It is no lie, we eat with our eyes!
Having a meal that is pretty on the eyes, can make it seem to taste better! Even something so simple as serving your meal on a beautiful plate, instead of a paper one, can make a huge difference!
That leads some to ask, can the eggshell color affect the overall taste and nutrition of an egg?
The answer is no!
All eggs are basically the same inside. Each egg, no matter if it is white, brown, speckled, blue, or green, each is around 70 calories and has 6 grams of protein. In the deep dark jungles of Asia, where wild jungle fowl first lived, they sat on a nest of white eggs. That was over 8,000 years ago, and today our lovely hens still start out with white eggshells before laying.
It was in South America, in the early 1900’s, that the first blue egger was recorded. The ancestors of this bird, became known as Araucanas. Araucanas have been bred and mixed many times. Their common thread is the pigment, oocyanin, which is deposited on the eggshell early in development. (Green eggers are developed from blue lineage; that is why green eggs will always be blue inside the shell!)
Dark eggs are even more of a favorite among chefs and chicken enthusiasts, but the cold truth is they are no different from blue, green, or white eggs. Dark eggers, deposit a compound called protoporphyrin onto their eggs right before being laid. This compound simply affects the outside of the shell, and not the inside-and it’s the inside that counts!
If you want the best tasting eggs- collect from free-ranging chickens!
If you are looking for a better taste and overall better nutrition, you need to look at what the chickens are eating. If they are on an industrial sized farm, more than likely they are eating pelleted feed. While much research goes into chicken diets, these chickens are most likely unable to eat a well-balanced diet-a diet that can only be found outdoors. Free-ranging chickens may still be supplemented with pellets, but also have access to all types of grass and greenery, bugs, and natural grit.
Free-Range Eggs
- 75% more beta carotene
- Lower in cholesterol
- 25% more Vitamin E
- 20x more Omega-3 fatty acids
- Less likelihood of salmonella
Farm fresh eggs can and should be kept on the counter at room temperature. They can last about 3 weeks until freshness starts to diminish. Store-bought eggs tend to have weaker shells and are pre-washed. By washing off the protective bloom on the eggshell, bacteria and unwanted tastes from the fridge can seep into the eggshell’s porous surface.