Aaaand another question: Should I be squeamish about eating farm-fresh eggs?

[melissel]

Sorry, I've been trying to limit my time online, and now I have all these questions saved up :lol:

Our local farm (right around the corner, LOVE IT!) has finally expanded their hours for the season, and I managed to buy their fresh, humanely raised, all natural (well, maybe mostly natural) eggs. They're blue! It's so cool :D

Anyway, they wash the eggs before packing them in the cartons, but there was still some...residue on them, IYKWIM. Now, I fantasize about having some chickens and gathering our own eggs some day, so I know this is a fact of farm life. But, it still kind of squicks me out. I washed each one before I cooked them, but some were kind of hard to get clean. Should I be worried? Should I be completely anal about cleaning them really, REALLY well? I scrubbed so hard I lost two eggs in the process last night :glare: Please help me feel better about this! I really want to utilize this local resource. Plus, whew! Those eggs were delish!

[beansprouts]

You're not eating the shells right???

:D

[Kelli in TN]

Feel better! (Where is that board fairy, she could wave the feel better wand over you)

I rinse them if they have crud on them and then I just try to be careful about how I break them so the egg contents dump right out with brushing the outside of the shell. This is only challenging when trying to separate the yolk from the white.

[astrid]

Relax, live a little, and enjoy those eggs! BILLIONS of humans have survived eating fresh eggs throughout history.....and like you said, they're SO delish! They're definitely worth it.

Oh....and I"ve never heard the phrase "squicks me out" before. I"m DEFINITELY going to use it! :thumbup:Thanks!

[Tracy in Ky]

They are FINE!! We have our own eggs, and we don't even wash them unless they are really dirty, and then not until right before we crack them.

I promise--they are fine. If you are concerned, just wash them again.

Now, our duck eggs are a different story. They are often much dirtier for some reason. Sometimes, when they lay them in the mud at the pond, I can hardly see the egg for the mud. Those get a good washing! lol.

[GretaLynne]

I really think it's the things you can NOT see in the store-bought factory-farm eggs that we should all be frightened of! :ohmy:

[*anj*]

Okay, first of all the eggs are fine. In fact eggs that haven't been overly cleaned are safer to eat (as long as you clean them before you eat them.)

Secondly, where did you get them? And how much did you pay????

I get mine through our food co-op, but I'd love to know about a closer source.

[Baseballmom]

We have chickens too. One time a little girl was at our house and my boys were collecting the eggs. She said, 'I don't eat eggs that chickens lay." I laughed and said "Honey, all eggs come from chickens." Her eyes got really big, and she said, "Even the ones from the store? They just wash them off? Gross!" I am not sure she ever ate an egg again. Anyway, the eggs really shouldn't be that dirty if they are keeping things clean. But, maybe you just think they are dirty because they are not white and perfect like the store eggs.
P.S. I know that not all eggs come from chickens.
Dorothy

[Baseballmom]

Okay, first of all the eggs are fine. In fact eggs that haven't been overly cleaned are safer to eat (as long as you clean them before you eat them.)

Secondly, where did you get them? And how much did you pay????

I get mine through our food co-op, but I'd love to know about a closer source.


:iagree: They have a protective coating that if you wash them comes off and could allow bacteria into the egg. Like the op said just make sure you wash them right before you eat them.
Dorothy

[melissel]

:iagree: They have a protective coating that if you wash them comes off and could allow bacteria into the egg. Like the op said just make sure you wash them right before you eat them.
Dorothy

I guess that's what worried me a little, because I knew that, and I wondered whether leaving the ick on there after washing that protective coating off might matter at all. But yes, you're all right, I won't let it bother me then!!!


Okay, first of all the eggs are fine. In fact eggs that haven't been overly cleaned are safer to eat (as long as you clean them before you eat them.)

Secondly, where did you get them? And how much did you pay????

I get mine through our food co-op, but I'd love to know about a closer source.


:lol: I knew I'd hear from you. Right around the corner! Do you know where Suydam Farm is? The huge plot of land on the corner of 27 and Skillman's Lane? They're open Friday-Sundays now, and they have eggs all year round, as well as plants to buy right now from their greenhouses. The wife told me they planted tons of crops that aren't ready yet, and this is the first year they're planting enough of everything for the public (but not pick-your-own).

The eggs are now $3.50/dozen (used to be $3.00). They're not organic, but the chickens have large open areas in their coops and each coop spends a good part of the day outside their fence, roaming free. They're fed corn (they always have big containers of corn for visitors to feed the chickens--way fun!), grass clippings, fruits/veggies that are too old to sell, and or course all the bugs they can snap up :)

[*anj*]

:lol: I knew I'd hear from you. Right around the corner! Do you know where Suydam Farm is? The huge plot of land on the corner of 27 and Skillman's Lane? They're open Friday-Sundays now, and they have eggs all year round, as well as plants to buy right now from their greenhouses.

Of course!! :D
Yes, I know exactly where that is. I am embarrassed to say that I've never been there. I will go and check it out. The eggs that I get through my co-op are actually cheaper (for now.) Same kind of thing: not organic, but very close to nature, lots of outside time for soaking up sunshine and eating bugs and stuff. They are awesome eggs! It's very good to know of a place close by with good quality eggs though, because sometimes I run out. I'd much rather give them my business than Land O'Lakes "organic" from Shop Rite.

[Kendra]

They are FINE!! We have our own eggs, and we don't even wash them unless they are really dirty, and then not until right before we crack them.

Us, too.

[melissel]

Of course!! :D
Yes, I know exactly where that is. I am embarrassed to say that I've never been there. I will go and check it out. The eggs that I get through my co-op are actually cheaper (for now.) Same kind of thing: not organic, but very close to nature, lots of outside time for soaking up sunshine and eating bugs and stuff. They are awesome eggs! It's very good to know of a place close by with good quality eggs though, because sometimes I run out. I'd much rather give them my business than Land O'Lakes "organic" from Shop Rite.

I know, you've got the serious hook-up. I was bummed that they'd gone up to $3.50, because that's puts them over the organic eggs I was buying at $2.99, but for now we can afford it, so I'm happy to support buying local. I can't wait until their veggies are in :D

[staceyneil]

Every once in a while one has some poo on it. (From one hen, mostly, she always has a dirty butt!) In that case I usually just scrape it off with a paper towel, and then wash right before using. (As the op said, if you wash them all right away, they won't last as long because the coating washes off and the shells become much more porous). if an egg is REALLY dirty, I'll wash it in tepid water and then put it someplace where I will remember to use it within a day or so.

Glad to hear you are supporting local farmers and eating fresh eggs!!! Those blue ones probably come from Easter Eggers, which are a production-cross breed based on the rarer purebred Ameraucanas, themselves decended from the Chilean rumpless Auraucanas. Easter Eggers and Ameraucanas are really pretty birds with "muffs and beards"... poofy cheeks and throats. We have several for the blue eggs ! I love a colorful egg basket: we also have a Welsummer for dark terra-cotta brown eggs.

[melissel]

Auraucanas, that's what she called them! I'd never heard it before and had no clue how to spell it, LOL! She gave us a little lesson in chickens right there :D

It's funny, I'm not generally squeamish or germ-phobic at all. I guess I just don't have enough experience in this area to have developed much of a comfort level. My instincts are screaming, "There's poop on my food!!!" :lol:

Thanks for helping me get over it!

[mommaduck]

I get ours from a local egg farm...can't beat 80cents a dozen (of course I'm buying checks, so in a 15dozen box I toss out maybe 4 or 5). Really, the eggs are okay. Rinse and crack carefully.

[*anj*]

I know, you've got the serious hook-up. I was bummed that they'd gone up to $3.50, because that's puts them over the organic eggs I was buying at $2.99, but for now we can afford it, so I'm happy to support buying local. I can't wait until their veggies are in :D

Cool! We're doing our CSA again this year, but I'm having some guilt about it because even though we're splitting our share, we are still driving quite a distance to pick it up. Even though we're only going every other week we are still adding pollution and using gas, and in some ways that sort of defeats the purpose. I don't know....
We planted a few things in our yard, so we'll see how that goes.

Why aren't you in our co-op? You can see the price list if I add you to the Yahoo group, and then you could decide whether or not you want to participate. No pressure, just offering in case you're interested.

[Tracy in Ky]

I really think it's the things you can NOT see in the store-bought factory-farm eggs that we should all be frightened of! :ohmy:


Yep, from what I have learned, the water they wash them in gets really nasty. I think I've heard it explained that it is like washing them in the same water that several people have bathed in. :tongue_smilie:

Better wash store bought eggs too!