How to Cook Eggs in Project Zomboid (Build 42.19)

Build 42.19 · cook raw Egg / Wild Eggs on a heat source · 4 min cook / 20 min burn

Egg Loot / carton / forage

Wild Eggs Foraging skill 8

Egg Carton Opens into 12 Eggs

Prepared eggs World loot items

How to cook a raw egg

1. Get one raw Egg or Wild Eggs (see sources below).
2. Place it on a heat source that can cook food—an oven, electric or gas stove burner, campfire, charcoal BBQ, or similar. Regular Egg may also be heated in a microwave; Wild Eggs should not (see warnings).
3. Wait until the item’s cook progress reaches the cooked state. Default times: 4 minutes to cook, 20 minutes to burn. Prefer the on-item status bar over any real-world timer guess.
4. Remove the egg as soon as it is cooked, and shut off or clear the heat so it does not keep cooking toward burnt.
5. Eat it, or use the cooked egg as an ingredient in stir-fries, rice, pasta, sandwiches, burgers, salads, burritos, tacos, soups, and stews (many recipes require the cooked state for eggs).

Egg vs Wild Eggs

Both items are cookable egg foods with the same hunger and nutrition values. The practical differences are how you obtain them and a few use rules on Wild Eggs.

Wild eggs are not more nutritious than regular eggs—the macros match exactly. Prefer regular eggs in a microwave; use another heat source for Wild Eggs.

Where to get eggs

• Loot kitchens, refrigerators, grocery and farm-style containers for loose Egg items and Egg Carton packs.
• Egg Carton: use Open Egg Carton to get 12 Eggs (age and frozen state can carry over). You can also pack 12 uncooked Eggs back into a carton.
• Foraging: both Egg and Wild Eggs appear under the Animals forage category and require Foraging skill 8. Counts are typically 1–3 per find; they do not spawn in winter months on the default calendar (available roughly March–November, with early-spring malus months).
• Prepared egg dishes such as boiled, poached, and scrambled eggs mainly appear as world loot. Those prepared items are already cooked and use shorter shelf lives (commonly 3 days fresh / 6 days rotten). Omelettes are different: you can prepare one from raw eggs and then cook it.

How to prepare and cook an omelette

1. Bring a mixing utensil, a regular Pan or Forged Pan, and 2 uncooked eggs.
2. Use Prepare Omelette. The mixing utensil is kept; the pan and eggs become an uncooked omelette in the matching pan.
3. Put the omelette pan in an active oven, stove, campfire, BBQ, or another suitable heat source. It cooks in 10 minutes of heat progress and burns at 30 minutes.
4. Do not microwave it: omelette pans cook poorly in a microwave. Remove the cooked omelette before it burns.

Storage, freezing, and thawing

• At room temperature, eggs stay fresh for 14 days, then age further until totally rotten at 21 days. Keep them cold when you can.
• Eggs may be frozen to last longer. Powered freezers still need electricity or a generator.
• Most frozen food—including eggs—must be thawed before eating. Frozen food stays blocked until it thaws.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Eating raw eggs — both Egg and Wild Eggs are unsafe when uncooked.
• Leaving eggs on heat past the cooked state — burn time is only 20 minutes of progress.
• Microwaving Wild Eggs — use a stove, oven, or campfire instead.
• Assuming wild eggs are better food — same calories and macros as regular eggs.
• Trying to eat eggs while still frozen — thaw first.