[Sca-cooks] Period Eggs

[Johnna Holloway]

There’s also this article:

Chicken Husbandry in Late-Medieval Eastern England: c. 1250-1400

https://sciencepress.mnhn.fr/sites/default/files/articles/pdf/az2009n2a2.pdf <https://sciencepress.mnhn.fr/sites/default/files/articles/pdf/az2009n2a2.pdf>

Johnna

> On Jan 8, 2023, at 2:06 PM, Terry Decker <t.d.decker at att.net> wrote:
> 
> I haven't encountered any reference as to the size of period eggs.  I do have some info on chickens in general that might help your guesstimates.
> 
> Gallus gallus domesticus is a direct descendant of Gallus gallus (Red Jungle Fowl).  Modernly farmed G. gallus produces a medium sized egg (no weight est. provided).  A clutch of wild G. gallus eggs averaged 28g each (1 oz., from a single point of reference).  Given a more domestic diet, the eggs would likely be heavier.   We are also talking about several thousand years of domestication before the recipe in question.
> 
> Small modern hens eggs are roughly 42g while medium are roughly 49g.  Some references suggest that the yolk size will be roughly the same, about 18g.  I haven't personally tested this although I can say a large egg added to a weighed mix adds about 60g.
> 
> There is a study of the DNA of Medieval and Modern chickens I encountered which sets the development of the modern chicken as beginning about 500 years ago.  Establishing the validity of domestication genes using DNA from ancient chickens (pnas.org) [https://www.pnas.org/doi/pdf/10.1073/pnas.1308939110] .  Interesting, but not necessarily answering your question.
> 
> Bear
> 
> On 1/8/2023 9:30:45 AM, David Friedman <ddfr at daviddfriedman.com> wrote:
> Has anyone researched the size of period eggs? I can think of a number
> of possible approaches. Best would be if there was some record giving
> the weight of an egg or the number of eggs in a pound, but I can think
> of a variety of less direct approaches.
> 
> I have a recipe I want to try that gives flour in pounds, egg yolks by
> number.
> 
> --
> David Friedman (Cariadoc)
> www.daviddfriedman.com
> http://daviddfriedman.blogspot.com/
> 
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