04/17/2024
The Incredible Egg 🥚 Facts & Myths!
I decided to do this article because I had someone message me questioning what is the white stuff that is inside the egg.
An egg is made up of three parts inside, the albumen, (which is the egg white part) the egg yolks and the chalaza, (the stringy white portion.)
The “white stuff” or white stringy bit as everyone calls it, actually does has a name, it's called the chalaza, (pronounced kuh-lay-zuh), some people call it Chalazae. It’s egg white protein that has had the water wrung out of it. It is safe to eat, even though, when you scramble your eggs, you may see this lingering on your plate as opposed to frying or boiling the eggs where it will blend in with the rest of the egg whites. When scrambling it is best to remove it for smoother eggs.
However, If you plan to use the eggs to make a recipe that requires a smooth consistency, like a custard or a custard pie, use a strainer to strain the eggs or use a fork to remove the chalazae from the eggs.
If you ever get a cloudy egg white, don’t fret. The cloudiness of raw egg whites are due to the presence of carbon dioxide that has not had time to escape through the shell and is an indication of a very fresh egg. A clear egg white is an indication that the egg is a little older. Pink or pearly egg whites in an egg indicates that the eggs are spoiled. Black or green spots inside the egg may indicate a bacterial or fungal contamination of the egg. If you come across an egg with black or green spots discard the egg. Off color egg whites, such as green or iridescent colors may be from spoilage due to bacteria. Eggs with blood spots are safe to eat as long as they are cooked properly. However, whether they have blood spots or not, eggs are not safe to eat if they show any signs of spoilage such as small cracks in the shell or a cloudy, powdery coating.
Contrary to popular belief, and what we may have been told as a child coming up, that the white thing in the eggs were s***m, Embryo’s , or ‘Bull’ as some people referred to them, is a myth! That white thing floating in raw eggs is not a baby chicken's umbilical cord or chicken s***m or a beginning embryo. (Most commercially produced chicken eggs are unfertilized.)
The Chalazae is there to keep the yolk in place and to help keep it from busting. I was taught by my grandmother growing up to take a fork and remove them from the eggs before any baking or dessert making. The chalaza (stringy white part) can harden while baking, resulting in an occasional and very unwanted chewy particle in your baked goods and other desserts. You ever bite down into something a little chewy in a cake and you couldn’t figure out what it was, well, that was it! Now you know!
An egg that is missing a yolk is called a Fairy Egg. Those little eggs are nothing to cause you concern. They are laid by young hens early in their laying cycle.
According to the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), you can freeze eggs for up to one year. When you're ready to use frozen eggs, thaw them overnight in the refrigerator or under running cold water. Use egg yolks or whole eggs as soon as they're thawed. Unfortunately, you can't just toss a carton of raw eggs into the freezer. If you do, the shells will crack when the whites and yolks freeze and naturally expand, leaving you with a mess to clean up. Instead, to freeze whole eggs, crack them into a bowl and gently whisk until the whites and yolks are just combined. Then freeze them in containers just like you would any other liquid eggs. You can actually freeze yolks and egg whites separately too. For eggs frozen in zip-top baggies, place the containers flat in the freezer, similar to books on a shelf, allowing for efficient storage. Label the containers with details like how many eggs one baggie equals. You can crack eggs into ice trays and freeze them individually, but I personally don’t like that method. For freezing chicken eggs in individual servings, this is the easiest method. Simply break each one into a muffin tin sprayed with non-stick cooking spray and add a 1/2 pinch of salt into each muffin spot. Whisk gently to combine, then place the muffin tin in the freezer. When they are frozen solid, remove them and place them in ziplock freezer bags and promptly return them to the freezer.
To thaw the eggs, let them thaw gradually overnight. For quicker thawing, place eggs in a watertight plastic bag or other container and submerge in a bowl of cold water set in the sink; let cold water from the tap dribble gently into the bowl, to make sure the eggs stay cool as they thaw.
You can freeze scrambled eggs too. Scrambling a large batch and freezing them ensures the eggs will be ready to eat for up to four months. Once the eggs are thawed, reheating them in an oiled pan is the best way to keep their texture, but a quick 20 seconds in the microwave will also work.
Freezing Fried Eggs. The best way to freeze fried or scrambled eggs is by folding them into other ingredients like biscuits or muffins that will hold up well in cold temps, the moisture from the ice formed when freezing certain egg dishes can actually help the eggs taste better when they're reheated.
You can even bake with eggs that have been frozen and they taste the same after they have thawed too. You can fry them, bake with them or add them to casseroles or other recipes even after they have been frozen and thawed.
Double-yolk eggs are a byproduct of rapid ovulation. That means two yolks are released in quick succession into a hen's oviduct (aka fallopian tube) and end up in the same shell. Typically, yolks are released about an hour apart, but hormonal changes or a hyperactive o***y will cause double releases.
