Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about eggs

Egg facts for an eggs-ellent Passover

BY MIRIAM KLEIMAN

Every year on every seder plate there sits a roasted egg. We are told that its rounded shape symbolizes the cycle of life. Many ancient Egyptians held pagan beliefs prohibiting the consumption of meat, fish and eggs. We have both meat and eggs on the seder plate signifying that we are free from Egyptian bondage and their pagan beliefs.

Since the egg finds a prominent place on the seder plate, I became eggs-ited to eggs-plore more on this topic. Here are a few common egg terms and what they really mean:

Cage free: Hens are not confined to a cage. Usually, this means they are free to roam a barn or warehouse; living conditions vary widely.

Natural: This term can be used by anyone to describe their eggs so the term “natural” is meaningless.

Free range: Hens are free to roam outdoors at some point; however, there is no regulation that specifies how much time they must be outdoors to be labeled “free range.”

Certified organic: Hens have some access to the outdoors and are fed an organic vegetarian diet that excludes pesticides, animal by-products and genetically modified foods.

Here are some more fun and interesting egg facts.

• Sometimes eggs need kosher certification: COR certifies a number of egg companies in Canada including EggSolutions EPIC located in Lethbridge, Alberta; Global Egg with plants in Elmira and Etobicoke, Ontario; and Supreme Egg also located in Etobicoke. These companies produce a variety of egg products including liquid, pasteurized, frozen and pickled. Supreme Egg is Kosher year-round, including Passover, while Global Egg’s Etobicoke plant runs a special Kosher for Passover batch of hard boiled eggs. COR’s Rabbi Avrohom Lowinger shares an interesting tidbit: when the boiler goes down at Global Egg they have to call him to restart it. Previously, he would have to call a phone number and input a special code and password to restart the boiler. This was the process for at least 10 years until it was recently updated. Rabbi Lowinger, whose services are provided 24/6, can now restart the boiler using an app on his smartphone.

• You are probably aware that egg production is a global industry, but did you know that Canada alone produced over 10 billion eggs in 2021, and that the average Canadian eats about 242 eggs per year?

• Roosters are not needed for hens to produce eggs. Roosters are used only when the farmer wants the eggs to be fertilized. Fertilized eggs produce chicks.

• An egg shell’s colour has nothing to do with the egg’s quality or nutritional value, but rather the breed of the hen that laid it. Hens with white feathers tend to lay white eggs and hens with red feathers tend to lay brown eggs.

• On the other hand, the colour of the yolk is determined by the hen’s diet. A hen that is fed green vegetables will generally produce a dark yellow yolk, a diet of corn and alfalfa results in a medium-yellow yolk, and wheat and barley a yolk that is light yellow in colour.

• Eggs are very nutritious being high in protein and healthy fats as well as low in carbohydrates. Their antioxidants help fight cancer and reduce the effects of aging.

• You can test the freshness of an egg by placing it in a cup of water. If the egg floats it means the egg is old and has a large air pocket. Eat at your own risk!

• A laying hen lays about 340 eggs per year. They turn their eggs almost 50 times each day to prevent the yolks from sticking to the sides.

• A hen starts laying eggs at around 18 months old. The general rule is that, the older the hen the larger the egg. This may explain how at two years of age, “Popples”, the Rhode Island Red laid an egg that was 9.1 inches in diameter and 4.5 inches long! For comparison, an average egg has a circumference of 5.5 inches and is around 2.3 inches long. Harriet, her eight-year old owner said, “I’ve never seen an egg that size before. We have had bobbly ones and long ones but never anything like this. I thought an ostrich had been into the run overnight.” Her mother added, “‘Poor Popples must have been eggs-hausted after laying such a massive egg. It is about four times the size of the ones we usually get from her.”

• Egg whites can be used as glue – they dry clear. You can also use egg whites to shine leather. Rub the egg white on your leather shoes and remove any excess with a damp cloth. It will remove the dirt and leave a beautiful shine.

So this year when you are telling the Passover story at your seder, remember that the egg on the seder plate also has an interesting story to tell. g

Egg Riddles

1. What kind of egg lives by the sea?

2. Why did the sheriff arrest the cook?

3. Why did the chicken join the rock band?

4. What do you get when your dog makes you breakfast?

5. Why can’t you tease egg whites?

6. I have 10 eggs. I break 3, I fry 3 and I eat 3, how many do I have left?

7. What do you get when a chicken lays an egg on top of a barn?

8. What do you call an egg that goes on a safari?

Pictured is Harriet holding Popples and her huge egg. The second picture shows just how much smaller a typical egg is next to Popples’ egg.

Speaking of large eggs, the largest synthetic egg in the world is in Winlock, Washington. It is 12 feet long and weighs 1,200 pounds. It sits on a pedestal in the middle of town. Winlock used to be the 2nd largest egg producing town in the United States and in 1923, fashioned a big egg out of canvas to celebrate the opening of the Pacific Highway. It was upgraded to a fiberglass model in the 1960s. After 9/11 it was painted as an American flag and has since become the town’s 9/11 Memorial.

9. There is a carton of eggs on a table, and there are 6 people around the table. Everyone takes an egg and there is still one in the carton. How is this possible?

10. Which one is correct to say? –“The yolk of the egg IS white” or “The yolk of the eggs ARE white”?

Answers:

1. An egg shell

2. Because he was beating the eggs

3. Because she had drumsticks

4. Pooched eggs

5. Because they can’t take a yolk

6. 7

7. An eggroll

8. An eggs-plorer

9. The first 5 eggs are taken by the first 5 people. The last person takes the last egg, while it’s still in the carton

10. Neither, because egg yolks are yellow