blood

[the Pollo Loco]

O.k. I say that it's no big deal to eat an egg with a little blood in it, but the DW says no way, her mom always threw those eggs out. what do you know?

 

[ChickenToes]

If it's a small little spot, I either ignore it and eat it anyway, or I use part of the egg shell to scoop it up. If it's really big, more like a blood clot, then I toss the egg.

 

[Andi]

I'm curious as well.

The way I see it, if you're cooking it what difference does it make? Chicken meat has blood in it. After we cook that we eat it.

 

[PandoraTaylor]

It certainly will not hurt you!

But many people throw out perfectly good food, through just not being well informed.

I have met several people that won't eat farm fresh eggs due to where they come from......(chicken butt)
They feel only store bought eggs are safe,their reason is they are disinfected and bleached! lol
I would hate to have to explain the error in their thinking.

 

[Jess N Jeff]

I usually just scoop that little part out...why waist a perfectly good egg? They don't tast any different to me.

 

[journey11]

I just pick them out with a spoon. It doesn't hurt anything. (Other than possibly turning a sunny side up egg into a scrambled egg if you bust it!

) Anytime I have a cracked egg or one with lot of little red blood spot specks in it (too hard to pick out) I give it to the dog, so they don't get wasted either way.

When I was a kid, I used to make my mom pick out the white stringy part (holds the yolk in place, forget what it's called) because I thought they were bellybutton cords! I just eat it now.

 

[Sequin]

Quote:
LOL - I Totally did the same thing!!! I eat them now too - actually, I don't even notice them as much in the eggs from my own chickens. Also, it doesn't seem as gross now that I know what it really is, as when I thought it was an umbilical cord.

In regards to the blood spot issue - I usually just pick it out. Sometimes I just give the egg to the dog. Also depends on if I have cracked the egg into a bowl with other ingredients/eggs in it.

 

[Kim_NC]

That white stringy part (holds the yolk in place) is called the chalaza (plural is chalazae).

A friend recently told us she always thought they were sperm - she was still insisting her DH remove them.

Maybe she'll give that up now.

ETA: forgot the OP. I just remove blood spots with a spoon or knife tip.

 

[Andi]

I think its just a cultural thing. Its not like it would harm you. In parts of Africa where protein is scarce they raise goats specifically to harvest blood from. Once the egg is cooked you can't even see the spot of blood, or the chalazae, for that matter. Especially if its scrambled or used in baking. When you think of all the things we eat that we buy that use eggs in their production. Do you really think they have time to fish out the little blood spots and chalaza? We Americans are so gullible some times. Many of us don't eat it because our mothers used to remove it. Its quite possible that they did because their mothers did the same. At some point it may have started simply because they didn't know if it was safe. At a time when superstition abounded and loosing children to illness, I'm not surprised of the silly things that get handed down through the generations. We, on the other hand, have knowledge on our side to rationalize with more than "Because my mother did.".

 

[ChikeeMomma]

I usually just scoop it out with a spoon. If it's pretty tiny, I dont' bother. If there is a lot, I cook it up and feed the egg back to the chickens.