Eating local and fresh eggs
So what are the benefits?
Taste, quality, and nutrition
Quality of the egg: Hens which are able to eat bugs, grass, leaves, and run around outside a bit tend to create eggs with very strong shells. This means the interior white and yolk is well protected against external threats including active hens. These hens often also lay larger eggs and you'll almost never find double yolkers in a store egg carton. Yet with fresh eggs, double yolk eggs aren't unusual. If the egg were destined to house a chick, think of all those nutrients!

Nutrition: What's good for a chick is good for us too. An egg from a hen with some time to roam and run is low in cholesterol, high in Omega-3s(DHA), high in Vitamin E, and Beta carotene. In short, it's a very complete food, in moderation and conjunction with other veggies and fiber." />
Cooking with eggs
Fresh egg facts!
- Fresh hardboiled eggs are hard to peel! The egg white will stick to the shell. Most people who have laying hens will set aside a few eggs for several days before hardboiling.
- One large egg is about 80 calories.
- Fresh eggs sink in a bowl of water, old eggs do not! As the egg ages, air actually seeps into the egg through the shell. So a stale egg will have a lot of air which gives it buoyancy.
- You should not wash an egg unless you're planning to use it right away. The shell has a protective layer called the cuticle that washing, even gently, will remove, leaving it vulnerable to bacteria. Store eggs have been washed in a special solution, whereas farm fresh eggs may on occasion have some dirt or matter on them. Brush off what you can, and wash the rest later!
- Chicken egg yolk color changes based on what the chicken is eating.
- Fresh egg shells are dull, whereas older shells can get a shiny look to them.
News just like how you like your eggs:
Nice and fresh!
- Blaser: Suburban chickens: more than fresh eggs
- As Woody Allen said in one of his films, "I need the eggs." Residents who favor the chickens feel, and I don't doubt this one bit, that fresh eggs right out ...
- FLOCKS A-PLENTY: A tale of three Jewish chicken coops
- For this Franklin Middle School sixth grader, the best thing about owning chickens is the fresh eggs. ?My friends think it is cool, but they also think it ...
- A Meatless Thanksgiving
- The butter I bought at their farm store showed me I had no idea what real butter tastes like. I read egg cartons as carefully as I read bank statements. ...
- Pastured poultry push up prices
- By JOHN SCHMITZ Pasturing chickens can add a cash premium to eggs and broiler sales. But is the extra expense worth it? It appears so, but the extra bucks ...
Egg Celebration!
What color eggs do you like?
Different breeds of chickens lay eggs in a variety of colors.
Different regions of the country have egg preferences. Imagine my surprise (and initial dismay) when I moved to the east coast and couldn't find white eggs (few and far between out here). At first I refused to eat the strange looking brown eggs. After a year or so, I gave in. But now I prefer brown eggs to white, they seem more natural to me. In truth, egg shell colors don't affect the egg, but do impact buyer sentiments.
The perfect hard boiled egg
Practice makes perfect
Place eggs in an appropriate sized pot with tap water. What's appropriately sized? All eggs have room to move without hitting each other, and there is sufficient water to cover the eggs by three inches to four inches. Too small a pot and the eggs will not get even heating time. Too big a pot, it will just take a lot longer.
Put pot on boiler, and begin a timer for 15 minutes. Bring pot to boil. This should take approximately 7 minutes. If the pot is not boiling after 7 minutes have elapsed, add 5 minutes back to the timer.
Once the water is boiling, reduce heat to medium or low, depending on your burner. You want the boil go back to a gentle bubbling. When the timer has ended, immediately take the pot off the burner, and immerse the eggs in an ice bath. Cold tap with added ice cubes works just fine. The goal is to quickly stop the cooking.
Peel and chill or serve the hardboiled eggs. Peeling them right after cooling seems to make it easier than waiting for later on. The peeled eggs will stay good only for a few days, so eat them soon!
If you've cooked the perfect hard boiled egg, the yolk will be consistently cooked throughout, a nice bright yellow, and no green ring where it meets the white.
What are your favorite egg dishes?
I'm planning to add some egg recipes or recipe links - suggest some egg dishes here and I'll add some to a recipe area!
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Reply
- Tiddledeewinks Tiddledeewinks Oct 2, 2008 @ 1:19 am
- Great lens. We have chickens too in Maine!
by PatriotAlpacas
Hi there, I'm Tasha. I live in northern Massachusetts, where we have a small farm with alpacas and chickens. I am particularly interested in topics o... (more)






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