I like eggs, but.....
 

I make hardboiled eggs and have one each day. But there's something in some of them that I hope someone here could inform me about. When I get to the yolk, I sometimes find a small brownish jelly-like substance that has a very distinct smell and taste at the edge of a small part of the yolk next to the egg white. What is it? I scrape it off and toss it, because I'm afraid it's some sort of bacterial growth, even though I had just hard boiled the egg only a few days before. Has anyone else here seen something like this?

Re: I like eggs, but.....
 

These wouldn't be fertile eggs would they?

Re: I like eggs, but.....
 

I don't know. I just bought them at the supermarket. They're not organic or anything.

Re: I like eggs, but.....
 

RFID Chip.

Re: I like eggs, but.....
 

Alien Embryo

Re: I like eggs, but.....
 

That's the embryo. Don't eat it or you might wind up like Jon Hurt:

Re: I like eggs, but.....
 

That's a good question for The Chicken Whisperer.
http://atlantachickenwhisperer.blogspot.com/
http://www.meetup.com/chickens/

Re: I like eggs, but.....
 

Gross! I wouldn't eat that crap. None of it. Those eggs would be buried.
I raise a dozen or so hens and sometimes get an egg that has a little blood clot and if you look carefully you can even see the tiny embryo developing.
But it doesn't smell or taste different. :puke:

Re: I like eggs, but.....
 

don't see that in the organic pasture raised eggs I buy from a local farmer.

the eggs smell fresh and I eat them raw. I like to mix the raw egg into my yogurt and eat them together with chopped walnuts - makes a great breakfast!

Re: I like eggs, but.....
 

I have only seen that from a hen who had a rooster on her back, if you know what I mean?

Re: I like eggs, but.....
 

How do you boil your eggs?

A common mistake is to leave them in the hot water after they're done cooking. That can cause greenish/greyish rings between the yolk and the white. The rings are made of ferrous sulphide and can have a distinct smell. Could that be related to what you're seeing? (The right way to do it is to run cool water into the pot, diluting the hot water, and then pull them out of the water entirely to let them cool).

Re: I like eggs, but.....
 

Damn, i didn't realize there was that much to it. next time i make my egg salad i'll keep this in mind. always looking for a way to make it better.

Re: I like eggs, but.....
 

If you like hard boiled eggs and you're used to eating ones that are greenish/greyish, making the switch so that yolks are bright yellow can be an amazing experience. At least it was for me when I figured it out years ago! Taste, smell and looks are all improved.

Re: I like eggs, but.....
 

Here's my "secret" technique for making hard-boiled eggs (2 to 4 at a time) that come out consistently MARVELOUS!!!

The yolks are, not only never green or gray on the outside, but also they come out a deep yellow... rarely dry yellow... when I hit it right, the very center of the yolk is a deep golden almost-liquid... YUM!

Put the eggs into a saucepan of cold water, put it on the stove and get the water boiling. After the water reaches boiling, put a lid on the saucepan, and turn off the heat. Wait about 10 minutes (depends on egg size), and do the cold water rinse like you, ACENZ, recommend. I FLOOD them with cold water to the point where (after I'm done rinsing) it takes a few seconds for the heat from the inside of the egg to reach the shell again.

I tap the egg all over on the counter to crack the shell up completely... comes off generally with no problem at all.

ENJOY!

Re: I like eggs, but.....
 

Thanks for the advice. gonna give it a try this afternoon. :coolbeer:

Re: I like eggs, but.....
 

I put them in a pot, pour the water in to cover all the eggs, put a lid on the pot and then turn on the heat until the boiling starts, then turn off the heat (I have an electric stove). Then I leave it all for about 12 minutes and then take the eggs out of the water to let them cool down to about room temperature before putting them in the fridge. Then I eat one each day.

Is my technique good? I used to keep the water boiling the whole time, but then heard that it only needs to be brought to a boil in the beginning of the 12 minutes. This was said to make the shell easier to remove. Saves energy too!

Re: I like eggs, but.....
 

I am not sure I understand, can you please explain in great detail?

Re: I like eggs, but.....
 

Not good.

Listen to Unica Scrooge and Ace NZ.

When the boiling starts turn them down, but not too much, keep the water at a visible boil, for your 12 minutes, timing good by my books, but that is a little more well done than Scrooge's techinque - but not rolling so hard they break. Turn to a medium heat.

Do as Ace NZ says. When they have finished, dump out the boiling water, refill pan with cold. Do several times. Until water stays cold.

Leave them for an hour at most in the cold water. If you leave them in the water they get a bit 'iffy'. Remove them after an hour or so and dry them and put in fridge.

If you follow the advice on here and still have funny brown bits in your eggs you should seriously consider getting a better grade of eggs. Battery hens 'barn hens' are kept in disgusting conditions, stressed to the 9's, and are fed on horrible things - including egg shells and worse. Better to pay a bit more and get Free Range, especially if eggs are a major part of your diet. Stressed animals/birds fed on canabalistic crap are not a healthy part of the food chain - as CJD etc proved in the UK.

A blood fleck should be your only evidence of a fertilized egg, as said above.

Re: I like eggs, but.....
 

Fresh eggs don't have much air space in the shell - making conventional boiled eggs hard to peel. I steam them over boiling water in a vegetable steamer for 20 minutes followed by an ice water bath. Even the freshest eggs can be easily peeled this way.

Re: I like eggs, but.....
 

I believe we each do it right, just some more right than others!

I like to get that water as cold as you can and keep changing it until it stays cold. After that just peel the eggs you are going to eat.

The trick that came out of the old Betty Crocker's Cook Book that I like and will pass on, is after you crack the eggs, roll them between your hands gently finishing the cracking and loosening the shell from the rest of the egg. Done correctly, fresh eggs peel as easy as ones from the store that are weeks old. Give it a try.

If you refrain from eating the yokes you are not eating any of the "bad stuff" that comes from the egg. All the protein is located in the white, all the fat and cholesterol is in the yoke. Do yourself a favor, when you make scrambled eggs, use just one whole egg (if you need the color) and separate all the whites from the yokes for the rest of your eggs before you beat them together. If you like them sunny side up or over, take one whole egg and add a couple extra whites to it.

Good luck.

Re: I like eggs, but.....
 

Unca Scrooge -

You have it just right......that's the way I learned it from my Ma.

Only difference is that she, and me, always put a tablespoon of white wine vinegar into the boiling water.

Makes 'em even brighter and better, in my opinion.


scyth

Re: I like eggs, but.....
 

Fatboy, there is nothing unhealthy in egg yolks. Did you know that our bodies produce cholesterol if we don't get it from our diet?

Re: I like eggs, but.....
 

Eggs contain cholesterol but they also contain lecithin, which is what the body uses to control cholesterol. Everything that naturally contains cholesterol also contains lecithin.

Re: I like eggs, but.....
 

The problem is that the eggs will continue to cook if you just let them sit in air. It's better to cool them quickly with cold water. Also, 12 minutes might be a bit long, although that depends on your altitude (the higher you are, the lower the temperature of water when it boils). You could experiment with 10 minutes and see if that works.

I'm not sure about the no-heat-after-boil part. It seems to me that consistent heat would produce a better result. As above, you might experiment with it and see.

I do that too; it also seems to reduce cracking from the cooking process by softening the shell slightly. I also add a pinch of salt to the water.

Re: I like eggs, but.....
 

Who'd a thunk that something as "simple" as boiling eggs could elicit so much interest and discussion!!! :s1:

Guess it's the "little" things in life that add up!

Re: I like eggs, but.....
 

I've seen blood spots in eggs with no rooster in the flock. But it is about fertility, or the ability for the egg to become a chick. The yolk is the food for the developing baby chick. Not all the eggs have blood spots though all have a little ovum part that is kind of white attached to the yolk, but in fresh clean eggs with whole shells (not cracked) there is nothing unwholesome about an egg with a blood spot. I am a little squeamish about thinking about its place in chicken reproduction, so I don't much, but it is natural and ok.

If it smells bad you are buying very old nearly rotten eggs. They can be sold as fresh after 6 months in controlled storage last time I looked it up.

Here is an easy poaching technique. Boil a big pot of water with vinegar in the water. Crack each egg out of the shell and drop it in the water. When they float (about 3 minutes) they are done to tender perfection and you dip them out with a slotted spoon. On buttered bread or english muffins... yum. IMO the tenderest way to prepare eggs.

I also find quiche a great way to use eggs for dinner. When our garden and flock were in full swing we preferred our fresh produce so much to store or restaurant food we ate eggs and veggies lots of ways. Scrambled for simplicity, to quiche for a nice winter meal.

Re: I like eggs, but.....
 

Yes but:

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/cholesterol/HQ00608

It is true that the egg is the real deal but when you eat in quantity the bad parts can be eliminated while still allowing you to get all the protein you desire.

Re: I like eggs, but.....
 

It's not just here, inquiring minds want to know. From a few days ago:

http://www.frugalsquirrels.com/vb/sh...d.php?t=230543

Re: I like eggs, but.....
 

One thing that I've always heard and it's seem to be a good indicator for me. Take a glass of water and place the egg inside, if the egg floats its bad if it sinks then its good.

Re: I like eggs, but.....
 

Definitely try for fresher eggs. Look on craigslist to see if there are any local sellers, or try the farmers markets. I also add a bit of vinegar to the water during boiling, then run cold water over them afterwards and they are always easy to peel. My DD makes excellent deviled eggs. I've been eating TONS of eggs lately; we are getting about 15 eggs per day from our flock! :yippee:


I save all of our eggshells to feed back to the chickens. They need lots of calcium to form those daily eggshells, and there is nothing wrong with using eggshell as the source, either instead of oyster shell calcium or along with it. I have an old pie tin where we put all of the eggshells, then we pop them into the oven for a few minutes when we are baking. We grind the shells with a mortar & pestle, other people use food processor, or bag them & use a rolling pin. We then put the shells out in a separate bowl, and the girls slurp it down like it's a huge treat. They know what's good for them.

Otherwise I agree with you about the shocking conditions that those poor battery hens are kept in. It makes me sad; I baby my birds.