How to Buy an Egg

This might seem like a ridiculous post idea but I can't tell you how many horrible fried eggs I have eaten. The biggest complaint I have? The three Rs - too runny, too rubbery, to taste. Why is this so hard to get right? Lots of reasons but without getting too scientific and into the protein structure of the egg, it is usually  rubbery because it was cooked too fast and at too high a temperature. It is too runny because you overcooked the bottom and didn't pay attention to the top before you had to take it off the stove and the egg was too old so you broke the yolk. And you were too busy to get those really good eggs at the farmers market. And too cheap to buy the good eggs at the store or didn't know what to look for.

So first and foremost, (with thanks to the Berkeley Wellness Newsletter)

 A few tips to buying a good egg: 

1. Brown or white. - It doesn't matter.  Both are equal in nutritional value. Some hens lay brown, some lay white, some lay green - your choice.
2. Fertile or non- fertile - Exactly the same nutritional content but watch out fertile eggs go bad more quickly.
3. Omega 3 enriched -Higher content of fatty acids and I think these taste better but that's just me.
4. Certified Humane vs Cage Free - There are actually no standards for cage free so they might be indoors all the time in a crowded space and they may be subjected to beak-cutting. Certified Humane are supposed to have enough free space to indulge in normal hen activities but they still may be subject to beak cutting. It's a toss up.
5. Organic - The hens have been given organic feed, are de-caged and have access to outdoors. For how long - who knows because there are no regulations. De-beaking is still allowed.
6. Natural - This is baloney. No regulation applies. Of course they are natural, they're eggs.
7. Keep them in the original container in the coldest part of the refrigerator. Don't wash them. They have been washed by the industry and have been re-coated with wax to simulate the natural waxy coating they were laid with.

FYI I buy organic, certified humane Omega 3. It will never be the same as the eggs my hens used to lay but I am just too busy for hens these days. So now go buy some eggs!