Broadland Eggs
All About Eggs

EVERYTHING YOU EVER NEEDED TO KNOW ABOUT EGGS

Keeping eggs fresh

Keep eggs in a cool place until you need them.  The date stamp on your carton will tell you how long they will stay fresh for.   Eggs lose their quality very quickly at room temperature. Look for shells that are clean and whole. Cracked eggs are always removed when cartons are being packed but if one cracks on the way to the store it’s safer to throw it away, or give it to your pet as a tasty treat!

Size

Have you ever found an egg in your carton which is smaller than the rest?  Egg sizing is done by the egg’s weight, rather than its circumference.  Many things contribute to the weight (or density) of an egg, for example the age of the hen (younger hens lay heavier, smaller eggs) and the amount of water in the egg (in summer hens drink more water which makes the eggs lighter).

Bloom

Egg shells are covered with a natural coating that seals its pores. This helps to prevent bacteria from getting inside the shell and reduces moisture loss. Wiping or washing eggs removes the protective coating and reduces the lifetime of the egg.

Candling

When eggs are being graded they roll over a bright light which makes the egg transparent so the grader can check the inside of the egg for quality. Long ago, candling was done by holding the egg up before a lit candle, which is how this part of the grading process got its name. Today eggs pass over high-intensity lights on rollers so all of the egg can be viewed.

Chalaza

What are the stringy white pieces in egg whites?

These edible rope-like strands of egg white, called chalazae (ka-LAY-zee) keep the yolk centred in the thick white.

The yolk is anchored to the white by tiny strands of egg white called chalaza. The more prominent the chalazae, the fresher the egg.
EXCELLENT FOOD
You can’t beat an egg for vitamins, versatility and value. 
The salmonella scare is past. British eggs are produced to the world’s highest standards of food, hygiene, welfare and safety regulations. Making them safer than many imported eggs.
The dedicated cook values eggs as jewels. Their unique properties are indispensable for they can be used to thicken (emulsify), set (coagulate) and foam (aerate), also to enrich recipes, raise cakes, bind ingredients, glaze and garnish.
Within each shell hides a powerful cocktail of convenience food: All essential amino acids, 18 vitamins, and minerals including iron, calcium and iodine. One Medium Egg has the energy value of 82 calories.
It is in the yolk that the goodness hides for it has a higher protein concentration than the white. Half the solid content is protein which contributes 12% of the recommended daily intake for men and 15% for women.
Eggs contain 11% fat of which 63% is unsaturated, the saturated percentage is well within the advised ratio. Hence the worry of cholesterol level increase through eating eggs can, in most cases, be forgotten. Many people on a low-fat diet may eat up to seven eggs a week, so the traditional British breakfast can continue.
Free-range eggs have exactly the same nutritional value as those housed intensively.
Mandatory box information includes class, size packing station number and best before date.
Under European law there are two classes of egg quality:
Grade A eggs are the highest grade. They are naturally clean fresh eggs, internally perfect with shells intact and the air sac not exceeding 6mm in depth. The yolk must not move away from the centre of the egg on rotation. Grade A eggs are sold as shell eggs.
Grade B eggs are broken out and pasteurised. In addition, there is another class of eggs called industrial eggs which are for non food use only and are used in products such as shampoo and soap.

HOW IS AN EGG MADE
Firstly the hen releases a yolk from her ovary. The infundibulum (also known as the funnel), holds the yolk for about 15 minutes (this is where fertilisation would take place if there was a cockeral), before it passes to the magnum, where after three hours the white is formed. As the white (albumen) is deposited around the yolk it rotates, twisting the albuminous fibres to form the chalazae.
The next site of activity is the isthmus where the two shell membranes are formed in about 1¼ hours.  The egg has now reached it full size and shape. It passes along to the uterus to acquire, after 19 hours, its shell, shell colour and bloom, or protective coating. After a few minutes' pause in the vagina, the uterus inverts the cloaca (the junction of the digestive, urinary and reproductive systems) and the vent and the egg is laid.

    * A hen requires between 24 and 26 hours to produce an egg.
    * Thirty minutes after laying an egg she starts all over again. 
    * Most female animals have two functioning ovaries, but hens only use one, their left. The right ovary stays dormant.
    * A female hen is born with thousands of tiny ova which will one day become egg yolks.
    * A double-yolker egg is the result of two yolks being released at the same time.
    * During formation, the egg moves through the oviduct small end first.
    * Just before laying, it is rotated and laid large end first.
    * Laying an egg is known as oviposition.
    * The size of the eggs increase as a hen gets older but the shells become thinner.

HOW THE SHELL IT MADE

Excellent article describing how the shell in made.  CLICK HERE

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