Because we don't have and/or like those refrigerator egg storage bins, we leave our eggs in the carton.
Because we usually buy eggs before we run out, we have two cartons in the refrigerator until the older carton is emptied.
Because it wastes space and I'm a little on the strange side, it bugs me to have two cartons of eggs (one mostly empty) in the refrigerator.
Because there's already a slight hollow in the lid of many egg cartons, it occurs to me that an egg carton might be redesigned to make room for five "cradles" in the outside of the closed lid.
Because it would let me get rid of one carton, I'd transfer the remaining eggs from the old carton in to the recesses in the lid of the new carton.
Because once they get to my refrigerator, the eggs/cartons aren't subjected to the harsh requirements of transportation, 1/2 egg or deeper indentations in the lid should be secure enough to contain the extra eggs until I use them.
Because such loosely fitting cradles might allow some people to dump the eggs from the exterior recesses, some sort of "pop-outs" could be engineered in to the lid and pushed inside-out to better support the extra eggs.
Because the old eggs are more accessible and clearly indicated, and it's difficult to access the new eggs while there are still old eggs, proper (FIFO) rotation is enforced.
(Because I work from home and was cooking an egg for lunch, I had this epiphany about 20 minutes ago after seeing the problem for years...because I'm slow.)-- half, Oct 13 2005 some egg boxes seem to be designed in the way you want but you'd need to flip the box http://www.design-technology.org/egg.JPGthere are some plastic boxes that seem to be the very design you crave [po, Oct 14 2005] (?) one of these would suffice for my single-egg taste http://users.vnet.n...n/Faberge/eggs.html [po, Oct 14 2005] eggy game http://www.ferryhal...isinal/g3/dozen.htm [po, Oct 14 2005] Superb.-- bristolz, Oct 13 2005 Wow. I've been waiting for this for a while. Well conceived. +-- jellydoughnut, Oct 13 2005 Eggstra carton? [+]
Alternatively make the box symmetrical so that the lid has the same hollows as the base and incorporate a locking mechanism so that the box locks open as a tray. That way a box of 6 turns into a tray for 12.-- st3f, Oct 13 2005 because I like you.
I only rarely fancy an egg - pity you can't buy a box of one.-- po, Oct 13 2005 That would be quite a cute item on a supermarket shelf -- a single-egg egg-box. Reminds me of the omelette scene in Ninotchka.-- st3f, Oct 13 2005 Eggcellent! I keep a box of tomatoes on top of the egg carton, which would still fit nicely with two eggs stored on top, whereas there’s no room for the tomatoes if I stack two egg cartons. Historically, I have eaten eggs to rectify this very serious problem.-- Shz, Oct 13 2005 You could cut a used egg carton in half and leave that in the refrigerator for surplus... but your idea is cuter :) nicely written.-- phundug, Oct 13 2005 They should make six-packs of SPAM.-- jellydoughnut, Oct 13 2005 Heptadecarton +-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Oct 14 2005 GREAT idea ! So simple. Yet very clever.
I guess the only problem is that the carton makers wont really make any more profit from the improvement, and therefore wouldn't invest money upgrading the carton tooling.-- JoeyJoJoShabadoo, Oct 14 2005 Umm, couldn't you just put the carton of new eggs into the fridge upside-down? That way, the bottom of the carton becomes your new lid and you would have five handy indentations in which to place your old eggs. Free, gratis, and at no cost to anyone.-- Canuck, Oct 14 2005 I like eggs too. +-- longdecember79, Oct 14 2005 random, halfbakery