Eggs

rlpomeroy
rlpomeroy Posts: 726 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Our family doesn't really eat that many eggs. This year, my daughter decided that she would like to raise some chickens. They just started to lay. We will probably start eating more eggs...lol. What would the nutritional differences be between store bought white eggs and organic brown eggs from free-ranging chickens? Does the way that they are prepared change the nutrition much, other than the obvious if you cook with fat? I can see maybe adding a hard-boiled egg a day to my diet.

Replies

  • rainbowbow
    rainbowbow Posts: 7,490 Member
    rlpomeroy wrote: »
    Our family doesn't really eat that many eggs. This year, my daughter decided that she would like to raise some chickens. They just started to lay. We will probably start eating more eggs...lol. What would the nutritional differences be between store bought white eggs and organic brown eggs from free-ranging chickens? Does the way that they are prepared change the nutrition much, other than the obvious if you cook with fat? I can see maybe adding a hard-boiled egg a day to my diet.

    brown eggs vs white eggs just have to do with the breed of the chicken. Brown eggs don't mean happy chickens free ranging on happy farms.


    The nutritional info should be the same (assuming the size/weight is the same) so about 70 calories per egg.

    The nutrition doesn't change depending on how you cook it unless you're adding butter/oil/etc.
  • snowflake930
    snowflake930 Posts: 2,188 Member
    There are a lot of recipes for eggs using little (if any fat) check out pinterest.
    Our favorites are using muffin tins and bake them in the oven. You can add your own ingredients. I use a lot of veggies in ours, but you can add ham, bacon, sausage, cheese, or whatever. They freeze very nicely and I wrap them individually in saran wrap and put in a gallon zip loc bag. I take them out in the morning and they are ready to pop in the microwave when I get to work for a quick breakfast.
    Another way I really like them is baked in an avocado 1/2.
  • kubyshechka
    kubyshechka Posts: 75 Member
    I chop some veggies like asparagus, broccoli, mushrooms etc... and mix them with 2 eggs and pop it in the microwave for about a minute and a half and eat it for breakfast. No fat and it tastes as good as the fried one. Well... almost as good :)
  • ksz1104
    ksz1104 Posts: 260 Member
    From what I understand, free-range/cage free eggs are supposed to be better, but I'm not exactly sure why (my mother who works in the food industry explained it a while back but I forgot). But I just eat eggs from publix. I love eggs!
  • SueInAz
    SueInAz Posts: 6,592 Member
    edited August 2016
    ksz1104 wrote: »
    From what I understand, free-range/cage free eggs are supposed to be better, but I'm not exactly sure why (my mother who works in the food industry explained it a while back but I forgot). But I just eat eggs from publix. I love eggs!

    It depends on their environment. Chickens are mean and new hens get picked on. If they're walking through their own feces, as happens in a lot of "free range" chicken farms, it's not necessarily better, either.
  • lemmie177
    lemmie177 Posts: 479 Member
    Pastured chickens are supposed to have more omega-3's. I think it depends on their diet, more plants and insects vs grain-based feed. "Omega-3" eggs at the store come from chickens eating feed supplemented with flaxseed. Preparation shouldn't change nutrition.

    I'm jealous of all the fresh eggs you're going to get. I love eggs!
  • Rage_Phish
    Rage_Phish Posts: 1,507 Member
    fresh eggs you dont even have to refrigerate

    how un-natural is that?! whats in them to keep them from going bad?!
  • wanzik
    wanzik Posts: 326 Member
    edited August 2016
    Oh, fresh farm eggs are SOO much better. They taste WAY better. The yolks are usually more orange than the pale yellow of store bought eggs. They are fresher, of course - I don't know how long store bought eggs sit around before getting them. The white part is usually less watery. Just way better in my experience. I get mine from a neighbor luckily.

    They eat bugs as nature intended! (And some feed too, especially in winter.)
  • cosmonew
    cosmonew Posts: 513 Member
    Well I don't have any facts, but I do have chickens. I think happy chickens lay happy eggs, plus you know the chicken has not been pumped up with hormones to drop more eggs a day, who knows what kind of conditions those large farms put there chickens in and what they are feeding them. Enjoy your chickens and your eggs.
  • Wynterbourne
    Wynterbourne Posts: 2,225 Member
    Rage_Phish wrote: »
    fresh eggs you dont even have to refrigerate

    how un-natural is that?! whats in them to keep them from going bad?!

    It's not what's in them, but what's on them. Freshly laid eggs have a natural layer of protection on them. "Factory" eggs are washed which removes that coating that seals the egg shell's pores. Fresh eggs, if washed after collecting, would also have to be refrigerated.
  • Raptor2763
    Raptor2763 Posts: 387 Member
    If anybody's ever have enough eggs to start selling - I'm interested. I do about 5 hard boiled eggs / day; 3 for breakfast as a prefuel, 2 after working out.
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  • rlpomeroy
    rlpomeroy Posts: 726 Member
    Thanks everyone for your input. We have 15 birds, I'm sure we'll be finding lots of ways to use the eggs!
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  • billglitch
    billglitch Posts: 538 Member
    i have eggs every day, fried in butter or bacon grease. I have lost 87 pounds since January 2016, I am doing LCHF eating
  • LPflaum
    LPflaum Posts: 174 Member
    I've heard that fresh eggs taste a lot better than commercially produced, but I don't think there's any nutritional difference.

    Just FYI- beware of words like "cage-free" and "free-range." Neither of these terms is "legal" (unlike the term organic, which means its been certified by the USDA). Cage-free simply means the hens never lived in a cage, however, 80-90% of the time, they've also never been outdoors. More likely than not, they've just all been crammed in a barn together. Free-Range means that the hens need to have "access" to the outdoors. The word "access" here is critical. Sometimes the "outdoors" is really a penned in area. Sometimes "access" means that there was a door in the barn, but it was too high for most of the chickens to get in and out of. Both of these types of chickens have likely received hormones and/or antibiotics at some point in their lives.

    Rather than buy that stuff at the store, you're better off either raising them on your own or going to a legitimate farmers market (or farm!) where you can meet the farmer and discuss their practices with them. Otherwise, you're just overpaying for a commercially raised hen's egg.
  • SoDamnHungry
    SoDamnHungry Posts: 6,998 Member
    I want chickens so badly! Feelin' jealous. Like others have said, white egg and brown egg are just chicken breed. Hardboiled vs poached vs scrambled is all the same with the exception of fats added.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,427 MFP Moderator
    LPflaum wrote: »
    I've heard that fresh eggs taste a lot better than commercially produced, but I don't think there's any nutritional difference.

    Just FYI- beware of words like "cage-free" and "free-range." Neither of these terms is "legal" (unlike the term organic, which means its been certified by the USDA). Cage-free simply means the hens never lived in a cage, however, 80-90% of the time, they've also never been outdoors. More likely than not, they've just all been crammed in a barn together. Free-Range means that the hens need to have "access" to the outdoors. The word "access" here is critical. Sometimes the "outdoors" is really a penned in area. Sometimes "access" means that there was a door in the barn, but it was too high for most of the chickens to get in and out of. Both of these types of chickens have likely received hormones and/or antibiotics at some point in their lives.

    Rather than buy that stuff at the store, you're better off either raising them on your own or going to a legitimate farmers market (or farm!) where you can meet the farmer and discuss their practices with them. Otherwise, you're just overpaying for a commercially raised hen's egg.

    My friend has 7 chickens, so i get eggs quite often from him, and I have yet to notice a difference in taste. And the same goes for all the people in my family. It's possible it might be dependent on the chickens, but I sometimes think it's the perception that it's more fresh that makes people think it.

    OP, www.mccormick.com might have some good recipes. It's what I tend to you.
  • Golbat
    Golbat Posts: 276 Member
    The omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acid ratio is better, as it is for all animals eating a diet of mainly grass/leafy pants (or a diet of bugs who eat grass/leafy plants) rather than just living off grains. But the calorie count is the same.
  • RachelElser
    RachelElser Posts: 427 Member
    There is totally a taste difference (at least I can tell when I buy store eggs vs. eggs from a local farm) but as far as I know there isn't a nutrition difference. The eggs you get from your chicken may also have a brighter yolk.
  • BillMcKay1
    BillMcKay1 Posts: 315 Member
    edited August 2016
    You'll get a lot of double yolkers at first. Hens when they just start laying drop lots of them. A buddy of mine built a hen house for his kids who wanted to raise some chicken.They brought in some young hens. They've been dropping huge frickin eggs. 3oz+ and lots with double yolks. So tasty.

    For the calories you will just have to weight them.

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