Things You (Probably) Didn't Know About Eggs
To put it simply: There is nothing quite like the incredible, edible egg! Eggs are surrounded by more symbolism, myths, and old wives鈥 tales than any other everyday food. Here are some surprising facts about eggs.
Egg Symbolism
Eggs play a symbolic role in many cultures and religions. Their oval shape symbolizes fertility, eternity, and the circle of life with neither beginning nor end. In the Egyptian myth of Creation, eggs were linked to the creation of the universe, suggesting that the Earth itself may have been born out of an egg. The new life that lies dormant in the egg came to be associated with life energy.
Of course, the egg is part of the Easter celebration and associated with the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Eggs also take on an important role in the Jewish Passover holiday as a symbol of sacrifice and loss. See our page All About Easter!
Read Next
Painting or decorating eggs has been a popular tradition in many cultures for thousands of years. See how to dye eggs naturally.
Intriguing Egg Facts
Opportunities, like eggs, come one at a time.
- The entire yolk of an egg is only one cell, one of nature鈥檚 largest! An ostrich egg, which can serve about 24 for breakfast, is probably the largest cell nature manufactures (currently, that is).
- The color of the shell is strictly a function of the breed of the bird. You can (usually) tell what color egg a chicken will lay by looking at the color of her earlobe. Hens with white ears produce white eggs, hens with red ears produce brown eggs, and hens with bluish-green ears produce bluish-green eggs! Find out more about different chicken breeds and the eggs they produce.
- Americans consume an average of 281 eggs annually, which keeps about 285 million hens busy day and night. If you鈥檇 like to keep your own hens busy, check out our Raising Chickens blog.
- An old-fashioned but valid test for egg freshness is accomplished by gently dropping a whole uncooked egg into a salt solution (two tablespoons salt in two cups of water.) If very fresh, the egg will be full and heavy, and it will sink and tip to one side. If moderately fresh, it will remain suspended in the middle of the water upright; if it bobs up to the top, it is stale.
- According to folklore, you can stand a raw egg on end on the spring equinox (or fall equinox). Let us know if it works for you!
- Government grades are based on the size of the air cell in the egg, its quality, and its freshness. A Grade AA egg must be less than ten days old from packing, and a Grade A, 30 days.
- The whitish, twisted material seen near the raw egg yolk is thick albumen. It is part of a layer of dense egg white surrounding the entire yolk. The albumen helps keep the yolk centered in the egg. It is especially prominent in fresh, high-quality eggs.
- The feed determines the color of the yolk. If the chicken eats grass, yellow corn, or other feedstuffs rich in yellow pigments, the yolk will be deep yellow in direct relation to the amount of yellow in the feed, regardless of the breed of chicken or the color of the shell.
- The incubation period of a chicken egg is 21 days.
- Shortly after an egg is laid, it is placed in front of a light source that reveals the condition of the innards. This process, called candling, can detect cracks in the shell or harmless but unappetizing blood spots on the yolk. It also reveals the size of the egg鈥檚 air cell: the smaller the cell, the better the egg.
- Old wives鈥 tales suggest that the shape of an egg indicates the sex of the chick that will hatch from it. Unfortunately, there is no truth to this myth. Scientists are unable to distinguish between the sexes before the eggs hatch.
- The greenish-gray color around the yolk of a hard-boiled egg is a harmless compound of iron and sulfur called ferrous sulfide, which forms when an egg is heated. To prevent its formation, boil the egg only as long as necessary to set the yolk, plunge it into cold water, and peel it promptly.
- While brown, white, and green eggs are essentially the same in nutritional value, there are definite preferences by individuals and by people in different regions of the country.
Now, here鈥檚 an age-old question: Which came first, the chicken or the egg?
No one knows the answer, but we鈥檙e going to go with the egg. When a mutation or new species is created, it comes from two different parents. Think of how dogs are bred. It鈥檚 most likely that two birds who were similar to chickens (but not chickens as we know them today) mated, and out came an egg that turned into a chicken! What鈥檚 your theory?
Learn even more about eggs and eggshells and their various uses here.
Catherine Boeckmann
ADVERTISEMENT
A red eared chicken can lay a blue or green egg. White ears=white eggs, red ears=colored eggs. They can be all the way from peachy pink to light blue, olive green and dark brown.
An Egg-cellent read; Happy Spring!!!
All Christians know that the chicken came first.
The large poultry houses have NEVER given hormones to any birds. Over 70 years of selective genetics, the birds have changed due to the consumers wishes. The consumer likes more white meat. The industry found males and females that by nature had larger breasts, they bred them together, and their offspring had larger breasts. Many hundreds of generations later the birds are much larger and have larger breasts. Laying hens are kept in a cleaner housing, and up off the ground so they don't walk in each others manure causing disease to spread, than any small home barn. Because they are low on the food chain, they are less stressed when kept close together. A stressed hen will retain a yolk up in their oviduct, when she relaxes the next day, the next yolk being released from the cluster will catch up with the on being held. They both move down, creating the double yolked egg. Since the profit on the "entire dozen" is between 2 and 3 cents, the producer will do everything to not stress the hens. Disease, loud noises, predators. So more often than not, the majority of the house will stress, they have to send those eggs to bakers. But don't make more for them when it takes two days production time. The white twisted tissue attached to the end of the yolk is the chaleaze and yes it hold the yolk steady inside the shell. Today we have "emotional consumers" due to the marketing. The leading poultry scientists agree, "the best egg to buy is the cheapest egg, they are all the same". Everything else you have heard is "perceived value". They have to make you believe their eggs are better. There are 6000 air pores on the shell of an egg. They will absorb odor and bacteria. Eggs are not refrigerated around the world, no refrigerators, The gather for each days use. Bacteria grows. In the stores, the eggs have a thin layer of glycerine to slow absorption. Until the eggs reach the store, no human has touched the eggs.
That's their belief system talking though, it's not actual facts, because they were not actually there to witness it.
It's everyone's right to believe whatever you need to, but to say only "you" know is just ridiculous and untrue (and just a bit arrogant). Who cares which came first anyway...they both taste good!
Our neighbor has chickens and I love her birds鈥 eggs..they are brown but vary in shades of brown. She feeds them organic foods and only made in the USA, not China or elsewhere. Shell color doesn鈥檛 matter...the egg itself is so flavorful. Grocery store eggs make my stomach hurt after (additives given to birds?). Eggs are a 鈥減erfect鈥 food...give it some thought...the myth of cholesterol has been put to rest. Eggs are great for brain and body!
I have at least 2 eggs a day and for a while I was up to 9 a day without any ill effects. I find I prefer white eggs because he brown shells are stronger and harder to crack. I worked at a farm store for a while and when asked I personally recommended the brown eggs to anyone traveling to their cottege. I felt they would have less breakage. I can't tell the difference in taste in chicken eggs but do like duck and turkey eggs for their stronger taste.
Martha Eggs can be stored for very long periods of time in refrigeration. If they float, it's merely a sigh of dehydration, which happens when refrigerated...desiccation is loss of fluid which makes them lighter and therefore have more air and more bouyancy. while floaters may not be as good as non-floaters it is not a sign that they are inedible. Only to be sure is crack the egg...if the yolk is mixing with the white or if it is obviously spoiled then toss it. I have hens who always want to be mammas so I always crack o egg at a time in a separate container to make sure I don't crack a bad egg in with the rest.
We have stood eggs on their wider rounded ends many, many times. It takes patience, but it also helps if the eggs are at room temp, so the contents settle easily. Try it any day of the year!
When you check eggs for freshness, you don't need salt water. Just fill a pan with water higher than a standing egg and it will lie flat if very fresh or float if it is old. Throw away the floating eggs. Use the eggs that are upright, but still on the bottom in baking within a day or two. Eat the rest.
