[Sca-cooks] RE: eggs

[Weems, Lora]

Eggs are graded based on how big the air cel in the large end is.  The
larger the cel,
the older the egg.
Several things can affect the size of the cel, therefore the grade:

Humidity of storage
Temperature of storage
How fast the eggs are put into storage
Diet of the chickens
If the chickens are 'factory' or 'range' chickens
		(Factory chickens are in cages, that have a sloping floor
		- the eggs tend to be collected anywhere from several times
		per day to continuously, conveyor-belt fashion; Range
chickens
		are going to lay in nests, and the eggs will be gathered
		once, or twice per day)

Grade A eggs from the grocery store may be more than 2 weeks old, before
you buy them; they are, however still good for pretty much anything you
would
like to do with them.

As mentioned on this thread over the past coupla days, eggs that you want
to boil will peel easier if they are a week or more old - but that shouldn't
be a problem, since that chicken seed is probably older than that already.

To determine approximate grade:

Break the raw egg onto a flat surface.  The higher the grade (therefore the
fresher the egg is), the taller the yolk will stand, and the less the white
will spread.  Frying eggs need to be of a higher grade - baking, scrambling,
or boiling can be of a lower grade, as they don't have to be as pretty.

If you want REALLY fresh eggs, (and you can't keep your own chickens)
check with your local feed or health food store - I sell my eggs every
other day to the feed store where I get my feed grain, and most feed
stores will know who raises chickens, even if the store doesn't sell eggs.

Note: if you want to make pickled eggs, you can peel them easier if you
cover the (hard-boiled) eggs with vinegar for 12+ hours, depending on the
egg. (Quail eggs take less time, duck and chicken take longer)
The shell dissolves and it is very easy to peel the inner membrane.
(Kids love the result if you do this with a RAW egg...)

Leofwynn
bird lady of Lindenwood

Phillipa asked:
> 2 weeks ago I bought a dozen eggs. They have been in refridgeration all
this
> time, but I still have 6 left.  How long do eggs keep under
refridgeration?

They are fine. They will keep longer. In fact, they probably spent
a fair amount more time than that simply getting from the chicken
to you.

For more info on keeping eggs, including how to keep them unrefrigerated,
check this file in the FOOD section of the Florilegium:
egg-storage-msg   (16K)  2/ 7/02    Period and modern raw egg storage.

Hmmm. Okay, its not uploaded to the website yet.

Most of the info can be found in the (older) copy of this file online:
eggs-msg         (139K)  2/ 7/02    Egg storage. Recipes. Substitutions.
http://www.florilegium.org/files/FOOD/eggs-msg.html
--
THLord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
   Mark S. Harris            Austin, Texas          stefan at texas.net
**** See Stefan's Florilegium files at:  http://www.florilegium.org ****