Egg Yolks Staring You Down
Photo from erincooks on Flickr
Happy Friday, everyone. Here's two raw yolks to wake you up. As M.F.K. Fisher once said, "probably one of the most private things in the world is an egg, until it is broken." These two must feel pretty vulnerable exposing their naked selves to the world. If you look really closely, you'll notice the left is slightly bigger and a deeper yellow. Erin of ErinCooks explained that it was from a chicken on her grammy's farm. Compared to the "lame organic grocery store egg" on the right, the superior one was a product of a "fabulous Disney-esque life full of table scraps, grain, and white bread."
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6 Comments:
The eggs from pastured chickens (left) are deeper yellow because they contain much more lutein and zeaxanthin - two carotenoid pigments found in leafy greens like grass, kale and broccoli rabe as well as marigold petals. These pigments collect in the macula of the eye and may protect against sun damage, preventing macular degeneration and cataracts.
Pasturing chickens is wonderful, but they really shouldn't be eating table scraps, grain and white bread - these are unnatural foods for chickens, and frankly no better than commercial feed (typically corn and soy). Your friend's egg is so yellow from the grass and other vegetation they eat.
ilovebutter at 10:28AM on 08/01/08
You'll notice the white is also more opaque, and gel - like. Eggs from pastured chickens have really firm whites that are magically fluffy when beaten.
simon at 10:59AM on 08/01/08
Thanks for linking to my grandmother's eggs! It tough to see in that picture but the yolks are actually vastly different in color from eggs you buy in the store. When we first started using them I would get really disturbed because they were almost orange, so cakes and things like lasagna would come out a bright yellow, sort of saffron color.
I guess, according to the commenter above, the table scraps are bad for them, but at least they live a happy life running around the backyard in the grass and sleeping in their cute little house :)
Erin at 11:49AM on 08/01/08
Depends what's in the table scraps. Vegetable scraps are good, but grains and animal products aren't. But, wandering around in grass is fantastic. Commercial chickens live sad little lives in cages and never see daylight or grass.
The first time I bought pastured eggs I actually threw them out because the yolks were so orange I thought there was something wrong with them! I cringe now thinking that I wasted those beautiful eggs. Oh well, live and learn.
ilovebutter at 12:26PM on 08/01/08
Also - simon - the opaque, magically fluffy whites are due to the freshness rather than diet. Fresh eggs from the farm are probably only a day or 2 old; eggs from the grocery store can be weeks old. As an egg ages, the white breaks down causing it to become runny and thin.
ilovebutter at 12:28PM on 08/01/08
I've been buying fresh eggs from the local Farmers Market for about a month now. Completely sold. We only buy store bought eggs to make deviled eggs now!
hkydiva at 2:21PM on 08/01/08