Facts about Eggs

Here Are some interesting facts about eggs that you may not know.

Eggs are sized by the egg's weight, not its circumference. Fresh egg sinks in water, stale one won't There are at least 150 known species of chickens The chalazae is what binds the yolk to the white,the more prominent, the fresher the egg.

Can't remember if an egg is fresh or hard boiled? Just spin the egg. If it wobbles, it's raw. If it spins easily, it's hard boiled. Yolks are one of a few rae foods that contain Vitamin D. It is rare, but not unusual, for a young hen to produce an egg with no yolk at all!

Hard boiled eggs are much easier to peel if they are at least one week old.

A hen requires between 24 and 26 hours to produce an egg.

In the U.S. in 1998, hens produced 6,657,000,000 dozen eggs - that's 6.657 billion dozen Australia produces 190 million dozen eggs a year China produces most eggs, at about 160 billion per year.

Eggs are porous, which means smells and liquid can be absorbed by the eggs shell. Shell colour varies with the breed of hen and is not related to quality, nutrients, flavour or cooking characteristics. One Large egg contains 213 mg cholesterol. Eggs age more in one day at room temperature than in one week in the fridge.

EGG SIZE CALORIES Medium 66 Large 75 Extra Large 84 Jumbo 94

The average laying hen lays 257 eggs a year. Ways of cooking or using eggs include Fried (cooked in a pan on a burner) Over-easy (turned over in the pan to cook both sides, with the second side cooked lightly)

Over-hard (turned over in the pan to cook both sides, with the second side cooked as much as the first) Sunny-side up (cooked in a pan with a lid on one side only) Basted (cooked with the cooking fat spooned over the top)

Steam-basted (cooked in a pan with a lid and a little water to make steam) Scrambled (beaten with milk and cooked in a pan on a burner while the cook stirs)

Omelet French Omelet (beaten with water, cooked in a pan on a burner until it's a circle, then folded or rolled) Puffy Omelet (made with separately beaten egg whites and yolks so it has lots of air, then cooked in a pan both on a burner and in the oven)

Frittata and Tortilla (Italian and Spanish omelets cooked with all the ingredients in the omelet, cooked in a pan on a burner and sometimes flipped over in the pan to cook the second side, or covered with a lid to finish cooking, or finished in the oven or under the broiler, or made like a French omelet)

Cooked-in-the-shell Hard-cooked (cooked in very hot water until the white and yolk are both solid) Soft-cooked and Coddled (cooked in very hot water until the white is set and the yolk starts to thicken but isn't hard) Poached (cooked out of the shell in simmering water or another liquid) Baked (eggs alone or eggs broken into a sauce or a nest of other foods and baked) Oven-baked (baked in a dish in the oven)

Range-top-baked ("baked" in a pan with a lid on a burner)

Custard Baked (eggs beaten with milk and other ingredients and baked in the oven) Sweet (eggs beaten with milk, sugar and flavorings)

Cup custard (baked in a small glass cup) Pie (baked in a pie plate with a crust, crumbs or another food on the bottom) Pudding (custard ingredients stirred together with bread, rice, tapioca or other foods and baked in small glass cups or a casserole dish)

Savory (eggs beaten with milk and other foods) Quiche (a custard pie baked in a pie plate or quiche dish with a crust, crumbs or another food on the bottom and unsweet ingredients, like vegetables or cheese, instead of sugar in the custard) Timbale(a little quiche baked in a small glass cup, usually without a crust) Strata (an unsweet custard with layers of bread or another grain food plus flavoring foods, usually baked in a casserole)

Soft, stirred (eggs beaten with milk, sugar and flavorings and cooked in a pan on a burner until it's a thick, pourable sauce) Meringue (beaten egg whites and sugar) Hard or Swiss (dried in an oven until all the liquid is gone)

Soft or Pie (baked or dried in an oven until it's marshmallowy) Italian or boiled frosting (cooked in a pan on a burner until it's marshmallowy and spreadable) Souffle (a sauce plus separately beaten egg whites and yolks and flavoring foods) Hot (flavored with sweet or unsweet foods and baked in the oven until browned and puffy) Cold (usually flavored with sweet foods, mixed with gelatin and chilled until set)

Sauce or Dressing Mayonnaise dressing (oil, lemon juice or vinegar and seasonings thickened and held together by egg yolks) Hollandaise sauce (butter, lemon juice and seasonings thickened and held together by egg yolks) Caesar dressing (oil, vinegar, garlic and other seasonings thickened and held together by eggs)

For Egg recipes www.theworldrecipebook.com