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Here's to Your Health:  How to determine fresh eggs???  |
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Fulminous
Farmgirl in Training
40 Posts
Deb
Maine
40 Posts |
 Posted - Jul 20 2005 : 06:29:33 AM
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I've been wondering this for some time and I feel as though it is really the only barrier standing between me and local eggs. How do I know if they are bad? (other than smell after I've cracked one, and I do know that means it's really bad!), How many hours can an egg go un-refrigerated? Are there any red-flags for buying at a roadside stand? I realize I'm just too grocery-store-oriented to be able to understand that question of what happens to my eggs before they make it home (I can only wonder if they are exposed to some freakish radiation treatment and then some sickly sterilization bath).
I do usually buy cage-free organic eggs anyway, and I'm looking to take it a step furthur and buy local. My new backroads route to work has a place where I always have to stop and let the happily clucking chickens find their way out of the road (I love it!) and they sell eggs there. |
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ThymeForEweFarm
True Blue Farmgirl
705 Posts
Robin
An organic farm in the forest in
Maine
USA
705 Posts |
Posted - Jul 20 2005 : 06:38:58 AM
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Give the egg a gentle shake. If you hear it moving in the shell it's not fresh.
We collect eggs two or three times a day. If it's cool we get them morning and night when we feed and water. If it's hot we go back out in the early afternoon and get them again.
In order to legally sell eggs I have to keep them at or below 42° according to my state's law.
Robin
Thyme For Ewe Farm
www.thymeforewe.com |
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therusticcottage
True Blue Farmgirl
4439 Posts
Kay
Vancouver
WA
USA
4439 Posts |
Posted - Jul 20 2005 : 07:37:04 AM
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Deb -- Most people that collect eggs do them the way Robin does. Ask around and see who people would recommend buying from. Try to find someone who feeds organic grain to the chickens.
A farm fresh egg is so much better than store bought -- even better than ones that are cage free from the local market. Before I moved out in the country I always bought from the store. I found an organic farm to buy from and I couldn't believe the difference. The whites were not runny and the yolk was the most beautiful golden yellow. The yolk was firm and not flat.
Fortunately for me, my daughter Missy has chickens so as soon as those ladies start laying I'll have all the eggs I want. And duck eggs are great for baking. Missy has two Khaki Campbells and I can't wait to get some of their eggs. They make everything very light and fluffy.
Kay - Living in Beautiful Washington State |
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Aunt Jenny
True Blue Farmgirl
11381 Posts
Jenny
middle of
Utah
USA
11381 Posts |
Posted - Jul 20 2005 : 09:08:44 AM
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the way I have always checked for fresh eggs before cracking it to fill a big bowl or pan about 2/3 full of water. Put each egg into the water and if it floats...it is bad. If it sinks completely it is very fresh (that day) and if it stands on end in the bottom it is fresh, only a few days or so old...good to use. The older they get the more air is inside..which makes them float. If they float..they will be real bad..so don't just toss in the kitchen trash..I would take them outside to toss!
Jenny in Utah
The best things in life arn't things! |
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Nicol
True Blue Farmgirl
200 Posts
Nicol
200 Posts |
Posted - Jul 20 2005 : 10:19:17 AM
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| Jenny that is exactly the same method that I use and it has been nearly foolproof! |
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Fulminous
Farmgirl in Training
40 Posts
Deb
Maine
40 Posts |
Posted - Jul 20 2005 : 8:13:16 PM
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Thanks all for the words of wisdom! Kay, I did grow up eating my grandmother's eggs from back when she kept chickens. And my best friend used to supply me with duck eggs, I've made a few messes from being used to the duck eggs and then trying to crack a chicken egg against the edge of the counter and pulverizing it!
I'll be out soon hunting for good eggs! |
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glades girl
Farmgirl at Heart
9 Posts
lynn
Fernandina
fl.
9 Posts |
Posted - Jul 22 2005 : 06:21:03 AM
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| Hi everyone glades girl here. my great grandmother and all other important farm women in my life taught me the same lesson about eggs. If they float go quickly with them,to the other side of your property. shaking them could cause them to explode. when they do explode as i found out as a child gathering eggs. the smell is so bad it can make you gag or even throw up. How many of you have had that wonderful childhood experience? God Bless |
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thehouseminder
True Blue Farmgirl
361 Posts
USA
361 Posts |
Posted - Jul 22 2005 : 08:42:14 AM
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Hi Deb, I was taught the same method of "floating" the eggs. I also always crack them into a separate bowl one at a time. My mother always did this because if you were using three eggs, and one turned out to be bad, you didn't want it spoiling everything.
Having said that, I see a bad egg maybe once every two or three years. I'd rather have to throw them away every once in a while than buy store eggs. Did you know that eggs you buy at the store are very likely to have been in storage for three months before they even hit the shelves? YUCK.
I do make an exception in the case of pasturized eggs which I do buy at the store for a certain frosting recipe which has a raw egg in it.
Who loves a garden still his Eden keeps, Perennial pleasures plants, and wholesome harvest reaps. ---Bronson Alcott
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Aunt Jenny
True Blue Farmgirl
11381 Posts
Jenny
middle of
Utah
USA
11381 Posts |
Posted - Jul 22 2005 : 09:27:17 AM
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I still crack every egg into a little custard cup before adding it to the rest, or to a recipe too..just to be on the safe side. I think its a good habit..you never know. I very very seldom get a bad one either, but it is a good thing to do.
Jenny in Utah
The best things in life arn't things! |
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LJRphoto
True Blue Farmgirl
760 Posts
Laura
Hickory Corners
MI
USA
760 Posts |
Posted - Aug 25 2005 : 10:01:18 PM
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Did you know that in Australia they don't refridgerate eggs? And my great aunt claims that as soon as you put them in the refridgerator they aren't "farm fresh" anymore. Personally, I still want my eggs refridgerated. The way I look at it is that people selling their own homegrown foods already have a hard enough time getting a good customer base going, are they going to want to end up with bad word of mouth by giving you questionable eggs? I doubt it. The thing about cracking eggs into a separate bowl is a good one. I'd never thought about that before, but I only recently started buying eggs from home growers. Hopefully by next spring I'll have my own.
"Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it's time to pause and reflect." -Mark Twain |
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Here's to Your Health: How to determine fresh eggs??? |
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How to determine fresh eggs???
