cooking. Here what McGee says:

“Bought fresh and treated with care, eggs should keep for several weeks in the shell” (83).

To treat eggs with care, he also recommends storing them in an airtight container instead of a loose carton because it slows moisture loss. I’d be afraid the eggs would crack, even if it does keep them fresh for a longer time.

Yes, this is the hard-boiled egg test. This is a valuable tip too! Thanks for sharing it.