That's great if you store them outdoors. But the risk of cross-contaminating the Kitchen by bringing them in uncleaned is just too great.
How many eggs...
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That's great if you store them outdoors. But the risk of cross-contaminating the Kitchen by bringing them in uncleaned is just too great.
Then they're extremely lucky. I've never seen yard eggs that uniformly sized and colored. Nor that clean.
Our hens free range and we never have two eggs the same size or colour but they are clean as the nest boxes they lay in are in a different coop to the one they sleep in, many people make the mistake of having roosting perches above nest boxes hence getting dirty eggs. I will say that we know which hen has produced which egg as they produce a similar shape and colour each time they lay.
Never thought I would be sitting here talking about chickens, how life changes!
Response to Santaman2000
I believe that they are just very carefully kept. It's the children's 'chore', and they're being well reared
Those hens are all much of an age, and egg size is often an age related thing, as well as a breed thing. We only get a glimpse of them, so no idea just how uniform they might be.
There's also this whole issue that something must be seen to have 'dirt' to be organic or free range, and that's simply a load of mince. It's right up there with hand made must look crude and unfinished somehow.
Reality is that neither is necessarily true.
M
I believe that they are just very carefully kept. It's the children's 'chore', and they're being well reared
Those hens are all much of an age, and egg size is often an age related thing, as well as a breed thing. We only get a glimpse of them, so no idea just how uniform they might be.
There's also this whole issue that something must be seen to have 'dirt' to be organic or free range, and that's simply a load of mince. It's right up there with hand made must look crude and unfinished somehow.
Reality is that neither is necessarily true.
M
I never mix the raw chicken farm eggs with anything else in the fridge. Clean or not.
Mostly, they are clean. Always a surprise to open the box and see what color shells I get.
White, cream, brown and a pale turquoise blue/green.
I've described what "free range" means here for eggproducers. Rubbish but the letter of the law.
My farm friends grow chickens as meat birds and for some eggs, happy to sell them off.
In turn, I've been known to ruin a batch of baking so I save that for their birds.
Mostly, they are clean. Always a surprise to open the box and see what color shells I get.
White, cream, brown and a pale turquoise blue/green.
I've described what "free range" means here for eggproducers. Rubbish but the letter of the law.
My farm friends grow chickens as meat birds and for some eggs, happy to sell them off.
In turn, I've been known to ruin a batch of baking so I save that for their birds.
I never give it a thought. The fridge comes with an egg rack on the top shelf of the door.
I just fill it up from the carton.
I admit that I do scrub the fridge though, usually with oxygen bleach or baking soda, but it's not a daily, or weekly occurrence. It's too full most of the time.
M
I just fill it up from the carton.
I admit that I do scrub the fridge though, usually with oxygen bleach or baking soda, but it's not a daily, or weekly occurrence. It's too full most of the time.
M
I just keep the cardboard? egg boxes that they come in and give them back when I order more eggs.
The egg rack broke off so I tossed it.
As long as the crisper bins in the bottom catch the overflows and the drools, they get washed.
Gravity is my friend.
The egg rack broke off so I tossed it.
As long as the crisper bins in the bottom catch the overflows and the drools, they get washed.
Gravity is my friend.
I remember those racks. Supposedly it was bad for the eggs to keep them there though. I can't remember the details but it had something to do with them being damaged by the movement from opening and closing the door regularly? I imagine that's why those racks aren't there in new fridges anymore? I haven't seen them in 20 years or so at least. I'm like RV with store bought eggs; I just leave them in the carton on a shelf. Yard eggs I just leave in a bowl or basket on the counter top.
Yes they are being "raised right" as we'd say. I suppose that (intense "keeping" of the hens) could explain it.Response to Santaman2000
I believe that they are just very carefully kept. It's the children's 'chore', and they're being well reared
I have never heard that about the eggs and the fridge door, and I have not had a bad egg .....well, ever.
My fridge/freezer is all of a year old, and it came with the racks.
Esther and Nick are trying to create organic garden patches in their garden. The chickens are deep littered on top of where the beds will be. They're given fresh straw underfoot every day and the whole 'tractor' is moved weekly or so. It's keeping the chickens warm and laying as much as anything else just now. I believe that through the warmer times the chickens are free ranged in large runs though.
M
My fridge/freezer is all of a year old, and it came with the racks.
Esther and Nick are trying to create organic garden patches in their garden. The chickens are deep littered on top of where the beds will be. They're given fresh straw underfoot every day and the whole 'tractor' is moved weekly or so. It's keeping the chickens warm and laying as much as anything else just now. I believe that through the warmer times the chickens are free ranged in large runs though.
M
Egg racks are still being sold with fridges in the UK. I always nosey round Currys if I get the chance. I like technology, it's not very productive interest but it passes the few minutes I get free when in town. Beats proper shopping.
Never used them. Our fridge isn't organized so one spot reserved for only one item doesn't make sense. Besides we buy a dozen at a time. They stay in the box and sit wherever there's space for them in the fridge. I personally don't see egg racks as am efficient use of fridge space.
Never used them. Our fridge isn't organized so one spot reserved for only one item doesn't make sense. Besides we buy a dozen at a time. They stay in the box and sit wherever there's space for them in the fridge. I personally don't see egg racks as am efficient use of fridge space.
It's a wee narrow shelf at the top of the door. It holds packs of butter, stood on end, and the eggs. It doesn't hold anything else. I find the cardboard egg boxes get pushed to the back of the fridge (our's is always stuffed to the gunnels) and ends up soggy and the eggs frozen agin the cardboard.
The egg rack works fine for me. But then, I don't use that many eggs anyway.
M
The egg rack works fine for me. But then, I don't use that many eggs anyway.
M
The current consensus seems to be that the main reason for not storing eggs in the fridge is to avoid them being tainted by strong flavours from other foods passing through the permeable shell. Fluctuating temperatures are apparently undesirable and although chilling the eggs preserves them, presumably items stored in fridge doors are more susceptible to changes in temperature as the door is opened and closed.
I’ve only got six months direct experience but although the eggs from our four different laying breeds are different shades, they have now settled down to be reasonably consistent in size (not that we are bothered), although we do get the occasional quail or duck sized offerings.
It took a day or two before our new hens got used to the sleeping and laying regime but now they sleep on perches and lay in the separate nest boxes. IME, hens do most of their pooping while they sleep (borne out by the neat lines of droppings under the perches) so droppings in the nest boxes would suggest that birds are sleeping there rather than on perches.
Any muck on our eggs seems to be mud or droppings walked in by the birds - inevitably this time of year the ground is muddier. We have four nest boxes but the birds randomly favour different boxes - single eggs in a box are usually spotless but if 4,5 or 6 eggs are laid in a box, the dirty feet of each successive hen seems to add mud and whatever else the have trodden in to the eggs already laid.
Very happy with the set-up, I (re)built the henhouse from a very rotten but solidly made duckhouse. As well as replacing the the top and bottom 6” and raising it up on posts salvaged from an old telegraph pole, the perches, nest boxes and a fox proof run (for when they are not allowed out to free range), were additions. The only change I would/will make is to move one of the perches by a couple of inches so none of the nocturnal droppings fall into the main thoroughfare through the henhouse.
Still new to this but really enjoying it so far.
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Those shelves hold jars and other small items like pickles. Too full for eggs. Never had soggy egg boxes personally.
Funny how a thread on his many eggs ppl eat drifts into a discussion on fridge organization! We all have opinions on that I reckon. Just like when a visitor helps washing up and puts a pot in the wrong place.
Mind you I'd have bet this thread would have gone down the sharing of egg based recipes!
Funny how a thread on his many eggs ppl eat drifts into a discussion on fridge organization! We all have opinions on that I reckon. Just like when a visitor helps washing up and puts a pot in the wrong place.
Mind you I'd have bet this thread would have gone down the sharing of egg based recipes!
Yeah, as I said earlier our fridges used to have the rack in the door for a dozen eggs but not anymore. I would have never been able to use it anyway though; even back when i was single I would buy another dozen before the first one was used up so I'd have had more than it would hold. Nowadays with 2 of us living here I buy 2 or 3 dozen at a time.
Egg based recipes (or maybe more styles of egg cooking) would be nice. For now I've listed all I can think of.
Egg based recipes (or maybe more styles of egg cooking) would be nice. For now I've listed all I can think of.
I'm still interested in the amounts people use if there's any new posters.
To add to the recipes we will make sweet and savoury pancakes to freeze and our own egg pasta/noodles.
To add to the recipes we will make sweet and savoury pancakes to freeze and our own egg pasta/noodles.
I easily use three eggs pr day, no baking included. My cholesterol is perfect by the way.
I keep my own chickens, and I share the eggs with my family.
Except from kitchen "scraps", they're fed organic pellets. In the summer they've been free-range, but this year I had a badger, that will no doubtly retur, messing with my system.
Next spring I'll have to make a predator proof yard for them.
I'm actually surprised the Predators haven't dared to give it a go until now.
I keep my own chickens, and I share the eggs with my family.
Except from kitchen "scraps", they're fed organic pellets. In the summer they've been free-range, but this year I had a badger, that will no doubtly retur, messing with my system.
Next spring I'll have to make a predator proof yard for them.
I'm actually surprised the Predators haven't dared to give it a go until now.
I wasn't just referring to the fridge. Anywhere in the kitchen is a risk of cross contamination. The counter tops are where I (and most people) do food prep (chopping veg, slicing meat, mixing ingredients, etc.) Then there's the simple act of handling the egg itself to crack it and then handling other ingredients or dishes/utensils while cooking.
Scrubbing the fridge? I need to have a word with wife....
3% hydrogen peroxide in a plant spray bottle, quick wipe with a cloth. No scrubbing required.
