EGGHEADS EGGXACTLY!

Or otherwise titled "EGGHEADS".
LONG POST, BEWARE!
Yep, it's another rant. (I seem to be doing that a lot these days..wonder why?)

Anyway, let's discuss eggs.
Just this past weekend we decided to have our yard sale. I had been doing much cleaning and clearing out in the last month or 5 (ahem) and the time for the yard sale was nigh.
Many of you know we have what I call a 'small farm'. Meaning..we raise our own chickens, dogs, hell and vegetables. We USED to have pigs, goats, ducks, geese, rabbits and chickens but have downsized in a huge way over the last 6 years or so. Anyway, back to our weekend.
During our yard sale I also put out eggs for sell as well (I keep a sign out front to sell our eggs).

Two times someone bought eggs, and BOTH times I was asked "Are they fresh?"

I began to fume.
I Soooooo wanted to ask.."Do you ask your local grocer if the eggs are fresh?? Do you bother to check the dates on the cartons when you buy eggs at the store? DO you even KNOW what those dates on the cartons mean? (GRRRRRRR!)

The eggs that a farmer (well, I can only speak for myself here..but) The eggs you would usually buy with a local farmer or chicken rancher (as I like to call them) is MORE THAN LIKELY going to be fresher then the eggs you buy in the grocery store:
So let's talk turkey I mean..eggs.
Here is some basic information that ALL CONSUMERS and egg buyers need to know.

Chickens that produce eggs for mass market are
1) confined to a 12x12 space their entire lives. (and that's a big house, most times it's 8x8)
2) Never touch the ground
3) Are stacked 4 high in those 12x12 cages (heaven help the poop if your on the bottom floor!)
4) Never see daylight
5) Are fed antibiotics and multitudes of 'other' things I don't even want to discuss (but trust me, it is transferred to the egg you eat.
6) Are treated, live and must produce in such poor conditions and with such malice that I NEVER ever will buy another market egg again. Did you hear me?..EVER. I won't participate in that animal cruelty. You can do your own research, I've already done it and it was not pretty nor something I want to see again.

Eggs that are produced for mass market via the big companies are:
1) Usually collected every two days
2) Shipped to a prep area where they are 'readied' for market.
3) Packed into cartons and then
4) Shipped to you from via gawd knows where
5) Place on your grocers shelf ..total time, UP TO 4 weeks after lay ..DID you read that??..UP TO FOUR WEEKS after lay.

What happens to the egg when it is taken from the deplorable egg manufacturing plant:
Getting the egg ready for market:
First it is cooled, then it is washed .. WASHING an egg is BAD BAD BAD. Then they are 'checked' or candled as they used to call it for broken shells, blood spots and 'bad egg' syndrome. Then graded (only on weight people..not whether it's a substandard or excellent egg, it's graded ONLY ON SIZE) and finally packaged. The package tells you to SELL the egg within 30 days. SELL..no USE. (so we're talking 4+ weeks by the time you use it) ARE THEY FRESH?????

So, let's talk about egg washing.
When a chicken lays an egg she deposits a natural covering for her egg. A protective thin protein coating that seals off the egg know as the ' bloom'. This coating covers the WAY over 7,000 pores a shell has. It keeps stuff from getting INTO the egg that's not supposed to be there. When the big companies wash the egg they wash off the 'bloom'..they KNOW about 'bloom' and they KNOW it's purpose, so they try to 're-coat' the egg and usually do so with ..mineral oil or vegetable oil. THIS DOES NOT WORK like the natural coating on an egg. Mineral oil is a petroleum product..so PUHLEASE! (reminder, not ALL companies do this)

Want a list of what they may use to wash your egg with:
Chlorine, lye and hydrogen peroxide. Some use baking soda water, some use a mixture of vinegar and peroxide. EITHER WAY, what goes on that shell can get IN that shell now that the bloom is gone. Think about it.

And some people asked 'how did salmonella get into the eggs'. Well gees. If you were stored with 4 cages high, being pooped on all the time, then washed in a big vat where that poop may be, dried off and stuffed into a carton, you'd be full of germs too!

SO...to finish off this little rant.
Are my eggs fresh? You bet. All the eggs I sold were collected over the last week. They were NOT washed.
Now, think about this. A chicken sits an egg for 21 days out in the barnyard before hatch. Does she hatch a rotten baby chick? NO..she does not.
In Europe, they don't even refrigerate their eggs. A farm fresh, unwashed egg left un-refrigerated will last on your counter for appx. ONE MONTH (or better). A farm fresh, unwashed egg in your fridge can last 7 months or better.

Oh and by the by, the egg yolk in an egg has lots of ways of telling on the egg producer:
If it's pale yellow (as MOST store purchased eggs are) it tells you the chicken is 'caged' for the most part. Farm raised chickens who are allowed to free roam eat green foods, their yolks will be much closer to 'orange' then yellow. Does the egg spread out thin, and sits low, (look at it from the sides) Let your eggs tell their tale. If you listen and look, you'll learn a lot.

Some hints and tips on how to tell if your eggs are boiled, regular or rotten.
Spin them. A non boiled egg cannot spin.
Float them, a rotten egg will float, if it's boiled it'll sink, if it's fresh it'll sink.
Nuff said on eggs.

Do your research and DON'T be an "EGGHEAD".
Don't EVER ask me again if my eggs are fresh if you're a normal 'grocery egg buyer'! EVER!

Some fun for you:
Decode the code on the egg carton

Signing off: Our regularly scheduled program will return in a few days!

PS: The yard sale went well, we cleared out a bunch of stuff and took the rest to goodwill this morning.

See ya next time......down on the farm!Sage