GREAT TASTING Eggs

Follow these tips for clean, great–tasting eggs:

Use plenty of cushy nesting-box litter and check it often. Remove muck promptly. Dump everything out and replace it with fresh, fluffy litter at least once a month.

Collect eggs first thing in the morning and at least once or twice more during the day. The longer the eggs stay in the nests, the more likely they’ll become mud-smeared, splotted upon, or cracked. For the same reason, supply plenty of nesting boxes. Cutting down on traffic really helps the eggs.

Collect eggs in a natural fiber or coated wire basket (not the calf’s drained nursing bucket or the horse’s sweet feed scoop). To prevent breakage, don’t stack your eggs more than five layers deep.

Don’t clean eggs if they don’t need it. Carefully chase minor spots with fine grit sandpaper. When you must wash soiled eggs, do it as soon as you can, before the eggs have cooled. Cooling causes shells to contract and suck dirt and bacteria into their pores.

Use water that is 10 degrees warmer than the eggs themselves. This causes their contents to swell and shove surface dirt out and away from the shell pores. Gently scrub them in plain water or mild egg-cleaning detergent (available from poultrysupply retailers). Never soak eggs, especially in cool water; water contaminants can be absorbed through the shells.

Dry washed eggs before storing them.

Refrigerate eggs in cartons, large-end up. To preserve quality (and prevent development in fertile eggs), get them in the fridge as soon as you can. Date the cartons and rotate your stock, using up older cartons first.

Eggs absorb odors from strongly scented foods such as fish, garlic, onions, cantaloupe, and apples. Try not to store eggs with these items.