Store Bought Eggs

I bought eggs today, first time since the egg recall. So I have been without eggs for a long time and I have been wanting eggs again really badly. I am not much of a breakfast eater but I will fry up and eat eggs and toast and such for lunch, brunch or even an early or late dinner if I feel like it.

So I am embarressed to say I almost always just buy the regular white eggs. Rarely the brown eggs. But I have never been able to taste any difference between the brown ones and the white ones. The brown ones always cost more though.

So today I thought I should look for organic and or free range eggs. Are there organcic free range eggs? There weren't such a thing at my local supermarket. Plus the egg display was about one third full. There was a sign telling us customers that the eggs there for sale were safe to buy and eat and had nothing to do with the salmonella recall.

So the brown eggs I bought were Land O Lakes Brand and one dozen I picked said All Natural Brown Eggs. I thoght all eggs were natural. Are there any un-natural eggs? The second dozen I picked say Cage Free Eggs. Both say fed vegerterian ration with no anitibotics. Cage Free say hens are housed caged free in a protected area were they are free to walk around and scratch and nest. That does not exactly translate to free range.

The literature says there is no nutritional difference between eggs of different shell colour, although claims were at one time made that green/blue eggs had lower cholesterol. The nutritional content depends primarily on what the hen was eating...bugs and grass in addition to feed probably produces the healthiest birds and eggs. All things considered, however, the darker the yolk, the better.

This is a pretty clear explanation of the different marketing terms.

http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/features/egg-types-benefits-facts

Personally, I think making a chicken be "vegetarian" is close to abuse...they are naturally omnivorous. But it might prevent you buying eggs from chickens that have been fed ground up chickens...which might contribute to the build up of disease problems. Just like mad-cow infected meat came from beef fed ground up infected downer cattle.

You really are safest eating eggs from conditions you know...like your own or a neighboring farmer's.

This message was edited Sep 1, 2010 7:35 PM

There are no neighbor farmers around here were it might be possible to get fresh eggs. I don't even know if there any more on the east end of Long Island these days.

I was wondering why the vegetarian feed myself. I would think that something like fish meal would be good for chickens.

They fed so much fish meal to chickens in the UK that when I first moved there and roasted a chicken, the bird smelled like fried perch and I thought something was wrong.

It really freaked me out at first...but I got used to it.

Catscan, I agree with everything you posted, including that you are safest knowing your source. What I've not seen mentioned in this recent outbreak or follow up commentary is safe handling and cooking of eggs. Salmonella cannot survive 145 degrees. Chickens and many other animals can carry salmonella. Even homesteaded birds (yours and your neighbors included unless you've had them tested). They do not show symptoms.

To reduce risk eat fresh eggs that may not have the bacteria introduced through a thin shell, cook until well done, wash counters and bowls with hot water and be careful not to have raw egg on utensils, serving bowls dishes, sponges or sink. That said, with today's breeding and housing methods, Salmonella can pass from chicken to egg to chick and so on. I keep a small container of bleach under the sink to disinfect sponges, dish clothes, counters and cookware when handling raw foods, including eggs. I cater and have to be extra careful. Being an operating room nurse as well helps to understand what I'm dealing with.

In fact there is a requirement for labeling chickens free range. There must be an exit in the coop/chicken house of a certain dimension. Can't remember the size, but it's really small. What chicken goes out a little hole in its community to explore the world? Marco "Pollo"? lol
Laurel

DD lives in suburban Maryland on the outskirts of D.C.. She has the allowable five hens. This is her first foray into chicken rearing. One, LaMerle took to crowing a few months ago and it was soon realized that she should have been named LaEarl. Too bad as he was the friendliest, handsome Black Cochin. Well, she tried to give him away but after having no luck, and living in the bathroom for a week, he found a nice home in her freezer.

I I don't know about feeding so much fish meal that they actually smell like fish, that would doesn not seem very pleasant.

Actually I doubt I can pick about anything not free range. If I even go for haveing the chickens here they will definately not be free range. They would have to saty in there chicken yard.

Our hens are free-range and eat food without added antibiotics; they also get to eat all the crickets and other bugs they can find, and love squash bugs. I just wish I could let them in my garden to eat those at the source, but there wouldn't be much left of the plants after they finished the bugs. We like the look of brown eggs, too. And our hens get to roam over quite a large area, but it's fenced so they can't get out and dig up my flowers and veggies.

Since I had the two different types (one dozen of each) I decided to do a comparision side by side test. I took two eggs from each carton and fried the four eggs making note of which was which. Before I started I thought the Cage Free might be better. But to my surprise the other ones, which were the All Naural, had much, much better yoke color. More orange yolks compaired to really, really pale yokes on the Cage Free. I thought they tasted better too but that could easy have been my imagination because they had the better color.

If they had more color they may also have had richer flavor, unless the egg company is adding marigolds or something similar to enhance the color of the eggs and the birds' flesh.

It seems as though I've read that somewhere! The marigolds give more color to the flesh of chickens, and may also give more color to the yolks.

They must eat a lot of grass because mine do a great job of keeping my lawn mowed down. It was really noticeable to me this year because I divided my yard and only let them on one side. The other side the grass was very high, but on their side, it was low. It was actually quite shocking to realize that eleven little bantam chickens were eating that much grass.

I've also noticed that in the summer the yoke is a gorgeous dark orange. In the winter it is more of a lighter yellow color.

At the healthfood stores they used to say that the darker the color of your fruits and vegetables the more nutrition they have. That probably goes for eggs too.

I can see using marigolds if there is nutritional value, but to use it as a dye seems dishonest.

I can not see a comercial egg producing company adding Marigolds to the chicken diet. Were exactly would they get the marigolds for thousands upon thousands of chickens?

I think that it might be pretty likely with the big "organic" branches of the larger egg producers. Commercial growers already grow marigolds for nematicides and calendula (pot marigold) for skin creams.

If you google "chicken egg yolk marigold colour" or some combination of those terms you find a lot of research has been done on getting commercial egg yolks to look darker...which is funny because in the past some people preferred what were called "platinum eggs" with nearly white egg yolks (not nearly as healthy).

Apparently yellow corn and orange peels are also used.

(There is an odd comment in the Wikipedia site on eggs: Apparently if you feed brown egg laying chickens flax seed oil, a metabolic process turns it into a chemical that smells like fish...so fishy eggs....Yuck.)

Yuck to the fishy egg idea here too. I did see these Omega-3 claimed to be extra healthy eggs at the store but I haven't tried them. I didn't know about growing the marigolds.

MotherEarthnews has had a running report comparing true free-range with commercial egg production:

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Real-Food/2007-10-01/Tests-Reveal-Healthier-Eggs.aspx

I have read a couple of articles recently about taste testing eggs (home-grown vs. commercial) and despite color and nutritional differences, most eggs taste the same, except for the fishy ones. However, the visual appeal of darker yolks and philosophical appeal of happy chickens can enhance your egg eating experience.

I have been buying eggs and broiler chickens from a local farm and the meat is definitely tougher and less juicy but I know the chicken was humanely raised and slaughtered and that makes a big difference. And I like all the different colors of the egg shells.

I think most free-range or pastured chickens are fenced in because otherwise losses to predators (especially domestic dogs) can be very high. You would have to keep many chickens in a small shed to have conditions similar to a factory farm. Even the cage-free label only means that they are not in battery cages but they might still be kept inside of a giant barn with thousands of other chickens and never see the outdoors.

I'm not sure about the taste difference...but there is a huge difference in the texture between commericial and "home-grown" eggs. It took me a while to get used to it...the home grown ones are much firmer, especially the whites. Now, when I try to use store bought eggs, they seem unpleasantly mushy...particularly when hard boiled.

I think home grown also have an "eggier" taste. Probably just a reflection of the wider variety in their diets. I doubt that you would notice the difference so much if you were using them mixed with other ingredients in most cooking, though.

This message was edited Sep 7, 2010 1:12 PM

Hey, I don't want to hear that store bought and home grown eggs taste the same LOL :-(( The point of haveing your own eggs is for the fresh taste.

I actually am having trouble believing they do taste the same. I grown my own tomatoes and belive me anyone that has even grown fresh tomatoes will never want the tasteless store tomatoes ever again. So I think its like that with eggs.

Regarding feeding poultry marigolds, they are not the only animals fed foods to color flesh or egg. http://books.google.com/books?id=min_S-RIWb4C&pg=PA52&lpg=PA52&dq=salmon+fed+marigolds&source=bl&ots=2NBihf-5EH&sig=Nd-3gleq7ZZ58B0tfNcKm2D3cXA&hl=en&ei=OniGTOjNLcOclge17KzbDg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8&ved=0CDAQ6AEwBw#v=onepage&q=salmon%20fed%20marigolds&f=false

Here's the one from the Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/01/AR2010060100792.html

And one from Serious Eats
http://www.seriouseats.com/2010/08/what-are-the-best-eggs-cage-free-organic-omega-3s-grocery-store-brand-the-food-lab.html

The texture definitely changes with age and store bought eggs are usually at least a week old by the time you buy them.

Katlian, before you cook those free-range chickens, try brining them for three or four hours. I dry-brine mine before freezing them, and then I soak them in several changes of water for a few hours while thawing them, and it really makes a difference in terms of tenderizing them and making them juicier and more flavorful.

Hi Leslie,
thanks for the tip. The chickens arrive pre-frozen (to meet health regulations) but I can brine them while they are thawing.

I can't agree that store-bought and free range eggs taste the same. I eat a lot of my girls' eggs hard boiled and they are definitely tastier and firmer than store-bought. The friends I give eggs to also rave about the difference in taste. (Also store-bought eggs are more likely to be a month old than a mere week old.)

I thought it was interesting that the expiration date of commercial eggs was from the date of packing...not laying.

There are only two of us eating eggs and we are keeping some refrigerated well over six weeks and they are still firmer (and harder to peel) than store bought eggs....which means that either the store bought eggs are REALLY old or there is something intrinsically different about the free-range eggs. Which nutritionally there is.

It does seem counter intuitive that something that was that chemically (nutritionally) different should not possibly taste different...although, like a lot of things, maybe you have to taste it for a while before you are aware of the difference. I am not sure I would consider people who have been raised on commercial eggs as the best adjudicators of egg flavour.

porkpal- That report basicly wants us to believe that anyone thinking home grown eggs are better are just being infuenced by what they want to believe but not fact. I don't buy it.

Catscan- People that have been raised on and eaten store bought eggs for most of their lives are most of us around cities and urban areas.

Katlian, that would do the trick, brining while frozen. If the plastic bag they're in is torn, you can use a cooler to immerse it. That's what I often do.

Catsy, people who buy our eggs talk about how awful it is when they have to go to store-bought because our chickens aren't laying well. They're always thrilled to hear that we have some to sell, especially after a hiatus. They say the taste is much better.

It sounds like it's time for a blind taste test. Anyone want to conduct a test and report on the results?

NYR...that is what I mean. It sounds like they are gathering people who have very little history with non-commercial eggs and asking them what they perceive.

An Illustration:

I am a terrible and confirmed Peanut M&M eater and I can tell at first bite whether the bag is stale or poorly stored. But my friends and husband make fun of me, claiming it is all in my head. Finally, after being generally given my "bad bags" of M&Ms, my DH is starting to watch which bags I move toward (okay, okay, yes I actually check the lot numbers...) and complain that I give him the bad ones...even though he will loudly proclaim that there is "no difference". Yet in truth, there is a huge difference between candies with stale or poorly roasted peanuts and fresh ones.

Similarly, a good friend who claimed that my perception of noticable differences in bags of Hershey Kisses was "all in you head" and happily ate a bag I couldn't stand, later admitted when I gave her a good bag to compare with it, that the good bag was much better...she just had never been that tuned in. And it turns out that there are real differences in Hershey Kisses, depending on where the cheapest cocoa was coming from at any given date and how it was processed by the supplier.

And I've noticed, it is frequently people who were raised on fresh eggs that make the biggest fuss over having them again....they know and remember the difference.

I don't notice the taste difference that much with commercial eggs...though the texture difference is remarkable. But then I grew up on commercial eggs.

And it is a curse having a cultivated taste for junk food.



This message was edited Sep 7, 2010 6:34 PM

Cat, you might want to read the book, "Sugar Blues".

I have read it and many others...but as long as my blood sugar and general health are good...well, I don't drink, smoke or take drugs....

And sadly, I still remember the really exceptional, non plus ultra bag of Peanut M&Ms that I bought in Estes Park, Colorado in 1986. Why it was there, I do not know....but it has been the elusive standard that all subsequent bags have failed to equal.

Fresh roasted peanuts, creamy flavourful chocolate and shatteringly crisp candy coating...I think it was in the days before they introduced the colour blue...but I am not sure.....

I can taste the difference in chocolate or chocolate candy if its really, really old. It just tastes kind of funky and the texture is off. But its got to be anchient for me to notice anything. Not very educated tatse buds here LOL :-))

First off about research. One can set up research to give any results they want to get. My first pick is that he added salt. Why? Salt changes the taste of food. I just do not believe there is no difference in the taste of store bought eggs and home grown eggs. I just don't.

And I agree that not everyone is the same in their ability to distinguish different tastes.

I got the prettiest brown eggs in the store this time. These are jumbo eggs, biggest size they sell. I noticed them right away in the display because the color was a deeper, richer brown than any of the other brown egg types of eggs. All of those were considerably paler than these are.

Here they are in the shade still looking just as good. Sure wish I knew what types of chickens were laying these.