Eggs

The whites and yellows each have their own unique properties that impact the custard, soufflé, cake, casserole, you name it, significantly.  Use them separately and whip the whites to add air to dishes, use just the yellows to add a creamy richness, or mix them together to hold things together.  The yellows contain all the fat in an egg, making them good for emulsifying.  Yolks also contain about 1/2 of the protein, more vitamins (including all the vitamin A, D, E, and zinc that is in an egg as well as a larger percentage of the phosphorus, manganese, iron, iodine, copper, and calcium) than the white, a good dose of antioxidants, and 1/3 of the liquid weight of the egg.  The whites contain protein and no fat. 

The yolks are also a rich source of Lutein and Zeaxanthin, (carotenoids) essential vitamins with antioxidant value .  Yolk color is determined by what the bird eats.  Deep yellow to orange egg yolks are richer in carotenoids.  Yolks contain about 1/2 the eggs protein and all of the fat (about 4.5 grams of fat, 1.5 of which is saturated and the rest is polyunsaturated which has been shown to decrease LDL cholesterol) as well as most of the vitamins, minerals and antioxidants.

Contrary to what you may have heard, eggs do not increase bad cholesterol.  Nor do they increase the risk of heart disease or stroke, for the average person who is not at high risk. (Hu, F.B., M.J. Stampfer, et al. 1999) (JAMA 281(15):1387-94.)  Bad Cholesterol, LDL, is based upon what you eat (saturated fats and transfats) and what you don't eat (vegetables), than simply your egg intake.  Eggs are a near perfect food with a balance of protein and nutrients.

The breed of the hen determines shell color.  Aracona chickens, for example, lay a lovely green shaded egg.  Egg color is simply an aesthetic preference.  Birds that lay brown eggs tend to be larger birds with reddish brown feathers and earlobes around their neck.  Since they are bigger, they eat more food than their paler cousins and therefore these eggs are a bit more money.  White egg layers have white feathers on their neck and white earlobes.

Fresh eggs are best.  Proper handling (temperature) once laid will cause eggs to stay fresh or get old faster.  You will notice the yellows stand up and are perky when you crack them with fresh eggs.  In the shell, the older the egg, the more it will float in water.  Fresh eggs sink.  That's because, and you've probably noticed, an air pocket develops against the shell and the membrane in the egg as it ages.  But older eggs aren't all bad.  If you're making a soufflé or something where you need whipped egg whites, older eggs are better because the whites are more watery and broken down so they will whip up more easily.

Fresh eggs will also have a more noticeable chalaza (the egg white strand that anchors the yolk in place).  (The chalaza is indeed supposed to be there and it is not an embryo.  It does not need to be removed.)

If your egg white is a bit cloudy, you can be assured of a very fresh egg.  The cloudiness is from carbon dioxide found in the young egg that has not had time to escape yet from the shell.

Believe it or not, a bright red Blood spot would also indicate a fresh egg.  Though very rare, less than 1% of all eggs have blood spots, they usually occur from a rupture of a blood vessel on the surface of the yolk follicle.  The blood spot can be removed for aesthetics; a blood spot does not make the egg inedible.  However, eggs with blood spots are not kosher.  This is because blood spots can also occur due to fertilization.  Of course, most hens nowadays are not allowed anywhere near a rooster so fertilization is an impossibility in today's eggs, but religion dictates that we toss the egg with the blood spot.  The laws of Kashrut do not dictate white eggs over brown or other color eggs, just that it not be a fertilized egg.  Some people believe that there are more blood spots in brown eggs than white eggs because they mistakenly think that a naturally occurring brown coloration in the brown egg is a blood spot and it is not.  The laws of kashrut are clear that it is the red blood spot that is not allowed for fear of fertilization and that brown spots can be ignored.

Inappropriate temperature and humidity will age an egg.  (A week-old egg can actually be fresher than a day-old egg.)  In the U.S. eggs are refrigerated but in other parts of the world they are not.  They will keep fresh out of the refrigerator if never placed in cold.  Once they are refrigerated, they must always be refrigerated to maintain freshness.

Size is actually determined by the age of a hen.  The older the hen, the larger the egg.  Double yolks come from the same hens making the XL eggs.

Conventional hens live under tremendously stressful polluted environments. (Skip learning all this if you are convinced that free range organic eggs are best.)  They suffer needlessly.  The hens are caged in windowless buildings with no hope of any fresh air.  There is hardly room for her to stand.  They are cramped (sometimes 4 or more per tiny cage) on top of one another.  Their entire life is spent in confinement and they are not allowed any "normal" behaviors of socializing, nest building, dust bathing, perching, scratching the ground and walking.  Her feathers fall out as she rubs against the cage.  Her skin becomes raw.  She is constantly striking at other hens or pecking at herself in frustration.  Naturally she would peck, but she has nothing else to peck at and the stress is overwhelming.  So, her beak is cut to prevent injury to herself and other hens.  Debeaking is a painful procedure where their sensitive upper beak is cut off with a hot blade.  Many die from the shock of this procedure.  When she stops laying her egg quota, the farmer may stop feeding her and put her out to die of starvation.  This is done on purpose to get her going.  The shock of starving causes her to molt and start a laying process again.  Many birds die during this shock. 

The environment is toxic.  Because of the cramped quarters and unclean conditions, the farmer takes steps to prevent his revenue.  If just one got sick, disease would spread quickly and kill them all, therefore the hens are routinely fed antibiotics, mold inhibitors, preservatives, and pesticides.  Bacteria like salmonella can run rampant in these inhumane cramped conditions.  Arsenic may be sprayed on their food to ward off harmful parasites.  Insecticides are sprayed around the hens cages and in the feed itself to ward off harmful bacteria that could spread disease.  There is poison and stress everywhere. 

Most hens are fed grain or (GMO) corn that has been treated with pesticides and some are even fed animal by-products (like their brothers who are discarded since they are useless to the egg farmer!  Many times, male chicks are slowly suffocated in plastic bags crushed on top of one another or ground into animal feed (sometimes while still alive!).) 

Aside from being filled with the stress and toxins, their eggs are not nearly as nutritious either.  Their yolks are pale in comparison to the eggs of free roaming chickens.  (Egg yolks can be dyed to look normal and some may add colors to feed to add color.)  Life on the conventional chicken coop is not good.  Choose organic eggs from free roaming chickens always.

You say cost is an issue?  I used to say to my husband that we couldn't possibly afford organic eggs since we consumed so many eggs.  Then we broke it down to cost per egg (okay, c'mon, it's .29 - .35 an egg!) and health risk (ugh, all those chemicals!) as well as risk to our environment and I learned about those poor conventional chickens, and, well, we realized that we can't afford to eat those conventional eggs ever and we actually take steps to avoid them even in foods that contain eggs as an ingredient.

Free Range or Cage Free (or Free Running) birds are free to roam about instead of being locked in small crowded cages.  Actually these terms are a little different.  Cage free does not guarantee access to the outdoors like Free Range, just that they are not housed in cages.  There is no inspection to verify the claim cage free. But free range doesn't necessarily guarantee pasture, it could be dirt or concrete and still be free roaming.  If allowed to truly roam free in pastures, the chickens will eat seeds and pick up additional nutritional value.  Studies have shown the eggs from free range hens are higher in folic acid and Vitamin B12.  Eggs from birds allowed access to pasture are also higher in Omega-3 fatty acids, Vitamin E and Vitamin A.  The yolks are deeper in color (when the chicken gets good food and sunshine, the yolks will have a nice deep color) and therefore contain valuable antioxidants.  Since cage free birds have more room, disease doesn't spread rampant as in conventional hen houses, so they may only be given antibiotics when sick instead of constantly.  Chickens are social creatures and need to be free range. 

Organic eggs are from hens given no hormones or antibiotics and fed only organically certified feed grown without pesticides, insecticides or herbicides.  They are free roaming and must have access to fresh air.  This is verified by third party inspectors.

Vegetarian diets are what chickens are supposed to eat; not animal by-products.  Third party inspectors do verify this claim.

Designer eggs have DHA and Omega 3s.  Hens are fed marine algae, kelp or flax seeds that they convert into useful Omega 3s that our bodies use when we eat the eggs.  The conventional egg has only 18 mg and most designer eggs have 100 - 350 mg per egg.

Fertile eggs have been fertilized by a rooster and will hatch, if allowed.  For the eggs to get fertile, the hens had to have more "freedom," if you know what I mean.  Some feel these eggs are more natural and therefore prefer them since they are produced in a "normal" way, however there is no additional nutritional value. 

Salmonella is really a threat in a fast food breakfast place or restaurant.  And even there, salmonella infects only one egg in a million.  The problem is that salmonella can grow quickly in breakfast places since eggs sit out and get mixed together with other eggs where the bacteria can multiply.  If one egg is infected and is mixed with others and not kept refrigerated, the salmonella can grow quickly.  These restaurants tend to use conventional eggs too since they are cheaper than free range and organic eggs.  There is a slim chance of infection from a healthy hen.  There is really no threat at home where eggs are properly handled, especially eggs from free range organically fed hens.  Salmonella outbreaks have greatly declined in past years due to increased awareness of the proper handling of eggs and cases of salmonella in the home are very rare indeed.  "They" still say to cook yolks completely but many of us still enjoy eggs over easy from fresh organic eggs.

Cooking tips:

You don't need a nonstick pan to make perfect breakfast eggs, just make sure the pan is warm enough, but not so hot that it smokes or that the butter, once you put it in, burns.  Get the pan nice and warm before adding your butter (you don't need much); once that's swirled around and melted you'll see it bubble a little.  Then crack your eggs on a flat surface, not the edge of the bowl and add your eggs to the warm pan with the melted butter (or olive oil, if you prefer, but butter tastes so good with eggs!).  The trick is the temperature of the pan, the butter added after it gets warm, and the eggs added after the butter is foamed to prevent eggs from sticking.  Timing is everything.

Separating eggs?  I crack the entire egg into the bowl that I'm going to prepare the whipped whites in and then use my hand to scoop out the yellow.  Works great!  Of course you can do the rocking back and forth from one half the egg shell to the other until you only have the yolk but you do run the risk of spreading any germs on the shell that way too. Or you crack the egg into your hand and use your hand to separate them.  Are there yellows in your whites?  Use the shell of the egg to remove any bits of yellow.

Whipping eggs?  Use older eggs (whites are watery) and bring them to room temperature before whipping.  Whip eggs higher in a copper bowl.  Salt, sugar or cream of tartar help stabilize whipped egg whites and are often added to recipes that call for whipped whites.  Use a clean dry bowl and don't let any yellows in or they won't whip up.

For a different egg dish for breakfast, brunch or even a light dinner try a side salad and:

• A Frittata - use a recipe or simply sauté some veggies (onion, garlic, spinach, mushrooms; or basil, garlic and tomato (first squeeze out the liquid from the tomatoes); smoked salmon, goat cheese and dill; whatever you want; ) then add your beaten eggs (you need a lot depending upon the size of your pan, I normally use at least 6 but I have used 4 in a smaller pan - the veggies really stretch it out to feed more people).  If you want cheese, add the cheese to the egg mixture before adding them to the hot pan.  I sometimes add some baking powder to my eggs to get them poofier and I sometimes add a little flour too.  Let it sit in the pan over a gentle flame for a couple minutes and then move it to a preheated 350 F oven for 30 - 40 minutes until poofed and lightly brown on top.
   
• Try this easy and high calcium Soufflé made in a blender!
   
• Try a souffléd omelet where you whip the egg whites and then gently fold in the egg yellows mixed with a little flour into the whites.  Add some herbs too and then stuff it with veggies and cheese.
   
• Try one of these brunch recipes from the American Egg Board
   
• Try one of these brunch recipes from Foodtv.com
   
• Pete & Gerry's Organic Egg Recipes

The best way to make boiled eggs is not to boil them at all but rather bring the water up to a boil with the eggs in there, then turn it off and cover it for 15 minutes.  After that drain and rinse with cold water, don't be afraid to crack the eggs when you drain as that will help the peeling process.  You'll be rewarded with perfectly yellow (not green and rubbery) boiled eggs every time!

Okay, so you know you hardboiled some eggs but don't know which ones?  Spin a hardboiled egg and then stop it.  It stops.  Spin a non-cooked egg and stop it and it will continue to spin as if by some mystical force of nature.

If making angel food cake, pavlova, or macaroons, be sure to also make a crème caramel, custard, banana pudding, rice pudding, or two, tapioca, egg nog, crème brulee, ice cream, zabaglione sauce with strawberries or find another recipe to use the egg yolks too.

Eggs go well with just about anything but especially:

• Salt is very important to eggs but add it after the eggs start cooking (if making a frittata, add it to the eggs and whip them).  Adding salt tends to toughen them a bit but eggs do need salt.
• Freshly ground black pepper is a good addition to eggs too.
• Avocado go particularly well with eggs.
• Tomatoes with some salt are also a nice accompaniment.
• As are fresh herbs like parsley or dill.
• or make a quick salsa to top your eggs with Avocado, Tomatoes, Cilantro, salt and pepper.

Storage tips:

Store eggs in their own container (not those plastic things that come with the refrigerator) inside the refrigerator (not on the door since that gets open a lot, especially at our house, and has big temperature fluctuations) - you want to keep them cool at a constant temperature.

If using the yolks in a recipe, freeze the whites to use later in an angel food cake or soufflé.

Egg Fun Facts:

A hen needs about a day to a day and a half to make each egg.

Fresh eggs keep in the fridge for about a month.  Hard boiled eggs keep for a week.
 

• Good Eggs Get Better
• American Egg Board
• Poultry and Eggs, The Green Guide
• Designer Eggs vs Conventional Eggs
• Super Eggs
• American Heart Association on Eggs
• Designer Eggs: The Cracking Edge
• Eggs, Cholesterol and Health Issues
• Eggs - Unscrambling the Confusion
• Eat Wild
• The Breakfast Plate, The Green Guide
• Humane Farming Assoc - What happens in the conventional Hen House?
• Designer Eggs, She Knows
• Natural Ways to Dye your Easter Eggs Coloring Springtime Eggs With Natural Dyes, Debra Lynn Dodd