How to Choose a Good Egg, Part 2

It’s part deux of our series on choosing high-quality eggs: let’s get right into making good, better and best choices when shopping for them.  A reader asked:

What kind of eggs would Healthy Holly eat?

Healthy Holly would eat the best choice available. Here’s how to determine what that is:

Best Choice:

Pastured eggs, preferably from a farmer I know.

‘Splainer:

These are usually not the eggs you find at the grocery store.  And they’re pastured (raised on pasture), not pasteurized (although sometimes they’re that, too, depending on the farm).  These eggs come from chickens raised under the following conditions:

* They spend most of their time outdoors on nature’s clock, getting plenty of exercise and eating bugs and worms. Many farmers who follow best practices employ a “chicken-mobile”: they’ll move the protective chicken wire pen and/or indoor brooding area to a new section of grass every day.

* Besides eating grubs, these chickens munch on unsprayed and/or organic grains – the best feed that the farmer can afford.  I prefer soy-free feed, as too much soy is not good for my body. (Whatever the chickens are eating, I’m eating.)

* The brooding area provides each chicken with plenty of warmth and room to nest.

Here’s an example of a best-quality pastured egg.  Notice that it boasts a bright orange yolk and a creamy white.  When you crack it into the pan, it keeps its shape, resembling a perky boob. This, as many men and quite a few lesbians might tell you, can be a desirable quality.

How do you find such an egg? By finding the right farmer.  EatWild is a fantastic source.  You will pay more for these eggs.  To me, it’s worth it.  Even if you’re more of a thigh guy.

******

Better Choice:

An organic and/or “free-range” egg from the grocery store.  You want to see certified organic and/or vegetarian feed on the label.

‘Splainer:

“Free-range” or “Free-Roaming” are often marketing labels. In theory, it means the birds are spending most of their time outdoors, as enumerated above.  But usually it just means that the chickens spend most of their time in a barn or other facility, and that there’s a little door open somewhere.  Sometimes, they have room to move about.  Sometimes, they don’t.

In theory, the chickens could mosey on outside and embrace the world with their chickeness.  But we’re talking about birdbrains here: they don’t realize they can go outside.  Our lesson: assume everything you see at the grocery store is a marketing label.

So, since we’re not at the farms and can’t actually see how these chickens are raised, we’ll be avoiding the bad stuff more than insisting on the best stuff.

1) You want eggs from chickens given vegetarian feed, not ground-up animal parts. (Unfortunately, though, the label “vegetarian hens” is also revealing: it means they never went outside.)

2)  I’d prefer that their feed also be organic. So if you can spring for it, a certified organic egg is a decent egg label.

I often end up buying my eggs from the grocery store.  It’s difficult to procure good farm eggs here on a regular basis, so I often use this “Better” choice — organic grocery store eggs from chickens eating vegetarian feed. And I’m totally fine with it.

In my upcoming grocery store podcast, I’ll tell you exactly which egg brands I like best.

In the meantime, here’s an organic egg from a decent brand and a pastured egg: The photo is from an old web site of mine.  It’s small, but you can still tell the difference.

Notice the pale yellow yolk and slack white of the egg that came from the store.   It’s still a decent egg, but its chicken ate corn, soy and grains exclusively and likely never exercised.  I’m hoping it at least had room to spread its wings.  (Read yesterday’s post for a primer on how most chickens are raised in the U.S.)

Now look at the one on the right.  Orange yolk from eating marigolds and worms and such.  Intact shape.  It, of course, is the pastured egg.

Good Choice:

Certified Humane eggs or Fertile eggs.

‘Splainer:

If you can’t afford or find organic or real farm eggs near you, go for these.  Eggs raised in a way that’s Certified Humane come from chickens that are uncaged and allowed to nest, perch and dust-bathe.  Beak cutting is allowed, although they are usually raised in less population-dense buildings than your typical birds are.  They are also kept indoors all the time.  This is still better than the conditions many chickens are raised in, and sometimes leads to less antibiotic use.

In theory, you could incubate fertile eggs and hatch a chick, but buying fertile eggs doesn’t mean you’ll find a surprise inside.  Fun fact: hens often don’t need roosters to lay eggs.  But fertile eggs come from chickens that indeed have been raised with roosters, meaning they were likely uncaged and had a bit more room to move about than most factory-farmed chickens.

Whatever choice you make, I’d still rather you elect to eat eggs rather than foodless foods such as protein bars, which are normally candy bars masquerading as health foods.  The less processed your foods, the better.

And as for egg whites eaten without the yolk?  Remember that many of the vitamins in our foods are fat-soluble, meaning we need to eat them with fat.  The yolk of the egg provides the perfect, elegant solution.

Eat whole eggs, and eat the best you can afford.

The End.  ;)

Got a favorite egg brand or farmer?  Please tell us all!

And if you liked this piece, please share it by clicking one or more of the icons below.  Thanks!