July/August 2010

Dear HGJ

Are brown-shelled eggs any healthier than eggs in white shells?

Eggs are about as basic as you can get…but in today’s supermarkets, they’re about as complex as you can get, too.  White shells, brown shells, jumbo eggs, medium eggs, free-range eggs, vegetarian-fed eggs - you name it, it’s on the shelf.  Fortunately, learning a few egg basics can make understanding what’s in those cartons a whole lot easier.

First, shell color has nothing to do with nutrient value.  From white to beige to brown, the color of the shell depends on the breed of the chicken.  There are even hens that lay blue eggs!  Shell toughness, however, tells a different story - the healthier the hen, the more protective and thicker her shell is going to be.

Likewise, the egg whites and yolks from healthy hens will be thick and sturdy, not watery and weak like the whites and yolks in eggs laid by battery-cage hens.  (“Battery cages” refer to the tiny box-sized pens where factory chickens spend their entire lives eating from one trough and laying into another one.)  The chalazae - the thick, ropy strands that anchor the yolk to the shell - are much more noticeable in free-range eggs, and the yolks themselves stand up higher and are much more difficult to scramble.  All of this translates into fluffier, tastier breads and cakes that stick together better, omeletes that are much more flavorful and creamy, and custards that are bound to make the elders in the room exclaim,  “Now, this is what eggs tasted like when I was a kid!”

The size of the egg depends on the age of the hen:  smaller eggs are laid by younger hens while jumbo eggs are laid by their older sisters.  If you’re looking for maximum nutrient density, pass over the jumbo eggs in favor of large or medium eggs.  (Also, it’s important to note that when recipes say “one egg,” they mean a large egg, not a jumbo egg.  It’s easy to unwittingly overshoot your egg count!)

Most recipes assume that an egg is neither a day old nor months old - eggs on the supermarket shelves are generally between one to three weeks old.  They can last for another few weeks, but a six-week egg will have lost most of its vitality.  Fortunately, you can get a good gauge of how old eggs are by checking the short end of the carton.  That’s where you’ll find the stamped-on Julian date:  that mysterious three-digit string of numbers. In the Julian system, January 1st is 001; December 31st is 365.  That means that eggs stamped with 042 were packed on February 11th.  Another nifty trick is to put the egg in question in a large bowl and cover it with cold water.  If the egg floats to the top, it’s well past its prime and should be thrown out.

“Organic” eggs come from hens who have not been fed genetically modified  food and who have not been administered hormones or antibiotics.  These hens may or may not have been outside.  “Free-range” hens (supposedly - this term is not strictly regulated the way “organic” is) have at least had access to the outside, although whether or not they choose to go outside and whether that “outside” is a grassy area or an asphalt parking lot isn’t clear.  “Cage-free” simply means that the hens can wander around within an enclosed building rather than being stuck in a battery cage.  Not much of an improvement from the standpoint of egg quality.  “Fresh,” “natural,” and “farm-raised” mean absolutely nothing in official terms.

Eggs from healthy hens that spend their days pecking about in dirt and grass have very different nutritional profiles than do eggs from factory hens.  Along with considerably higher amounts of vitamin A and omega-3 fats, they have considerably less cholesterol and saturated fat.  (You can see that vitamin A in their bright orange-yellow yolks.)  They taste better and work better in recipes.  Considering that eggs are the most bioavailable source of protein we’ve got - ranking higher than dairy products and even higher than meat - real eggs are well worth $5/dozen.

The only real problem with top-notch eggs is that they’re difficult to find.  Usually, you have to go to farmers’ markets or join a co-op or farm share program to get the really good stuff, because the best you’ll find at the grocery store is probably going to be the omega-3 fortified “free-range” eggs from “vegetarian-fed” hens.  That last phrase is the dead giveaway that the hens are not spending their days in an idyllic, grassy setting, because if they were, they wouldn’t be vegetarians - chickens eat bugs.  It’s more likely that these hens are almost always inside and are given omega-3-enhanced feed.  That’s still a far better scenario than the 99-cent eggs from battery hens, but it’s better yet to get your eggs directly from a farmer who has an old-fashioned henhouse on a grassy piece of real estate.

Here’s to wonderful new eggs-periences!

Lisa Howard is a culinary speaker and food coach based in Berkley, Michigan.  Her passion is helping all of us become knowledgeable nibblers.  You can find original recipes, articles on food, and information about her classes and coaching on her culinary website, www.theculturedcook.com.  Stop by her e-kitchen for a byte or two!