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How Are Fresh Eggs Different?
Esperanza Pallana, who writes the urban farming blog Pluck and Feather, explains the difference between fresh eggs from your backyard chickens and eggs you’d buy at the supermarket or even the farmers’ market.
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There is really no comparison of having Cage free range eggs.....direct from the hen. You really need to go straight to the source (farm) to really experience the taste. Some stores might have that cage free range - but its the refrigeration that augments the whole composition of the egg.
Fresh eggs can be left out unrefrigerated (like in Europe) because they are not washed and sanitized prior to distribution like "plant eggs". That process removes the cuticle which is a protective membrane that prevents bacteria from entering the shell.
Nana - My husband was a USDA egg and poultry inspector. Where he was stationed, the eggs never left refrigeration until they arrived at store distribution centers. Refrigerated trucks picked them up from the hen houses and tansported to the "egg plant." There they were washed, candled and graded. The grades went from "C" (I believe these were not for human comsumption) to AA, and the best were...+READ
Nana - My husband was a USDA egg and poultry inspector. Where he was stationed, the eggs never left refrigeration until they arrived at store distribution centers. Refrigerated trucks picked them up from the hen houses and tansported to the "egg plant." There they were washed, candled and graded. The grades went from "C" (I believe these were not for human comsumption) to AA, and the best were "fresh fancy." The whites of a "C" egg will run all over the pan, while a "AA" does not spread very much. Another test is the height of the yolk. Look at the broken egg in the skillet. The higher the yolk, the fresher the egg. Also, the yolk from a fresh egg will not break very easily, The color of the yolk has nothing to do with the quality of the egg, but is determined by the chicken feed. When eggs are packaged, they are supposed to be put into the carton with the pointed end downward. This has something to do with keeping the aircell at the wide end of the egg and keeps the yolk centered. BTW - no one does this any more and I wonder how my beloved husband feels when he looks down from above and sees his beloved eggs out of refrigeration and no attention given to packaging. :) No wonder grade AA eggs are hard to find, and I haven't heard of a Fresh Fancy in years. Bet now you heard more about eggs then you ever wanted to know - GRIN.-COLLAPSE
Fresh eggs have a darker, richer yolk? Isn't that a function of the chicken's diet?
The video was a disappointment. I was expecting a visual comparison of fresh eggs and not-fresh ones, but none was provided. Some key differences were not even mentioned. The whites of eggs, for example, have a thin component and a thick one. The less fresh the egg, the larger the thin, watery component of the white. You can see it when you fry an egg. Part of the white stays close to the yolk,...+READ
The video was a disappointment. I was expecting a visual comparison of fresh eggs and not-fresh ones, but none was provided. Some key differences were not even mentioned. The whites of eggs, for example, have a thin component and a thick one. The less fresh the egg, the larger the thin, watery component of the white. You can see it when you fry an egg. Part of the white stays close to the yolk, while the thin part spreads out over a larger area.-COLLAPSE
uuuummm......I thought that old egg whites whip up better then fresh egg whites. Although perhaps that is not what she said......it sounded like she was mumbling half the time.
Why the he-- is she wearing a long scarf while cooking???
Maybe this video was produced for the visually impaired, because the video itself provided absolutely NO information at all. Play it with your eyes closed. There was NO visual comparison of fresh vs. old eggs!
I agree that fresh hard-cooked eggs are harder to peel. I find that the shells on the local, free-range eggs I buy to be thicker and the membrane stronger. Even when I peel them the "right way" under cold running water, I generally lose several chunks of white in the process.
Also, really fresh eggs also lack the large air pocket you usually find in grody old supermarket eggs. While the air...+READ
I agree that fresh hard-cooked eggs are harder to peel. I find that the shells on the local, free-range eggs I buy to be thicker and the membrane stronger. Even when I peel them the "right way" under cold running water, I generally lose several chunks of white in the process.
Also, really fresh eggs also lack the large air pocket you usually find in grody old supermarket eggs. While the air pocket makes the final product look less perfectly egg-shaped, it definitely helps with ease of peeling. Those easily peeled old eggs usually taste pretty sulfurous, however, so it's usually not worth it.-COLLAPSE
I recently ate eggs from chickens that are fed kelp and vegs. They are wonderful. The yolks are a rich yellow.
Fresh eggs are no problem to hard boil. Bring eggs and cold water to boil, cover and turn off the heat. let stand until cool and peel under cold water starting with the large end. Let the cold water run between shell and white the shell should come off in chunks
missed a point on working with fresh eggs. boiled they're very hard to peel without tearing the white. when i had my own flock i'd hold back some so they were closer to the 3-week-old mark for boiling. devilling or making salad.
The color of the yolk has nothing to do with how fresh the egg is. It's a function of the chicken's diet.