On Eggs

Over the past few weeks, I’ve learned a lot about eggs. More than I ever in my life thought I would know. Some of this might seem obvious to some of you, but it was new to me, and I wanted to share.

A few eggs wait to be cleaned.

We collect well over 300 eggs a day on the Chinchilla farm, though that number is growing rapidly as the younger hens come fully into laying age. When I arrived, the “pollitos,” as they are called, were laying about 60 eggs a day. Now, they are laying about 230, and Luz expects the number to climb to about 400 soon. The older hens have been laying for some time, and their egg-producing rate is fairly stable. However, not every hen lays every day. Though we might produce up to 500 eggs in one day, we keep about 700 hens.

Thing I learned about eggs #1:
Eggs should be stored point down as soon after collection as possible. They will keep fresh around three times longer this way. This is because of an air bubble that is found in the fat end of the egg – keeping it in its place helps keep the whole thing stable and fresh.

Slowly filling crate after crate one rainy afternoon.

Thing I learned about eggs #2:
Eggs should never be washed with water. Water can pass through the membrane of the shell, bringing bacteria with it. Instead, we scrub the eggs with dry dish scrubbers – the metal kind that is made from hundreds of tiny loops. This buffs off all the bedding and other debris that can get attached without compromising the egg. For those that are truly dirty, we use the white of a cracked egg to clean them. This forms a sort of seal on the outside as it cleans and has the added benefit of making the eggs shiny! Ever baked a pie or tart and then brushed the outside of the pastry with egg white? Same idea.


Thing I learned about eggs #3:
The eggs you and I buy in the grocery store are very, very different from the eggs collected from yard or house hens.

Some of the differences I´ve seen:
Shell: surprisingly tough. The first time I went to crack an egg, it simply thunked against the counter as if to say “-and?”
White: firm and very clear
Yolk: This is the biggest difference for me. The yolks here are a deep, robust orange that makes eggs from the States look like basement-dwelling nerds in comparison.


Thing I learned about eggs #4:
Eggs are not refrigerated here. Ever. Not at the Chinchillas, not at the store, not ever. This was a hard pill to swallow for me at first – have you ever left eggs on the counter for a week and then felt comfortable making an omelet? But here I am, three weeks later, having eaten more eggs in those weeks than probably ever before – and I’m fine!

Frankly, the eggs here are tastier than any egg I’ve bought in the States. I’d fallen out of the habit of buying eggs before I moved down here. I never felt inspired by them – what to make? Unless I was making eggs in a basket, I just didn’t get excited about them. But here, I can revel in an over-easy egg on its own. It’s hard to describe why. Certainly, it has something to do with the fact that I’ve worked over that egg. It didn’t come to me in Styrofoam – rather, I hunted it down early in the morning and scrubbed it and brought it to the kitchen. Any thing we work for has more worth. But that is another post. This one is about the taste, and I’ve gotta say, it’s A+

Tigre and I work on the day´s eggs.