I'm a convert!

Mama

Mama

Queen of Cornbread
I've noticed that the yolk of the eggs (my favorite part :lol:) that I was buying in the grocery store seemed to be awfully pale. I was just buying the regular grade A Large White eggs. I recently switched to buying the "Cage Free" eggs and the difference is incredible. The yolks are a nice deep yellow and the eggs finally have flavor again!

What kind of eggs do y'all buy?
 
I vary a bit - if we can I get free range, otherwise I buy barn eggs - the hens are loose in the barn. Just now, I am enjoying eggs from a friend who has her own hens - very very tasty.
 
i just grab the cheapies half-pack, usually. i savor a good, deeply colored egg, too, tho, mama. just not on an egg-kick @ this time.
 
I'm with CF on this one! Egglands Best is well worth the extra pennies and they look and taste great! Fallon won't bake with anything else and I could be wrong but I think they make both cakes and other baked goods rise up even better.

Ian:bounce:
 
Just while I'm thinking of it, I recently got an email from a friend who lives in Florida, telling me that they, in their little town in Central Florida, are now allowed to have small chicken houses and pens on their property to have "home grown" eggs available to them. Something like three or four hens.....no roosters to propogate the faith, they said......which means no crowing to get the neighbors up early in the morning. Sounds like a good plan to me.

Ian :wave:
 
misc useless info . . .

the color of the yoke is highly influenced by diet.

free range birds get a much more varied diet. bugs and all that . . .

"kept" birds - within or without cages - on a "what you see is what you peck" diet
produce eggs more or less yellow depending on feed additives.

(marigold products make for more yellower, case you're curious....)

none of the above is intended to remotely imply "eye appeal" as not important.
but, at last google, no non-quack organization has been able to document better/worse nutrition / food value based on color.
 
(marigold products make for more yellower, case you're curious....)

Chickens in Mexico have yellow skin because they are feed marigold flowers. Not sure about the eggs. At our Mexican store you can buy just chicken. loose in the counter pick and choose what you want. Not packed in water, I like buying just chicken, not flavor enhanced, CF
 
of course it's dietary. hence, level of care toward the animal/contributation toward thier diet~ hence,-- a better food item produced for us to consume.
 
I was raised on a layer farm. there are three things that will affect color of the yolk. Diet, as mentioned above, breed of birds makes a minor difference. Age of the egg and the type of oil used as a sealant will also have some effect. I believe the use of oil has been greatly curtailed in the U.S. though.
The only difference that I know of is that the eggs laid by the Araucana and the Americana breed of chickens have a slightly reduced cholesterol content. However, this can also be achieved by feeding chickens a diet high in kelp by products.
FYI, Araucana and Americana eggs are those that have naturally blue, green or red shells. I have heard that they also produce a cream yellow shell but have never seen one.
 
Well Ive tried all different types of eggs and they all taste the same to me. I havent noticed a difference between Eggland or brown eggs or the least inexpensive eggs.
 
i've tried many eggs. to me, it's how neat or cute the egg is that draws meeeee in . u say, 'blue egg' ....... u jus won a customer~ think of projection :cooking:
i'll continue to abide by initial post~
 
chilefarmer said:
(marigold products make for more yellower, case you're curious....)

Chickens in Mexico have yellow skin because they are feed marigold flowers. Not sure about the eggs. At our Mexican store you can buy just chicken. loose in the counter pick and choose what you want. Not packed in water, I like buying just chicken, not flavor enhanced, CF
Click to expand...

Same reason Perdue birds have any color.

Same reason farm raised Salmon from Chile are pink. . it's diatoms they are fed(same that make flamingos pink).


The closer to nature/natural habitat you can get/harvest/eat your animal of choice, the better.

same with the eggs they produce. more natural, more better.


One thing that still boggles my mind, Americans over the last decade have gotten into "Organic" and "Free range", and more recently, locally sourced/sustainable. . . well, here's some news for ya. . . that's how the rest of the world lives(basically).
 
Well, I've been intrigued by this thread since I first read it. And, particularly, by Mama's opinion that eggs from cage-free chickens noticably looked and tasted better than regular eggs.

So, I bought a carton of Eggland's best and did a couple of side by side comparisons with my regular eggs.

First, I poached one of each (EB and mine). Since EB is stamped with a little "EB" on the shell, I could keep the poached eggs straight (the EB is the poached egg on the left in the first 2 pictures.

Couldn't tell any difference in the poached eggs.

Then I hard-boiled 2 of each (EB and mine). The little stamp on the EB shells wasn't there after the hard boil. So I peeled them all (no difference in peeling) and cut all 4 in half. Two were rounder, two had flat ends (could be age?). Three had the gray edge that I usually avoid by chilling the hot eggs in ice water (but didn't have time this time).

I took one half of each egg to work for lunch today, so I could be sure I'd get some of both the EB and my regular eggs.

Couldn't tell the difference.

I'm bummed!

Lee
EB is on the left

Egg comparison 1.JPG

EB is on the left

Egg comparison 2.JPG

Don't know which are EB

Hard boiled eggs.JPG
 
the color of the yolk is big time heavily influenced by diet.

if you feed a chicken suspended by its feet enough extract XYZ (actually a natural marigold product...) the yolks will be more yellow than any egg you've ever seen.

if you feed a caged chicken enough extract . . . same result

if you feed a free range chicken enough extract . . . might not make any difference as free range birds in a natural environment - note: free range bird can "range free" on a concrete slab . . . . - have a more varied diet and may not show the same degree of reaction.

how "round" the yolk stays for example in a sunny side up or poached is strictly dependent on the freshness of the egg. feed, free range, caged, cage free, hung from the rafters - none of that matters. as eggs age the yolk becomes less viscous and will "spread out thinner" when cracked into the pan. but that doesn't apply to hard/soft boiled eggs where the yolk remains "suspended" in the white - only when cracked out.

the position of the yolk to "center" - except in extremes - like when the eggs starts to smell bad - isn't a diet / cage issue - more freshness and storage orientation.

the green ring in the hard cooked eggs is simply a sign of over cooking (don't forget the ice chill shock....) it's a chemical reaction between the sulfur and the iron in the eggs and it will happen regardless of what kind of "range anything" chicken laid the egg.
 
yinz know those hens can be caged the vast majority of the day~ given 1 hour to run.
good eggs arrive from a farm w/ land.
 
To center the yolk in an egg put a rubber band around the carton and put it on it's side in the refrig overnight.
 
I was buying my eggs from Sam's Club. Maybe it was the farm that they chose to get their eggs from but I noticed the yolk was getting more and more pale and the eggs were losing flavor. I started buying the 4-grain cage free eggs (brown eggs) and noticed a considerable difference. I don't know about Eggland's Best....I've never tried them.
 
great choice, mama. when's breakfast @ ur place, btw.......:whistle:
the shell color is determined by the feed~ i say/know, the more naturally colorful a food, the further nutrient-rich.
 
Okay, I'm going to look for 4-grain cage free eggs.

I don't have a Sam's near me, but I've got a BJ's and a Costco.

Thanks, Mama!

Lee
 
not so long after bumbling down through this thread,,,, DD#1 came for a visit and convinced DW aka #1Mom - that Egglands were better because . . . . well because whatever.

now being three dozen Egglands into the experiment, here's my take / experience:

taste difference: no body can tell.
I pulled a dirty, rotten, low down, a-ethical trick and well,,, it proved the point - only the "touted" egg tastes better.
in fact they all picked the non-Eggland stuff as "better tasting" - but the cook knew which egg was what and they all picked the store brand as better tasting. yup, I deceived them and the taste difference was so unmarked that not one out of six flagged the Eggland brand as better tasting.

color: got pix, can't find any differences

freshness: MaJoR big time differences.

this takes a bit of explaining.....
if labeled as USDA Grade AA or Grade A, you'll see a date on the carton. the maximum date is set by USDA but _note_ it is max 45 days from _packing_ - NOT "days from the chicken"

so in my quest for egg truth, I was careful to buy a dozen eggs from Eggland and "store brand" with a pack expiration date within as one week time frame.

Eggland product had more thinned out whites, less perky yolks - across the board.
crack one of each into a bowl, the difference was clear to the naked eye.

now that little tidbit has some major implications - since the "use by" date is essentially the same, that means the eggs were packed as essentially the same time -

>>actually, not - it is possible that Eggland "short dates" - i.e. their date is not as long as the USDA specified maximum - but that sorta' doesn't work - as the Eggland would have been packed even later than the store brand . . . <<

which raises the issue how long / how well stored handled is the Eggland product prior to being "packed"

here's a pix - took a little diddling to get the right natural light so the "white pool" is visible.
see the yolk color.

the photo is direct as taken, no photoshopping / etc - I reduced it for size using Irfanview.

opinions as to which is fresher?
 

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Mama said:
I've noticed that the yolk of the eggs (my favorite part :lol:) that I was buying in the grocery store seemed to be awfully pale. I was just buying the regular grade A Large White eggs. I recently switched to buying the "Cage Free" eggs and the difference is incredible. The yolks are a nice deep yellow and the eggs finally have flavor again!

What kind of eggs do y'all buy?[/


Hahaha! I like the whites and totally despise the yolk. I'll make you a deal... I'll send you my yolks and you send me you whites. lol
Click to expand...
 
ChowderMan said:
this takes a bit of explaining.....
if labeled as USDA Grade AA or Grade A, you'll see a date on the carton. the maximum date is set by USDA but _note_ it is max 45 days from _packing_ - NOT "days from the chicken"


Eggland product had more thinned out whites, less perky yolks - across the board.
QUOTE]

the grade determines how perky the egg is, as well as how old the egg is.
Click to expand...
 
>>the grade determines how perky the egg is, as well as how old the egg is.

sorry luvs - some misinterpretation there.

USDA grading does indeed address the internals of the egg as can be observed via candling / inspection / etc. and quite bluntly about all that shows up is the size of the air sack - the "condition" slash more specifically the viscosity of the yolk or white cannot be evaluated by those methods.

has nothing to do with "absolute" age. it is entirely legal for an egg supplier to have market stock returned that has gone past the 45 day package date, re-wash, "re-process" - put on another "new" date another 45 days out, and re-sell the eggs per the USDA grading stds.

and, don't forget, all those kinds of companies are all the most upstanding / would never fudge / lie / stretch the truth / ignore the grading stds / break the law kinds of places. right..... so now that we know all the crooks are honest,,,, moving right along.....

it is entirely possible - and "legal" - that one or more (egg processors "co-mingle" the returned stock . . . ) of the eggs in the carton "freshly dated" is/are 60 - 90 - 120 - 160 days "old"
there is _NO_ tracking mechanism to this approach.

here's a fairly "readable" version of "egg grading" -
http://usda.gov/wps/portal/usda/usd...EARCH&Go_button.x=21&Go_button.y=11&site=usda

the details past that get real thick real fast , , ,
 
The color of the shell is determined by the breed of the chicken. The color of the yolk is determined by the feed.
 
goin' by my schoolbook/instructors' knowledge. & the book explains usda standards, has several pix of the uncooked eggs of various grades, explains air-cells, the effects of moisture loss, how the storage of an egg affects the grade/quality, how the various grades should appear/behave post-cracking, etcetera.
yes, i'll abide by those guys. 1 of the initial items we learned 'bout were eggs. when u hafta make eggs near-daily post-lecture, u learn quickly. i vied fer the highest of the 2 a+'s in that class. i know that that i was taught quite well.
& the 1 instructor went to the CIA (Culinary Institute of America, the other attended a Le Cordon Bleu.) 2 seperate schools. very similar knowledge from both Chefs.
my $0.02~
 
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Leni said:
The color of the shell is determined by the breed of the chicken. The color of the yolk is determined by the feed.
Click to expand...

Well, I guess that explains it. The farm that our Sam's Club was getting their eggs from must have changed the feed and they yolks became pale. The 4 grain eggs that I started buying must be using a different type of feed (probably 4 grain :yum:) to make the yolks darker.
 
I have friend from Texas that visit us a couple of times a year spend a few days. They always are telling me that the eggs we buy are so much better than they are getting at home. He commented also that the yokes on ours are much brighter also. I don't really know as my wife buys a few dozen at a time from various stores and all seem normal colors to me.

I know their is a difference in a yard bird and farmed chicken and won't touch a farmed chicken at all. Give me a free range chicken and I love it other wise don't bother to even offer it to me. If you look at them side by side it will become obvious to you the difference in size and color too.
 
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