Okay, my DH and I were having a discussion about rules for kosher bakeries. (It came up after a recent thread about how to start a kosher bakery if you aren't Jewish) Anyway, following kosher rules we discard any eggs with blood spots. This is one of the things that they will check if a non-Jew is doing. I said I thought the Rabbis worried about this too much because I can't imagine anyone using eggs containing spots. But, now I've been wondering if that is true or is it just a kosher thing. Just so you know I'm not going to bash anyone for it. Jewish law only requires that kosher keeping Jews or people cooking for kosher keeping Jews keep this rule.

So, do you use eggs that have bloodspots in your baking and cooking?

Just curious,
Kathi

That's an interesting question.. I can't wait to see a few answers... I am not a Kosher baker, but I myself don't use them.. I don't have any particular reason other that I personally think the eggs look icky.. lol...

I usually toss them if I have extra eggs. I have a SIL that is an Ag teacher, and I know I have asked her before if it is safe to use them. I'm pretty sure she said they were safe, but I'll have to ask her again what causes it and if it hurts to use them.

NEVER! My grandfather had a hatchery when I was little and my mom taught me never to use eggs with blood spots.

I hate to throw them out, but last night I had an egg with a blood spot and the white was bloody. I discarded it. I've used eggs that have a tiny bloodspot spec, but I toss the ones that look bloody or when the white is bloody. I'm sure it's usable, but Yuck.

It means the egg has been fertilized. If it is only a speck it is fine to use the egg (except in Kosher baking). If it is larger or goes into the yolk, throw it out.

Ooops -- I'm wrong about the fertilization part. Just Googled and found this:

Can you eat eggs with blood spots?

Eggs with a visible blood spot on the yolk are safe for consumption. The spot can be removed with the tip of a knife. Blood or "meat" spots are occasionally found on an egg yolk. These tiny spots are not harmful and are caused by the rupture of a blood vessel during formation of the egg. Blood spots do not indicate a fertilized egg. Mass candling methods reveal most blood spots and those eggs are removed, but even with electronic spotters, it is impossible to catch all of them. If desired, the spot can be removed with the tip of a clean knife prior to cooking. These eggs are safe to eat.

From the Egg Board

I have never even heard about this,guess you learn something new everyday, I have a wierd egg phobia I have to pick out all the stringy white things before I can eat them.I couldnt imagine seeing a blood spot!

Thanks endymion. It's interesting to know they are safe to eat. Even before I kept kosher I threw them out because they looked gross to me. If anyone is interested the kosher rule isn't about safety, it is that we are forbidden to eat blood. That is why kosher meat is different, it is processed in a way that gets rid of as much blood as is possible.

Kathi

Never!!! That's a sign that something is wrong with the egg and it will affect the final product (not for the better either.)

I never use eggs that have blood spots.

-Debbie B.

Huh. Lots of conflicting advice, even in the face of the recommendations from the egg board. I eat the eggs when they are like that, but would not use it in a recipe for a client.

Tenleysmommy: I have the exact same thing...I hate those white stringys! In fact, I can't eat eggs at all if I think about it too much. They just gross me out.

Never.

NO. I throw them out. Probably nothing wrong with it but I just can't use an egg once I've seen that.

I can see most of you didn't grow up on a farm. Unless it is spread throughout the white, you pick the blood spot out with a spoon and eat the egg. A blood spot does not mean the egg is bad. Of course, this might not be kosher, which was the original question, but I'm just saying that blood spots in eggs are natural and very common.

What do you think people did before Walmart? The eggs you buy in the store have been candled and the ones with blood spots are eliminated. I would guess they are used in some other way though (you might be eating them in your store bought cookies and cupcakes). Farm fresh eggs have lots of blood spots. We ate them all the time, no big deal.

I too am not a Kosher baker, but I NEVER use an egg w/ a blood spot.....so gross and creepy to me. I just hate when I'm reminded that what I'm about to eat was actually a living breathing creature at one time ( or in the eggs case, ALMoST a living breathing creature) so nasty!

And I was referring to the "speck" mentioned by the egg council. Not a blood soaked egg, yeah that would be gross.

I toss them.

The "white stringy stuff" is called the chalazae. For those of you already considering it "creepy" this won't help! It's basically the umbilical cord for the egg.

I'm with you on the white stringy stuff. I have to pretend it isn't there. And I also try not to think about an egg being a potential baby chick. If we think too much about the things we eat, we'd probably starve!!

I thought this topic particularly interesting because I recently started using free range, vegetarian diet, organic eggs... I realized that while with regular eggs I'd find a blood spot in about 1 out of 100 eggs... with the organic or even just chickens raised on a vegetarian diet, the bloods spots are in about 50% of the eggs... I'm not about to throw out 50% of my eggs. Initially the blood freaked me out, but I've just started picking it out because I'd much rather have the blood spotted hormone free eggs than eggs produced with chemical chickens Natural v. Unnatural... Blood or artificial hormones... Hmm. I'll take healthy and pick out the blood.

LOL! Was making cupcakes yesterday and thinking THE SAME THING about the white stringy thing! I didn't technically know what it was, but at the same time KNEW what it was. I simply cannot think about it. I went through a long phase of not eating eggs because of all this. I too cannot think about what my food was before it was on my plate. I didn't eat meat for ages once when I thought there was a vein in my steak! LOL! Blood spot would creep me out and def. get tossed. I felt bad but tossed an egg the other day with a double yolk! All I could do was think of the twin chicks they would have been! LOL! Oh man, I need help! Haha!

I have sort of the opposite problem, I grew up with most of my food NOT coming from a grocery store. I'm used to bits of blood, veins, bone etc in my food and learned to just deal with it. But it took me a while to trust the commercial food preparation processes. Now, working around potato, cheese and sugar processing plants has helped me understand how it all works and how MOST of the time things are very safe. We don't live in a world of absolutes, so nothing will ever be PERFECTLY safe. But we can dream....LOL!