All About Eggs

Egg Sizes

Ideally, one shouldn’t buy very large or extra-large eggs. They seem to be in demand – even considered ‘better’ than small-to-medium eggs – but the hens laying the biggest eggs are often manipulated to do so with additional feeding and artificial light. The biggest eggs can cause hens to suffer from prolapses and keel bone injuries, and I won’t condone such a practice, and I’m sure you won’t, either.

 

I buy ‘mixed weight’ eggs, which prevents any devaluing of smaller eggs, helping out the farmers. While none of my recipes call for the biggest eggs, I do sometimes stipulate ‘larger’ eggs, which is merely a suggestion that you avoid the smallest ones.

 

If you’re super organised, you can weigh a carton of mixed sized eggs and place them back into their carton, or other suitable container, in size order. This way you can always find the right-sized egg for the job. Omelettes, and the like, are fine with smaller eggs (I suggest three per person), so you can save your larger ones for baking.

 

Strictly speaking, very large or extra-large eggs are rarely needed in recipes which call for them. In a cake recipe requiring three very large eggs, for example, you can use medium ones quite safely, and slacken the mixture with a bit of milk, if necessary. There are usually ways around it.