Eggs - What They Are

Eggs - what they are

All of us know what eggs are. They're ubiquitous. They're one of the basic ingredients used in oyster omelette; you find them in a dizzying array of other dishes. And of course, you eat them soft-boiled, seasoned with dark soy sauce - and a whiff of pepper, if you will.

But if I ask: how heavy is an egg on average? Then some of us may conclude that we don't really know our eggs that well. So let's find out more.

Although the eggs of many birds, fish and other animals can be used as food, most of the eggs we talk about in everyday cooking and dining are hen's eggs. So while you may have quail eggs, ostrich eggs, duck eggs, Nile-crocodile eggs and what have you, when most people say "eggs" in relation to food, they mean chicken eggs.

The average weight of a hen's egg is 50g, with the shell making up about 12 per cent of the total weight. The albumen (or egg white) is a viscous, semi-transparent liquid that holds about 57 per cent of the protein contest of the egg. It also has a high percentage of water and some mineral substances. All in all, the albumen takes up about 58 per cent of the total weight of the egg.

The yolk - taking up 30 per cent of the total weight - is a soft, opaque blob (which, in my opinion, is tastier than the white). The yolk consists of albumins; fats;lecithin; various metals and minerals such as iron, magnesium, zinc, sodium and potassium; vitamins A, B, D and E; and the remaining 43 per cent of protein in the egg. The egg yolk is a nutritional powerhouse, and packs a seriously bigger punch than the egg white. But its cholesterol content means you should eat it in moderation.

In a nutshell, go for egg whites for their protein, but feel free to occasionally indulge in a yolk - for the nutrition, and for the taste!

Eggs = result of chicken rape

Hens don't require sperm to lay eggs.

I'm new here, I am tremendously curious on how the hell chickens work exactly

Catching bad eggs

If I may adapt a phrase popular among philosophical circles, I'll say that if you stare long enough at an egg, the egg will stare back at you.

Hidden beneath a placid exterior that's smooth and featureless save for the occasional clump of dirt or excrement, the internals of an egg are all but opaque to the uninitiated observer. So you'll literally find an egg "staring" blankly back at you when you examine it visually. However, there are ways to find out whether an egg is fresh or not.

An egg loses a tiny fraction of its weight every day due to evaporation of water through its porous shell. As water exits the egg, air goes in. As an egg loses its freshness and more air enters, the existing air pocket or chamber located at the larger end of the egg starts to grow. The size of this chamber is inversely proportional to the freshness of the egg: the fresher the egg, the smaller the chamber.

One test you can employ is to put your egg into a bowl of water. An egg that is up to three days old, dense with substance, will sink like a rock and lie flat on its side.

Eggs that are between three and six days old (meaning that they have bigger air chambers) will float a little, but still remain submerged. Imagine a submarine with partially filled ballast tanks, and you have a pretty apt analogy.

But when you find your egg floating like a buoy, it has most likely gone stale. Catch this bad egg before it makes its way into your belly and torments you no end.

Another method you can use is to break an egg onto a flat plate. If the yolk is compact and well-centred, it is fresh. If you find the yolk somewhat off-centre, it's probably a week old or thereabouts, but still fit for consumption. A stale specimen will have a yolk that shows a tendency and spread - it'll do you well not to eat this one.

Eggs - brown or white?

I'm not a fan of white. With the exception of white shirts, all other things white are anathema to me: white furniture, white cars, white crockery - it's no, no and no!

Quite predictably, I'm not really into white eggs too; I'm go for the brown ones any day. But apart from my misguided reason for rejected white eggs, is there any real basis for choosing one over the other?

Contrary to popular opinion, a brown egg is neither tastier nor nutritionally superior to its white counterpart. In fact, they contain about the same amounts of protein and fats, and both varieties are equally rich in B vitamins and minerals.

Some people (myself included), for reasons real or imaginary, feel that brown eggs taste better. Most expert sources say that there is absolutely no difference, but as taste is very subjective matter, you'll to decide for yourself. You may perhaps want to blindfold yourself, get someone to prepare white and brown poached eggs, then taste and see if you're able to preceive any difference between the two.

In the final analysis, brown or white is essentially a cosmetic difference. The colour of an egg depends on the breed of chicken it comes from. By and large, hens with white feathers and white earlobes lay white eggs, while those with red feathers and matching earlobes lay brown eggs.

If you're really insistent on getting high quality eggs, forget about the colour issue, and focus instead on more salient factors like farming practices (whether the hens are free-ranging or cooped up in crowded cages), whether the eggs have been omega-3 fortified, and whether they are free of antibiotics and growth hormones.