Food The incredible, edible egg.

Hello one and all. Newbie here. I thought I'd share some interesting info about something I know a bit about... eggs.

Q: Why do farm eggs look and taste so different from commercially produced store-bought eggs?

A: Most commercial egg producers have thousands of nearly identical birds laying thousands of nearly identical eggs, day in and day out. With such massive standardization, they can offer their customers only perfectly shaped and evenly colored eggs.

Eggs with uneven or mottled color, freckles, bumps on the shell, etc. – like those usually produced on small, rural farms – are just as safe to eat. In fact, in many cases, the funny looking farm eggs are more organic, more natural, and more nutritious than factory farm eggs, because small farmers tend to provide a healthier and more varied diet for their girls, which means they produce better – and better tasting – eggs as a natural result. Crack a white store-bought egg in a pan next to a farm egg. Is one egg strangely flat looking? Runny? Pale and faded out? Now cook and taste. You decide.

Another consideration regarding appearance is the fact that all eggs have a natural protective coating called bloom, which helps preserve freshness by reducing evaporation, and prevents bacteria from being drawn through the egg’s 6000-plus pores. The bloom often gives eggs a mottled, spotted, or dusty appearance. Commercial egg producers wash their eggs vigorously, which dissolves the bloom and reveals the true color of the shell. To replace the beneficial aspects of the natural bloom, commercial producers then spray the shells with a thin film of mineral oil, which is why store-bought eggs sometimes look shiny.



Q: How long can I store my eggs?

A: Believe it or not, with the proper conditions (30 degrees/85% humidity), eggs can safely be stored up to nine months without any loss of flavor or health benefits! In a standard household refrigerator, where foods tend to dry out, eggs can be safely stored for two months at temperatures up to 55 degrees, where the relative humidity is between 70% and 75%. Clean eggs stored at 45 degrees and 75% humidity will keep well for at least three months. To increase humidity in your refrigerator, fill a plastic milk jug or 2-liter soda bottle with water and store it in the refrigerator with the cap off. To prevent unnecessary moisture loss, always keep your eggs in the carton.


Q: Why are the whites of my farm eggs so thick and solid?

A: This is a sign of a healthy, happy, well-fed bird. Egg farm/store-bought eggs usually have whites that are thinner and runnier than free-range farm eggs. Farm eggs often have thicker shells, as well, because free-range farm birds are usually fed a wide variety of fresh whole foods in addition to chicken feed.


Q: Can I eat an egg with a blood spot in it?

A: Absolutely! Blood spots occur when blood or a bit of tissue is released along with a yolk. Each developing yolk in a hen’s ovary is enclosed in a sac containing blood vessels that supply yolk-building nutrients. When the yolk is mature, it is typically released from a small area of the yolk sac that is free of blood vessels. But on occasion the yolk sac ruptures at some other point, causing vessels to break and blood to appear on the yolk or in the white. This is perfectly normal and is not a sign of a ‘bad egg.’ As an egg ages, the blood spot becomes paler, so a bright red blood spot is a sign that the egg is fresh.


Q: I got an egg with two yolks! How does this happen?

A: Double-yolkers appear when ovulation occurs too rapidly, or when one yolk somehow gets lost and is joined by the next yolk. Double-yolkers may be laid by a pullet (young hen) whose production cycle is not yet well synchronized, or by large-breed hens, often as an inherited trait.



So.... now you know!

 

Thanks - I'll check out the food forum (still in a daze, trying to learn what all is here). I've got a little over an acre and grow my own veg, fruit, berries, and chickens/eggs... Nothing beats walking out the front door for a fresh, healthy snack! Right now, the plum and apple trees are going gangbusters.

 

My mom always had chickens when I was a kid, so the first thing I did when I bought my own place, nine years ago, was order some of my own. Four days after I moved in, twenty-five two-day-old chicks arrived in the mail. As far as I'm concerned, chickens are a necessary part of life - the eggs are just an incredible bonus.

 

My hearts achin' for the thing next ta bacon...love them eggs (and Martin Mull's Song about them!)

 

My breakfast this morning:

omelette, with sauteed mushrooms, red onion, wilted spinach & arugula and goat cheese. Accompanied with a slice of peameal bacon.

Well, it's my breakfast pretty well every day. Love them eggs!

 

i wonder. Is that really canadian bacon? I just call it back bacon or peameal.

 

ahh, reminds me of Bob & Doug :



I had no idea that peameal is a local thing. I assumed it was global. My greatest disappointment ( a bit of hyperbole there !) was when I ordered a pizza in Pittsburgh once, requesting Canadian bacon expecting the normal strip bacon that everybody is familiar with - and getting medallions of ham that looked like they were taken off of an egg mcmuffin. Definitely not Canadian Bacon.

 

Back bacon (ie tenderloin). Tasty but not bacon.

Bacon is cured pork belly (gasp!).

 

Lies.

 

I think that it's just lovely and an indication on the power of bacon that this thread on Eggs has gone so sideways.... All hail bacon!

 

Ahem.

\

my bold
--- merged: Oct 17, 2013 at 10:59 AM ---
Never a better paring... except maybe gin and tonic!

That said... all hail the mighty versatile egg!

I can't get enough eggs.

 

If you shop for bacon here, you get options between streaky bacon and bacon. Alas, no back bacon (even under the name, Canadian).

Bacon as we in North American know it, is belly. When I serve roasted pork belly, people get squeamish (until they try it, then? Nirvana!). Serve them bacon and it's all cool.

But this is about eggs. We don't refrigerate eggs in Singapore. No need.