SC - Re: sca-cooks V1 #2152 egg sizes

[Kay Loidolt]

Johann von Metten, medieval poultrier responds:

> Date: Tue, 18 Apr 2000 17:38:12 -0500
> From: "Mark.S Harris" <rsve60 at email.sps.mot.com>
> Subject: SC - period egg sizes
> 
> We have debated how big period eggs were here before.
> 
> However, I just bought some eggs from a friend here
> at work. His kids are raising 18 chickens. And since
> that many eggs are a bit much for one family to consume
> he is selling them for $1.25 (US) per dozen. So now I
> get to try some real fresh eggs vs. the ones I've been
> buying in the grocery. And I've never had brown-shelled
> eggs before, although that probably doesn't change the
> taste any.
> 
> Anyway, what he brought up is that the eggs are getting
> bigger as the chickens get older. Now they should stabalize
> out to a particular size, but that might have taken much
> longer in the Middle Ages for each chicken due to nutrition
> or breeding. Today's egg laying chickens in factory
> environments may live a very compressed life. Grow up
> quick, lay eggs for a while, and be killed as soon as the
> egg production or egg size drops off.
> 
> Thus I wonder if the medieval chicken, even on an individual
> basis might have laid a larger variety of egg sizes. Also, we end up 
>sorting eggs by size because we can in the quantities we handle, even 
>from one producer. Maybe a large manor getting a large quantity of eggs 
>might sort by size, but smaller, poorer, outfits might not have had the 
>quantity of eggs at any one time to sort them by size. Plus if these 
>were eggs that came from your serfs and workers I imagine you would
> still use all the eggs, whether large or small.
> 
> I wonder if we have any rent records that call for x number of large 
>eggs or somesuch as opposed to simply saying x number of eggs. And if 
>so, how is the size measured or described? If you don't specify the 
>size, I would expect the lord to get the smallest of the available eggs.
> 
> Comments?
> 
> Lord Stefan li Rous (posting from work)
> stefan at texas.net
>  Johann von Metten, medieval poultrier, responds:
 
Ja, Wohl Variety is everything!! The age of the hen and breed is the 
greatest determinate regarding egg size, while the diet and lifestyle of 
the bird has the greatest impact on the egg taste, ie richness, color, 
texture and consistency. 

 The medieval poultrier would have a wide variety of egg sizes available 
and would even have kept different ages of birds separated in order to 
make the gathering of size specific eggs easier. 
 The larger eggs would go to either market or the manor house while the 
smaller eggs might be used by the poultier him/herself, excpet for the 
Spring eggs which would be large and be set aside for hatching





 Date: Tue, 18 Apr 2000 19:36:04 EDT
> From: Morses3 at aol.com
> Subject: Re: SC - period egg sizes
> 
> In a message dated 4/18/2000 6:49:54 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
> rsve60 at email.sps.mot.com writes:
> 
> << We have debated how big period eggs were here before.
>   >>
> 
> This seems like the perfect opportunity to ask what may be a silly 
>question, but one I hope someone here can answer. What size difference 
>is there in for example a small egg versus a large egg. Is there a 
>measurement of volume of contents that is considered a standard? If I 
>could choose between using a small egg or large egg, are there 
>instances where one would be better than the other?
> 


There is a differance of anywhere between only a couple of ccs to a full 
10 ccs or more. From a beginging pullet at 4-6 months to a ripe hen at 
2-3 years. The taste of the older hen would be perhaps richer and 
larger, than the pullet, but not much differance between them if diet, 
breed and excercise are the same.  


> I only had ever seen white eggs until I was 12 when I moved to my
> grandparent's farm where they had their own chickens and then 
>encountered brown eggs. I couldn't ever tell a difference in the 
>flavor, but hey, I was 12 :-)   Do these eggs have different flavors 
>that would make some more appropriate for some dishes than others, or 
>do they taste the same regardless of the shell color?

 The only possible explaination for any taste differance between white 
and brown or even other tinted eggs would be diet.  The tendency that 
the major egg producers which use white-shell laying breeds use modern 
diets which contain many antibiotics, hormones and such, while those 
small time producers raising brown-sheller are more apt to be 
free-ranging which includes many raw unprocessed natural foods such as 
grains, vegetables AND(much to the contary some "natural, organic" 
ideas) animal protein, bugs, worms and meat scraps.