THE EGG
Yes, It's Incredible!
Eggs are just another thing that we take for granted! Without eggs, we would not only lose a primary source of such vitamins and nutrients, but, just think; without eggs, how would we bake a cake….or celebrate Easter?
Below, you will find some interesting egg trivia, followed by “How to Boil an Egg,” and “How to Peel a Hard-Boiled Egg.” Now…you already thought you knew those things, didn’t you?
Nutritional facts about the egg include:
- One egg has such essential nutrients as Protein, choline, folate, iron and zinc.
- One egg has only 75 calories.
- Eating eggs leads to muscle strength, healthy pregnancy, brain function and eye health.
Eggs:
- are a healthy alternative to junk food-snacking.
- Energize you at the start of your day.
- Benefit weight loss.
Things I’ve Learned About Eggs
(Some I knew, some I didn’t.)
- A hen requires 24 to 26 hours to produce an egg. Thirty minutes later, she starts all over again.
- The egg shell may have as many as 17,000 tiny pores over its surface. Through them, the egg can absorb flavors and odors. Storing them in their cartons helps keep them fresh.
- About 240 million laying hens produce approximately 5.5 billion dozen eggs per year in the United States.
- According to the American Egg Board, eggs stored at room temperature age more in one day than in one week stored in a refrigerator.
- Provided they are kept refrigerated, eggs can be stored for 4-5 weeks after the packing date without loss of quality.
- White shelled eggs are produced by hens with white feathers and ear lobes. Brown shelled eggs are produced by hens with red feathers and red ear lobes
- To tell if an egg is raw or hard-cooked, spin it! If the egg spins easily, it is hard-cooked but if it wobbles, it is raw.
- If an egg is accidentally dropped on the floor, sprinkle it heavily with salt for easy clean up.
- During the spring (vernal) equinox (about March 21), it is said that an egg will stand on its small end. Although some people have reported success, it is not known whether such results were due to the equinox or to the peculiarities of that particular egg.
- Egg yolks are one of the few foods that naturally contain Vitamin D, a vitamin that we get mostly from sunshine.
- Yolk color depends on the diet of the hen. Natural yellow-orange substances such as marigold petals may be added to light-colored feeds to enhance colors. Artificial color additives are not permitted.
- Occasionally, a hen will produce double-yolked eggs throughout her egg-laying career. It is rare, but not unusual, for a young hen to produce an egg with no yolk at all.
- To find out if an egg is fresh, immerse it in a pan of cool salted water. If it rises to the surface, it is stale, but if it sinks, it is fresh.
Spin the egg. If it wobbles it is raw--if it spins easily, it's hard-boiled.
- Add a few drops of vinegar to the water when poaching an egg to keep it from running all over the pan.
- A couple of drops of vinegar will also keep cracked eggs from running out of the shell when boiling them.
- Add one tablespoon of water per egg-white to increase the quantity of beaten egg-white when making meringue.
- Cover egg yolks with cold water and keep in the refrigerator to keep them fresh for several days
- Try adding eggshells to coffee after it has perked, for a better flavor.
- Fresh eggs are much more difficult (sometimes almost impossible) to peel than eggs that have been in the refrigerator a few days.
And now, what you’ve been waiting for…
HOW TO BOIL AN EGG
Place Eggs in a pan and cover with cold water. Bring water to a boil, gently stirring eggs three or four times to center the yolks inside the whites. Remove pan from heat, cover, and let sit for 18 to 20 minutes, stirring twice more. Then transfer the cooked eggs to ice water to keep yolks yellow and promote easy peeling.
Ok – I knew the thing about ice water making hard-boiled eggs easier to peel, but I DIDN’T know that stirring the eggs would center the yolks. That’s kind of important when making Deviled Eggs! I tried it the last time I boiled eggs, and IT WORKED! Those yolks were dead-center! (see picture at right.)
HOW TO PEEL A HARD-BOILED EGG
My mother taught me this. When I was young, I remember her telling me that she learned this from “Hints from Heloise.”
Once the eggs are hard-boiled and soaked for several minutes in ice water, drain all the water, leaving the cooked eggs in the pan. Begin shaking the pan, causing the eggs to bounce around against each other and against the sides of the pan. As the eggs “shake, rattle, and roll,” you will notice that they become covered in tiny cracks, and if you shake long enough, some might become completely unpeeled on their own! The peel will just slide right off after the shake-treatment. All you have to do, then, is rinse them to remove any tiny pieces of shell, and you’re done!
Now! Wasn't that eggs-citing?
