I don't remember where I read/saw this, but it recommended letting your eggs come to room temperature before using them to bake with.

Do any of you do this? I have experimented with both cold eggs & room temperature eggs, and really can't see any difference in my cake.

Also, have I been suckered into buying Eggland's Best eggs because they have the Chef's Best seal, or do regular ol' store brand eggs taste just as well???

If I'm making a french recipe than yes, I let the eggs come to room temp (they do not put their eggs in the fridge so they are already at room temp.)
Eggs do not have to go into the fridge. The samonella (sp?) is actually on the egg shell but it's a safety measure put in place by the US to have them in the fridge just in case. (that's part of the reason you should crack the eggs on a plate first so no shell is getting shoved into the egg by cracking on the edge of the bowl.)

Regular eggs are the no different than the Egglands Best I think. Eggs are just Eggs, unless they are a lower grade (which means the egg is older than grade A).

Ohh! Mkolmar! I didn't know that about eggs not really having to be in the fridge! I wish this post had been up 2 wks ago! My hubby brought home eggs and I left them on the counter by accident and later on that day I found them and threw them out! Gee..I wish I had known.

I do let my eggs come to room temp before baking and I have been using brown eggs lately. They are a little more expensive. They are supposed to be better..but I don't know..can't really tell.

I heard on a food show that there is no nutritional difference between white eggs and brown eggs. The white eggs come from white chickens and brown eggs come from brown chickens. The brown chickens are less common so they charge more for the eggs since it is kind of a trendy thing for people to use brown eggs. But there is really no difference. I think the egglands best eggs, the only difference is the feed they give the chickens is supposed to be higher quality. I think maybe they are lower in cholesterol than other eggs. I haven't tried them so I don't know about any difference in taste. I would think when using them in baking there would be no taste difference, but who knows. =)

You do not have to ref. eggs it is only a safety measure as stated above. However i always put mine in the ref for safety. There is no difference between brown and white eggs per a show I saw also.

I am serve-safe certified and we have been told that eggs have to be refrigerated. This thread prompted me to look up the answer. Most sites I saw said DO refrigerate eggs (although in Europe people don't). A web site from a farm said that eggs age one week on the counter compared to one day in the fridge. So, you can leave them out only for so long, I guess.

Anyhow, this site has some other interesting answers about eggs (including blood spots which a friend of mine and I have disagreed about for years).

http://www.chinovalleyranchers.com/eggfacts.htm

Littlelinda, I'm also servsafe certified and a chef. Servesafe follows the structure set by the US Government so yes, in the food industry if you are a business then the eggs have to be in the fridge to comply with the safety regulations. However, if you ask any chef they will tell you that they really don't need to be. (Just something the gov. put into place for the whole samonella (sp?) issue that regards the shell of the egg.)



Eggs are perfectly fine sitting out on the counter. I buy mine from a grocery store so they are already in the fridge so of course I put mine in their also. In Europe they leave their eggs out on the counter for a week at a time.
You just have to think about those who run farms and collect the eggs (of course it's more industrial now) an egg is left laying for a while before someone collects it, yet it still gets put on the grocer shelf.

and this has been asked on this site before about eggs so if anyone needs to know (because I use to wonder too) the little thicker white stringy things connecting the yolk to the white is called chalaze (sounds out like SHA-LA-ZAY). It's basically natures little shock absorbers for the yolk so it doesn't break while inside the shell. These are 100% safe to eat.

Now as far as having the eggs out at room temp for baking it deals with the science of cooking. Eggs are a very complex food and for some reason people think they are easy to cook but actually they are one of the more difficult foods to cook properly (ever have a sauce break and seperate on you that uses eggs and you'll understand what I'm talking about--or rubbery scrambled eggs--or eggs that curdle while making a mousse). *Tidbit for the day--chocolate is the most complex food on this planet and one of the hardest to work with properly *
The reason you are suppose to bring the eggs to room temp. for baking is because it will be less of a shock for the egg when being incorporated into the batter or being whisked.

The more an egg is mixed into a product the more it breaks down and causes more protein which in turn causes the product to become tougher. (Not too much of an issue for cakes since if you overmix their are air pocket problems, but for cheesecakes especially this information is very important.)

There you go...basic egg 101

Sorry for the spelling errors, I'm very tired from work.

Thanks so much for the great info! I learned something today.

(i'm from the south, so hope this has relevance.....)
ya ever mix sugar in your tea while the tea is still warm? dissolves completely!

sure you can add an egg cold, but i premeasure everything AND allow them to come to room temperature....for that very reason, they just seem to mix together more easily/completely.
the only thing i do chill is egg whites, if i'm going to beat the stuffin' out of them.....

personally, i take the chalaze thingy out....occasionally i find a stringy protein-;like structure in my cake and i always imagined that it came from that.....if i'm being extremely cautious i even remove the yolk sak.

if you ever catch alton's brown egg episode, you'll learn more than you ever wanted to know about eggs.....
although i do remember him saying they stay fresher LONGER by staying IN the fridge, NOT the door (too much variance in temperature from all the opening and closing).

sally

MadPhoemom is exactly right about the incorporating and mixing ingredients.

...and yes, eggs do stay fresher while in the fridge, they just won't go bad and be unsafe to eat (like a lot of people think they will) if they are not.
An egg in the fridge will last longer. However, the older the egg gets the grade of the egg will go down (fridge or no fridge). You can tell how old an egg is buy cracking it and putting it in the skillet. A fresher egg will have a higher yolk that is in the center and the whites will be thicker and more intact. An older egg will have the egg yolk flatter and the whites will be more runny. An older egg than that will have the yolks skid to the side be flatter and possibly even break very easy--almost once you crack the egg gently-- and the whites will be really runny. They are still safe to eat, just one is not as fresh as the other.


Glad to help you out bakerbear!

ditto on the 'flat' yolk thing....

i can sympathize with the old girls, there are parts of me that are flatter than they used to be in my hey day....

round and perky yolk-fresh egg

flat and saggy-not so fresh!
sally

I have chickens, and don't worry about refrigerating the eggs until after they are hot-washed. Washing can remove or weaken the protective barrier on the shell, making it easier for a 'nasty' to get in.
--
'Eggland's Best' chickens are fed flax seed. The vet tells me the benefits of flax seed come through into the egg, making them a bit nicer for those watching their cholesterol.