I don’t mean to brag, but I, too, am an egg fan. I get 5-6 18 packs of fresh farms eggs every week from a friend that has a large flock. FREE. I could take more I wanted, but that’s about the limit as to what we can use in a week. I am so blessed! I also get to buy raw goat milk from her for just $6 a gallon.

I am looking forward to getting familiar with this way of eating and losing my babyfat!

I don’t know how one would deal with scavengers attracted by the waste products, but apparently it isn’t much of a problem in the daytime, which is when the chickens are out.

A dozen eggs every two days might seem excessive/expensive, but when you think about it it works out to about $2.50 a day. That’s nothing… I used to spend that much on chocolate bars every day. Also I don’t always eat red meat, chicken or fish, so the eggs are a good substitute.

I planned to get some pet chickens for our family’s eggs, and gathered a lot of information on keeping chickens, but a recent change to our neighborhood’s HOA CC&Rs specifically prohibits poultry now (who sang like a bird on that one, I wonder?). So I’m still stuck with buying eggs. Our family of three goes through at least 3 doz eggs a week, sometimes 4 doz.

Whenever they are available, I buy truly free-range eggs from a local woman who keeps a flock of about 80 chickens at her large not-quite-rural suburban property. She’s a coworker of my neighbor, and keeping chickens is a lifestyle hobby, not a huge business. The “local” egg ranchers keep flocks of about 70,000 chickens in huge long buildings – truly industrially produced eggs in all sense of the phrase.

When the “backyard” eggs aren’t available (due to seasonal molting, lower egg productivity, etc.), I buy the best I can at the store, which are *more expensive* than the “backyard” eggs btw). I also consider premium store-bought eggs a huge compromise in taste and nutrition, because those “vegetarian-fed” cage-free eggs are not a whole lot different from any other commercially produced egg in most aspects. Chickens aren’t vegetarians; they are omnivores!

Someone mentioned the “bloody spot” sometimes seen in eggs. That’s not an undeveloped chick! The vast majority of eggs are not even fertilized, and even the fertilized eggs will not develop into a chick embryo if they are removed right after laying and cooled (eggs need warmth to develop). That bloody spot is formed in the hen’s ovary during egg formation.

If finding a blood spot bothers you, pick it out with a spoon, but it’s not harmful to eat (I don’t bother removing the spots unless making something, like a meringue or mayonnaise, where it might be noticeable). Most commercial eggs are “candled” (viewed with backlight, which can display irregularities), therefore many eggs with blood spots and shell cracks are separated and sold as liquid eggs to food processors (Egg Beaters, dried egg powders for mixes, etc.). “Backyard” eggs from small local producers probably are not “candled” so they might have a higher % of eggs with blood spots than commercial eggs.

I don’t refrigerate eggs anymore (with the fast rate and number of eggs we use, the fridge would be too full of eggs all the time). As long as they are not washed of their naturally protective coating (it dries in moments after laying) or cracked, eggs kept in a cool, but room temperature place will last at least 3 weeks or even longer (I’ve had them last 2 months this way, because they are really fresh when I receive them). If soiled, I wash eggs right before using, especially if consumed raw. But we use them so fast it it hardly matters.

I’ve never found a rotten egg until I had some un-candled “backyard” eggs that I kept at coolish room temperature (in my garage) for about 2 months (I got a huge order of 12 doz eggs to last me through the winter holiday season when my source wouldn’t be making deliveries in my area). In the last 2-3 doz (now 2-3+ months old) I found a few “rotten” eggs that were immediately obvious when opened – a sulfurous smell, the yolk was already broken in the egg, a spot of mold in the egg or inside the shell, and an obvious area (micro-cracks) where the egg’s natural seal was breached. That’s why I inspect immediately for micro-cracks and use those eggs right away, before they can spoil. The majority were just fine, and they made *great* easy-to-peel hard boiled eggs (the yolk membranes weren’t quite strong enough to cook over easy anymore).

Ok, I could go on forever about eggs…my favorite and one of the most affordable, nutritious, delicious breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert, and snack foods/ingredients.

I love eggs cooked almost every way. I only like hardboiled eggs if the yoke is not dry.

This week I want to try to make my own mayo (with egg yoke of course) and then make a Primal Egg Salad served on pieces of bacon… Mmmmm.

Question: I tried the scottish eggs you blogged about a while back and loved them. My only complaint was that the yolk was uber-dry. Do you encounter this too and it’s just something to get used to? Or do you have suggestions to avoid the uber-dry yolk?

Love the blog and happy to see some new posts!

My favorite way to cook an egg: At least a few days a week I will brown a few shallots in butter, add some fresh chorizo sausage, break it up a bit, then add a few eggs, and scramble it all up. Simple, quick and delicious!

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