Eggs are fantastic. They’re so multifaceted. They can be beaten, boiled, fried, scrambled, baked, sweet, or salty, and they’re integral to so many different and delicious dishes from soufflés to flaeskeaeggekage (the Danish bacon and egg cake). Eggs are great for a healthy satisfying meal that’s quick and wallet friendly, but they’re a little secretive. How can you tell when an egg is fresh? You can’t squeeze it like a tomato, or smell it like a fish. This article will help you decipher egg cipher.
How do you tell if an egg’s fresh? Old eggs have a smooth and shiny shell, that when hard-boiled is easy to remove, while fresh eggs have a rough and chalky shell that is, you guessed it, harder to remove when hardboiled. If texture is not a clear enough indicator, there is an easy way to test the freshness of your egg.
Fill up a bowl, or glass, with cool water. The water level should be at least three times as high as your egg is tall.- Place your egg in the water and wait while the egg settles.
- Observe your results: the fresher your egg, the deeper in the water it will settle. A very fresh egg will settle on the bottom and lay on its side. A moderately old, but still edible, egg will lie on the bottom balancing on its smallest tip. If your egg floats to the surface then it is no longer edible and should be thrown away.
The reason this trick works is that as an egg ages it absorbs air that causes the cell expands. Thus, the older the egg is the higher it will float when submerged in water. It’s like there’s a tiny balloon in the egg, that grows in girth with every passing day. If you want to slow down the egg aging process it is best to keep your eggs dirty. I know that sounds strange, but by washing the egg you remove their protective coating; without their film of dirt the eggs will spoil faster and absorb fridge odors.
Is the colour of the yoke an indication of freshness? No, it’s not. The colour of an egg yolk reflects the chicken’s diet and has nothing to do with freshness. The yellow colour is the result of the chicken eating foods high in xanthophylls (this fancy chemical is what makes leaves turn pretty colours in fall). Chickens that eat barley or wheat have lighter yolks, whereas chickens that dine on corn or alfalfa yield medium yellow yolks. Some farmers will even feed their chickens marigolds, or other orange plant matter, to induce that bright orange yolk colour associated with free range eggs.
What are those weird red spots in the egg? When I was little my friend Jordan and I tried to hatch a clutch of chicken eggs, and so we made a nest out of old clothes and placed the eggs next to the radiator to keep them warm. I think we might of even tried sitting, ever so delicately, on the makeshift nest; however, after about a week her older sister kyboshed the eggsperiment. Jordan and I were particularly distraught because in one of the eggs there was a large red spot that looked like an embryo about to take on life.
Later I discovered that the embryo in question, referred to by ovologis, and internet eggsperts, as a blood spot, did not signify fertilization. Blood spots are caused by a ruptured blood vessel during the formation of the egg; they do not indicate that the egg is fetid. In fact, the their presence denotes freshness, because blood spots dilute as the egg ages.
What about those rope-like strands of egg white? What’s their deal? Those are called chalazae, and they help to keep the yolk of an egg centered. By keeping the yolk suspended the chalazae protect the yolk from damage insuring better embryonic development. Chalazae are also indicator of freshness—the more prominent they are the fresher the egg. If you are really bothered by them you can remove them with the tip of a knife or with tweezers (blood spots can also be removed this way).
Are brown eggs more nutritious than white eggs? Neither brown nor white eggs are any better than the other. A chicken with red earlobes will lay a brown egg, whereas a chicken with white earlobes will lay a white egg. The colour of an egg has no impact on taste or nutrition– the differences are purely cosmetic.
So, to recap…
This is how to tell if an egg is fresh
- Rough, chalky shell
- Sinks when placed in a bowl of cold water
- Has red spots
- Has white ropey strands
In the next tips segment I’ll give you tips for perfect eggs every time. Stay tuned.
andapinch 