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They are harder to make, though. The albumins break down over time, leading to a more liquid egg white. This, in turn causes the egg to spread out more when y
by mikekchar 10y ago
They are harder to make, though. The albumins break down over time, leading to a more liquid egg white. This, in turn causes the egg to spread out more when you are poaching them. Making a perfectly round poached egg by dropping it into a pot of salted, simmering water is very difficult if the egg is less than a few days old. That's why Starfrit sells egg poachers.
BTW, I don't know about the US, but in Canada, the supply chain often delivers eggs to the store that are 2 weeks old, so it's quite likely that most people have never cooked with a fresh egg before in their life.
- jonomw 10y agoThanks for making me realise why I stopped liking poached eggs. I was just using old eggs. And I have heard similar things about the supply chain in the US. However, I have had a fresh egg that was no more than 24 hours old (I think younger) and I didn't really notice a difference. Then again, I think it was scrambled, so I don't know if you can tell anyways.
- mikekchar 10y agoPersonally, I can't tell the difference in flavour between a fresh egg and an old egg. Texture is the only thing I've noticed. Though, for instance, that can be quite important in some egg dishes like tamagoyaki. For flavour, a much bigger difference can be seen from the diet of the hen. Grain fed battery hens have pretty bland eggs. I obsess about my tamagoyaki, so I'm willing to go to some extremes to get good, fresh eggs.
- lostlogin 10y agoIf you know anyone with chickens, get an egg off them. The difference between the eggs and store bought, free range, is night and day. I don't know why, but the yolk is orange for starters. It may have been due to the species of chicken I suppose?
- ktRolster 10y agoIf you're lucky, your friend with chickens might have blue-green egg shells.
- justincormack 10y agoYou can buy eggs with blue shells and bright orange yolks in UK supermarkets, I ate some yesterday.
- mikekchar 10y agoIt's to do with diet. IIRC, some farmers feed their flock flax in order to get more orange yolks. But free range hens that have access to insects tend to have a nicer flavour in my experience. Generally speaking, an egg with a hard shell and a very bright yolk will be nicer and that tends to correspond with free range hens. But, climate where you live will influence how realistic that is.
- woofyman 10y agoAdd vinegar to the water
- zhte415 10y agoA tiny, tiny amount though, unless you like the sensation of teeth grinding on chalk. Better to steam.
- sampo 10y agoHeston Blumenthal has some tips for poached eggs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gbgSCV9hbM#t=7m6s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gbgSCV9hbM#t=7m6s
- tptacek 10y agoJust do what Kenji Alt does: crack the eggs into a strainer and swish them around to get rid of the runny whites. Works like a charm. I mean, by all means, use super fresh eggs. But as a matter of technique: solvable problem!
- jghn 10y agoWas getting ready to say just this and boom, someone else already made this comment.
- Reason077 10y agoYeah, it's a lot easier to find really fresh eggs in the UK. The supermarket supply chain seems to turn them over much faster. Poached eggs are much more popular, perhaps for that very reason!