Eggs in general. Choosing the best ones

Eggs are such a basic ingredient in our everyday cooking. Be it the simple chicken egg to the richer duck eggs, we simply can't do without them.
However, we need to be able to choose the freshest eggs on the market and how to store them effectively. There are so many ways to test for the freshness of an egg. Be it the candling method where light is passed through an egg to see the proportions of egg white to yolk to the air cells or the simple egg in water trick( if the egg floats, its gone bad but if it stays at the bottom, it is good to eat!) Sadly in choosing fresh eggs, it is nearly impossible to test for the freshness of an egg in a supermarket. A simple trick is to check the production date of the eggs. Some supermarkets tend to keep the fresher eggs at the bottom of the pile or at the back , so don't be afraid to dig deeper into the pile to search for that carton of farm fresh eggs! The Albumin(Egg white) of fresh eggs tend to be thick and not so liquid while the yolk is a rich orange colour so be sure to look out for these points the next time you crack open an egg!

It is best to wash your eggs of all the dirt right before cracking them open as washing them a couple of days before using them actually washes away the natural "antibacterial" bloom on the surface of the shell, making the egg susceptible to bacteria and spoilage.
In terms of the storage of eggs, eggs should always be kept in cool places like the fridge so as to reduce bacteria multiplication. It would also be best if the eggs were kept in their cartons as it prevents the eggs from drying out too quickly via moisture loss through the porous shell.