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Eggs
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by Rebekah Rice,
Nutrition Education Committee
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In our
imagination, we may picture chickens
running around completely freely,
eating bugs and greens supplemented
with a handful of organic grain now
and then (probably supplied by an
adorable small child) in exchange
for an egg found in a small nest
somewhere in the tall grass. Honest
Weight does have some great local
suppliers who come close to meeting
this picture. The reality of egg
production, however is a not quite
as idyllic.
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Choosing Your Eggs
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The other day at the
Co-op, I picked up a pile of used
egg cartons and found vocabulary
that may be confusing. As with many
food products egg labels may contain
language, for example “all natural,”
that actually has no meaningful
definition. Other language refers to
the housing and conditions for the
hens (“grass fed,” “pastured,”
”freerange,” “cage-free”). This
might help you select eggs from hens
that have differing amounts of
freedom, although only free-range”
and “cage-free” have a legal
meaning. Most growers, organic or
not, keep their poultry fenced or
otherwise somewhat contained. Both
“freerange” and “cage-free” chickens
are actually very contained.
Legally, “cagefree” means that hens
were not raised in tiny cages too
narrow to turn around in—it does not
mean they have any outdoor access
whatsoever. For chickens to classify
as “free-range” they require access
to at least a small outdoor cement
pad, but the hens need not ever use
it.
Language also refers to what the
hens are fed (“organic,” “no
antibiotics or pesticides,” “no
GMOs,” “vegetarian fed,” “grain
fed,” “omega 3”). Only “organic” has
a legal meaning; by definition the
hens are receiving no GMOs
(genetically modified organisms) and
no antibiotics or pesticides.
Organic eggs must also be, as a
minimum, from “free-range” hens.
Several farms selling organically
fed eggs at HWFC do have hens that
run around freely outdoors as they
wish— Skyhill and Otter Hook are
two.
“Vegetarian fed” is an interesting
term, since by nature chickens are
bug eaters and true omnivores. When
a chicken is “grain fed” but not
“organic,” it is most certainly
eating GMOs. The only non-GMO feed
for chickens in this area is
certified organic feed. It’s
expensive. It’s not available
locally by the bag—not even at
Honest Weight, where some of us
chicken lovers think it could be a
big seller!
Let’s talk about “pastured,”
“freerunning” and “free-roaming”
poultry. All of these would seem to
indicate that the hens were actually
out of doors with a reasonable
amount of space to scratch and dust
bathe, but they are not official
legal terms. If you have a certified
organic vegetable operation, you are
not permitted to let your chickens
run everywhere, all season long.
From a logical perspective, that
makes sense since they’d poop
everywhere while eating all the
strawberries and tomatoes and
pecking holes in the greens. Sadly,
while they’d happily eat your squash
bugs, certification doesn’t allow
you to let poultry into your veggies
during the 180 days before harvest.
At our farm we use “chicken
tractors” (portable home-made
shelters in which our hens sleep and
lay their eggs) that we move around
on our pastures most of the year,
which is typical of “pastured
poultry” practices. During the
winter our birds live in a plastic
covered hoop house, with lots of hay
to play in. In addition to purchased
organic grain mixes, we feed
homegrown squash from our root
cellar, kale from our greenhouse,
cabbage, and any organic waste food
that we generate on our farm. You’ll
find that many of the Co-op’s egg
producers use similar practices.
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Using Your Eggs
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When were they laid?
How long will they keep? What kind
of nutrition can you expect? Are
there differences between brown,
white, and green eggs?
When you buy eggs at HWFC, they have
a “pack” date and a “sell by” date.
These dates are about four weeks
apart. Eggs that have been handled
safely (intact clean shells, kept at
45°) should be good for well
over four weeks.
Eggs are good for different things
at different ages, and it’s actually
possible to tell how old they are,
even without a label. If you don’t
know how old an egg is, fill a
container with cool water and gently
place the whole raw egg in the
water. If it lies horizontally on
the bottom it’s too fresh to peel or
whip, but just right for making a
poached egg. If it hovers vertically
just a bit off the bottom, it’s
perfect for hard-boiling or for
separating and whipping for recipes
that depend on that. If it floats
vertically partially above the top,
it’s really not very good anymore.
Small growers who do their own
packing are not required to size and
are not allowed to grade their eggs.
Grading (AA, A and B) takes place
only in large USDA packing plants,
and does not indicate egg safety.
Instead, it is merely a visual grade
for cracking, color, size, and size
of the air sack inside the shell
(that’s what makes it float in the
different positions as it ages). If
the factory hen that laid the egg
has salmonella, the egg will have
salmonella, even if the egg is
graded AA. Egg size varies by breed,
by individual hen, and by hen age.
The nutrition of an egg is not
dependent on the shell color, which
is determined only by the genes of
the chicken, but it is highly
dependent on what the hen is fed.
For “omega 3” eggs, a chicken would
be eating flaxseed, fish meal or
lots of fresh leafy greens. Any
genuinely free-ranging hen will lay
omega 3 eggs in summer, whether the
carton makes that claim or not. If a
chicken is only fed grains, beans,
minerals and meat, her eggs will
have more of an omega 6 profile.
Yolk color shows whether a hen has
been getting vitamin A in the form
of greens or corn or other vitamin A
rich foods—the more carotene the
darker yellow-orange the yolk will
be.
Nutritionally, eggs are a great
source of complete protein. Although
many people are concerned about
cholesterol in eggs, sources as
diverse as the USDA, the Harvard
Health Magazine, and the Mayo Clinic
recommend that up to one egg per day
is healthful even for people with
heart problems. People with
allergies to eggs sometimes find
that the allergy is actually to the
feed the chickens are given, so it
may be worth experimenting a bit.
Many people with soy allergies find
they can eat eggs only if fed
soy-free feed—Oliver’s soy-free,
Nine Mile Farm, and Skyhill all use
certified organic soy-free feed.
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Poached Eggs
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Choose eggs that are
really fresh— ideally less than
three days old. (If you place them
in water, they should sit
horizontally down in the bottom of
the container.)
In a deep frying pan, put 1" of
water, 1 tablespoon or oil or
butter, and a ½ teaspoon of
salt. Bring to a gentle simmer.
Break eggs, one at a time, into a
dish and then gently slide them into
the frying pan. Remove them a minute
or two later, in the same order they
arrived, with a slotted spoon.
Note: Lots of people put vinegar
into the water for poaching eggs to
keep them tight and round. With
really fresh eggs, they’ll stay
together without the vinegar and
they’ll taste much more delicious.
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Two Ways to Make
Hardboiled Eggs
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Choose eggs at least
three weeks old or you will not be
able to peel them without chunks of
white coming off with the shells.
Select a pan that holds all the eggs
you want to boil, in one snug layer.
Cover the eggs completely with cold
water. You may, optionally, add salt
(this would help keep any eggs that
crack from streaming out into the
water).
Place pan on medium to high heat and
bring to a boil. At that point you
have two good choices:
1. If you are in a hurry, set the
timer for 5 minutes and continue to
boil them, then run them under cold
water until they are cool enough to
peel.
2. If you are not in a hurry, turn
them off and let the eggs sit in the
hot water for 17 minutes. Then pour
off the hot water and fill with cold
water and wait until it’s convenient
to peel them.
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Rebekah’s Spoon Bread
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Preheat oven to
375°.
Prepare a 6–8" soufflé dish
or other casserole by placing 1–3
tablespoons of unsalted butter,
coconut or vegetable oil in the
bottom and heating in the preheating
oven.
Combine in a heavy pan and heat
until thick, stirring constantly:
1 cup organic yellow corn grits
2 cups water or milk of any sort
1 teaspoon salt
Separate 4 eggs. (These should be
three weeks or older and float
vertically a tad off the bottom if
you do a float test.) Add the yolks
to the thick cooling mush and mix
completely. Whip the egg whites
until stiff and fold in to the mush
and yolk mixture. Pour mixture into
the soufflé dish, letting the
excess fat slide up the sides.
Bake for 35–40 minutes until puffy
and golden brown. The inside should
be moist but not raw. Cut in wedges
to serve 3–5 people.
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