People who visit here often comment on the bright yolks in their breakfast eggs when I’m serving them up in the studio.
Some yolks can be quite dark! There’s a marked difference between farm egg yolks and the yolks in eggs from the grocery store. Where does that color come from? What the hens eat, which is similar to the coloring in butter–farm-fresh cow butter is more yellow in the summer months when cows are grazing on fresh grass, whiter in the winter when they’re eating hay. This is also true of chickens and their eggs. And since most grocery store eggs come from chickens who aren’t free-ranging at all, the yolks are always a more pale color.
Farm fresh eggs aren’t necessarily more nutritious, by the way–other than from the simple fact that they’re fresh, and that the hens have a more natural diet.
They definitely taste different, at least to me. Farm fresh eggs taste…. Fresh.
And a little bit different in the same sense that farm-raised beef tastes different. There’s more taste, period. Farm fresh yolks are also thicker and richer.
Fresh eggs separate better, too, and they poach better. I’ve heard some people say they have issues with hard-boiling fresh eggs–see Perfect Deviled Eggs for tips on boiling farm fresh eggs.
And, while we’re on the subject of farm fresh eggs, I’ve run into a few people here and there who have farms and even some who have chickens, or have had chickens in the past, who won’t eat farm fresh eggs because they don’t think they’re safe. Eggs at the store come from farms, too, you know–you just don’t see the farm, and the chickens may be laying in confinement buildings. And store eggs are often six to eight weeks old before they even arrive at the store.
I’d rather have an egg fresh from my chickens’ fluffy bee-hinds any day! Though I realize not everyone can have chickens. If you can’t, go find a farmer’s market and get you some fresh eggs. Your omelet will thank you. And so will your cookies and your cakes and…. You get the idea! Eggs are such a basic component in so many recipes. And fresh eggs make everything taste better.
This ode to the farm fresh egg brought to you by the letter C….for chicken!
Joell says:
:happyflower:
Farm frsh eggs are the best, we used to have several places around here that sold eggs, but not so much any more, there is such a difference in taste, I do buy the best eggs I can, but much prefer purchasing them from a farm that acually have the chicken there that lay the eggs being sold. I could use some of those eggs today, getting ready to bake red velvet cupcakes.
On May 26, 2015 at 10:26 am
donjweiser says:
my wife and i have recently discovered farm fresh eggs. with store eggs we usually end up getting an upset stomach after eating them, but with the farm eggs no more upset belly!!!!! :snoopy:
On May 26, 2015 at 10:50 am
AnnieB says:
It’s really sad that some people are afraid of farm fresh eggs.
The eggs you buy in the supermarket are FAR more likely to be unsafe, because they come from chickens that are crowded together and living on top of each other, sharing lots of salmonella germs.
Supermarket egg-layers are also probably being fed lots of antibiotics, so if you eat their eggs you are more likely to develop bacteria that are resistant to treatment.
LOVE those bright orange yolks!
On May 26, 2015 at 2:52 pm
beforethedawn says:
I need to start going to a farmer’s market. Eggs in SoCal are going up because chicken “farms” are having to kill their chickens because of bird flu. We already spend more money on the organic, non-battery cage eggs (and I know they aren’t free ranged like I’d prefer). Husband said eggs are inching up in price. (He’s the designated household shopper.)
On May 26, 2015 at 3:01 pm
oakdalefarm says:
After a 50 year break in having chickens (Mom made us take care of hers when we were little boys) my wife and I started with a few hens 4 years ago. We wouldn’t be without our own eggs now!
And, according to some studies, free range eggs are tremendously healthier and more nutritious!!! Four to six times as much vitamin D, 1/3 less cholesterol, 1/4 as much saturated fat, 2/3 times more vitamin A. Two times more omega-3, 3 times more vitamin 3, seven times more beta carotene, and on and on.
But, even if they weren’t healthier, they are just so much better. And the hens are a hoot to watch roaming around the farm, too. We live in the country, so we have a beautiful barred rock rooster named, Rockie! He is a hoot to watch doing his ‘sultan’ thing, too. Most of the time….
On May 26, 2015 at 5:53 pm
holstein woman says:
I’ve been selling farm fresh eggs for about 7 years and have forgotten what store bought taste like, but I wouldn’t go back for anything.
On May 27, 2015 at 12:53 am
Busy Solitude Farm says:
I heard on NPR yesterday that commercially farmed chickens have less floor space in their cages than an 8-1/2 x 11 piece of paper (standard copier paper). That is unforgivable in my opinion. My hens have lots of space to roam, and they will live out their lives even when they stop laying. https://chickensintheroad.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/chicken.gif
On May 27, 2015 at 7:42 am
DancesInGarden says:
I am not allowed chickens where I live, but am part of a chicken co-op outside the city limits. We have a borrowed piece of land where we have a coop and chickens. There are about 10 families, and each day somebody takes a turn tending them, and collecting the eggs. We keep them in a more natural way, so we are flush with eggs right now but sometimes only get a couple per day in the winter -we don’t supply artificial light and the coop is not heated. In leaner times of the year when I have had to purchase eggs at the store, I do go with organic free run. Once I bought regular low price store eggs. DISgusting! They tasted awful. Almost fishy. Cheap feed, I am sure.
On May 29, 2015 at 8:16 am