It’s fun walking the food aisles of the supermarkets or any food malls – the way the labelling is done, taking gullible customers for a ride. Let’s take a look at the egg carton labels. We find varieties stamped as – Organic, Cage-free, Free-range, Grade A, AA and the list goes on. Is it worth shelling out extra as per the labelling?
Why pay more or a premium? Unique shell colours – brown, blue and green are pretty to look at. The shell colour is normally determined by the breed and has no correlation with the nutritional value. Grade A, AA eggs do not have an edge over high quality and safety; it is as good as Grade B that is used commercially.
Farm fresh eggs: As such there are no standard definitions from the compliance and regulatory authorities. Hormones free: It is illegal to give hormones to layer birds but the farmers might do it slyly. Natural eggs: Eggs don’t contain artificial ingredients or added colour and all shell eggs are natural. Vegetarian-fed eggs: This means that no animal byproducts were used to feed the chickens. As such, chickens are omnivores, and a vegetarian diet is not healthier for them. What about the pecking characteristics of the chicken? Devouring on greens, flies and insects? Pasture–raised eggs: Again, this is not certified by the compliance and regulatory body.
But we may pay a premium if the label suggests: Cage-free eggs: sometimes called free-roaming, means the hens can roam vertically and horizontally in an indoor area, usually a barn or a poultry house and have unlimited access to food and water. But because there are no space regulations, conditions could still be very cramped. Free-range eggs: This means the hens have continuous access to the outdoors, where they can roam and forage for wild plants and insects. But that access might be limited and could consist of a small concrete yard. Organic eggs: These eggs are laid by un-caged, free-range hens raised on organic feed free of conventional pesticides or fertilizers but have to be certified by third-party auditors. Normally, for a “free-range,” certification, each hen must have access to the outdoors for at least six hours per day, with at least two square feet of outdoor space each. Or the hens must be outside, on a pasture mainly covered with living vegetation, for at least six hours a day. The farmer must dedicate at least 108 square feet of pasture.
The Takeaway: Read the label carefully and opt for one that suits your budget.
For the road: How to test eggs for freshness? There’s an easy, smart way to test if your eggs are still fresh without having to rely on carton dates or numbers: carry out a float test. The process is easy as it sounds: simply fill a bowl or a glass with cold water, then carefully submerge the egg you’d like to test. If the egg sinks to the bottom and lies flat, it’s still fresh and safe to eat. If it sinks but doesn’t lie flat and remains standing on one end, it’s safe to eat but isn’t quite as fresh. If the egg does not sink to the bottom and instead floats on the top, it’s too old to be eaten safely and should be discarded.
Why the water float test works: This clever test works because as eggs age their shells become more porous, which allows more air to flow through them. The more air flows through the shell, the larger the pocket of air inside the egg (known as the air cell, which is between the membrane and the shell at the bottom end of the egg) becomes. Eventually, the air cell becomes so large it causes the egg to float, signifying the egg is no longer fresh.
Other ways to check the freshness of an egg: A sniff test is the oldest, simplest approach. Simply give your eggs a good sniff. If they’re bad, they’ll give off a rotten, sulfurous odour. Sometimes, this can be hard to notice when the eggs are in their shell. So, feel free to crack the eggs into a bowl and then give them a sniff. Another approach is to give the eggs a shake. If you hear a sloshing sound, it could mean the yolk is too old and, therefore, watery. A fresh egg won’t make any sound at all when you shake it.
From the chef’s stable: How to hard cook fresh eggs so they are easy to peel? It is frustrating to hard cook and peel farm fresh eggs. The shell sticks stubbornly to the shells and rips into big chunks, ruining the look of the eggs. Instead of boiling the eggs, it’s time to steam them. Steaming farm-fresh eggs and getting them directly into an ice bath afterwards is the big secret to making it easy to peel farm-fresh eggs.
Step 1: Put a steamer basket in a pot, and fill it with water until the water barely pushes through the holes of the basket. Place the pot on the stovetop and set it to high.
Step 2: While the water heats up, scrub the eggs thoroughly under cool running water. Be sure to remove all dirt particles so they don’t contaminate the eggs
Step 3: Once the water is boiling, carefully set the eggs inside the steamer basket and cover tightly with the lid. Don’t crowd the eggs, one layer of eggs is ideal. Turn the heat down to medium-high and boil it for 13 – 15 minutes.
Step 4: While the eggs steam, prepare an ice bath. Fill a large ceramic bowl with ice, and fill the bowl with cold water.
Step 5: After the set time, pull each egg out of the steamer basket with tongs and put it straight into the ice bath. Let the eggs cool completely in the ice water. Gently crack the egg on the countertop, while turning it, to get as many small cracks in the shell as possible. Many cracks in the shell will make it easier to get the shell apart while you peel. Make sure to get under the egg membrane while you peel. The membrane likes to stick firmly to the outer shell, but if you can get underneath the membrane, it will peel much easier. Hold the egg under cool running water while you peel, this will help to remove tiny bits of the shell.
