Eggs

I might make DH take me on a special journey deep into the countryside to find some proper free range eggs. You've got me hankering now. #eggsfoodofthegods

When the eggs are that lovely deep yellow and really tasty it means that the hen has been scratching around eating slugs and worms as well as greenery! My hens spent a lot of time in a nearby muck heap, their eggs were delicious.

Ah but a soft boiled egg sandwich still hot is lovely and you could split that she'll lengthwise.

How could you fit it in the egg-cup lengthways?

Glad to be of help to you jingle, room temperature eggs are also less likely to crack when you boil them so it's a double bonus! Hope you continue to enjoy your eggie breakfast.

A little while ago I saw a suggestion that you break your boiled egg down the long side instead of at the top/bottom. They said it was much easier to dunk your soldiers that way. I've tried but cannot understand how you could crack the boiled egg shell lengthways

@Katek - "Why are they all brown?"

Short answer@ superstitious belief that brown eggs taste better than white. So people buy only brown eggs - so producers supply only brown ones.
NB: In the USA, the opposite is believed, and you see nothing but white eggs.

In fact, of course, there is no difference whatever in flavour between white-shelled eggs and brown ones.

No! Nighties always. M and S specials. Can't stand pj's.

At a cottage we stayed in a little while back, they sold their (really) free range eggs. They were so lovely! Never seen such bright yellow yolks. Wish it was nearer. I'd buy from them all the time.

A result jingl ...I have a picture in my head of you trotting downstairs in you nightie after midnight, thrm I decided you are probably more a PJ type of person??

When my American BiL & SiL visited the UK and stayed with us, I had a lecture about (among other things) the danger of keeping the eggs on the worktop. As I write the date they were laid on the eggs, use them in that order, there's never any old ones hanging round and I've never had one go off on me yet.

Next time they visit they can stay in a local B&B

yogagran, you have solved my problem. It dawned on me (in bed last night) that it is because I keep the eggs in the fridge, and they are so cold when they go in the pan, that they do not cook in the allotted time. So I trotted downstairs at half-past midnight and took my morning eggie out of the fridge and left it on the work surface. Cooked fine this morning! (Durrrr....)

DS1 has a mixed group of chickens and some of them are the kind that lay the blue-green eggs. He has 'pretty' ones and the more practical kind so there doesn't seem to be a problem in having a mixture. Recently one of them has been presenting him with 100gram double yolkers.

I kept araucanas, they lay blue-green eggs. I had a lavender araucana, she was so pretty. Her eggs were the bluest. A little white silkie for white eggs, a maran for dark brown and hybrids (goldliners) for maximum egg production.

There are a few hybrids, I have had others, on the whole they are bred from chicken varieties that lay best all year round, and eggs of a decent size. They get worn out, so don't live as long. I don't have any chickens at the moment because DBH and I are having a disagreement. I want pretty, pet 'designer' (as he calls them) chickens that have a long and happy life and don't lay as often, he wants loads of eggs from short-lived chickens that are far cheaper to buy and you get paid back in eggs what you spent on them.

Capitalist pig.

Years ago, when we holidayed on a farm, they had free range hens that laid blue/ green eggs. They always kept them for us. The children thought they were really special.

x

In Canada all the eggs are white & they think it's odd that we have brown eggs. Another difference between my family in Canada and those of us here is that Canadians always keep their eggs in the fridge and are horrified that I keep mine on the worktop

I have just returned from Sainsburys, having bought half a dozen eggs 'of mixed size' which are quite a bit cheaper than the eggs of uniform size. I like to think I'm eating all the little rejects that nobody else wants ...

The size of eggs depends to a large extent on the breed of chicken. I expect there are fewer breeds used for commercial egg production. My main bugbear with shop eggs is that even the "free range" ones simply aren't as good (tasty and fresh) as home grown free range eggs, which suggests to me that the chickens' diet isn't as good.

Sodding magpies. I hate the things.

When our hens have laid an egg they let you know with a loud "chu-u-u-uck chuck chuck" going on for ages. So I sometimes wonder if it's because it hurts.
At the moment we've got some thieving magpies pecking the eggs. At first we thought it was the hens themselves, but now think it's magpies.

Extra large - just think of the poor hens who lay them!

As my chucks are getting older the eggs they lay are getting lighter.

Is this the equivalent of humans going grey?

Apparently in America all the eggs are white.

People stopped buying white eggs, there was an old wives' tale around that said that brown eggs were better for you, the egg industry gave up trying to disprove it. It's the reason why white eggs always used to be slightly cheaper. Eventually chicken farmers stopped breeding varieties of chicken that laid white eggs, sadly. As a child I was very contrary - I was the only one in my family who really wanted white eggs, so my mother would buy them for baking and set some aside for me.

Time of boiling is all about your cooker, and if it's gas, your gas pressure. It can even be about the height at which you live. the higher up you live, the longer it takes to get to boiling point.

[geeksmiley]

We have hens and ducks. The hens are ex-battery hens and they lay different size eggs in various shades of brown. When I bake cakes, they are a glorious yellow as the yolks are a good colour. The ducks lay large white eggs which I love poached on toast. The laying season is short, but I love the gentle quacking noise they make. They are in a run next to my office so I can hear them during the day.

If I boil eggs, I use an 'in the water timer' which changes colour when they are cooked.

When cooking, I use a mixture of big and small eggs. I know I should weigh them, but I just guess.

I use different colour and size egg boxes for the duck and hens' eggs as the duck eggs are very big. I sell them at the gate and have an honesty box. This has worked really well.

And why are they all brown? Can't dye them anymore at Easter.

And why, given that they're smaller anyway, don't they boil to the point I like them, so quickly? I am been giving my breakfast egg five and a half minutes which always used to produce a soft but little bit firm, egg. Now the same length of time produces a semi-liquid egg! Gawd knows how long I would have to wait for an extra large one to cook.

#grumblegrumble

That's a bit different! Most egg boxes fit most sizes, but need to contain them securely both without rattling around, and being able to be stacked in big piles without breaking an extra large. I was able to buy some extra large boxes online for my chicken eggs, but supermarkets go for one size of box usually. I can buy extra large eggs in my local market, but I doubt many places sell them.

Egg sizes used to be from 1 to 7, does anyone remember that?