Controversy?

[5Australorpasaures]

For quite a bunch of us the egg goes from nest to pan, aren't washed, some say they can be left for a month on a cool counter top. Ours don't last that long before they're eaten or used in recipes. Take a "fresh" store bought egg and a fresh egg from your birds put them in the frying pan and notice how the yolk on your egg stands high while store bought goes flat. I read that egg producers have 30 days to get them to market and they can sit for another 30. BLAH! Don't hold me to this, I read so much and there are all kings of opinions out there. I do know the Spanish Omelet I had this morning was naturally fluff not laying on the plate like a door mat.

 

[azurbanclucker]

Ninety percent of the sites state that there is no difference.

That 90% is the garbage you should ignore. This is the way with the internet.

 

[sourland]

I have wondered why store-bought eggs don’t taste as good as farm raised chicken eggs. So, I went to the internet for an opinion. Guess what? Ninety percent of the sites state that there is no difference.

Nutritionally, probably so as others have stated, but there's much more to 'good' eggs.

 

[NatJ]

I have wondered why store-bought eggs don’t taste as good as farm raised chicken eggs. So, I went to the internet for an opinion. Guess what? Ninety percent of the sites state that there is no difference. Really? So I went to the store, and purchased a dozen of way-too-expensive eggs that came just short of advertising that the Queen herself produced them. Hurried home and did a taste test. And guess what? Yep, they had little to no taste at all compared to the farm raised. So, I can only guess that I’m a half-baked fool and the internet is correct, or, we chicken-people are the only ones that really know the true answer.

I can't taste the difference. I've gone back and forth between home-raised and store eggs many times in my life, and it never mattered to me. I know several other people that cannot taste the difference either.

Maybe only some people are able to taste a difference? I know I've read of some other flavors that are tasted only by certain people (for example, coriander tastes bad to some people, with a flavor that other people can't even detect.)

 

[nuthatched]

That 90% is the garbage you should ignore. This is the way with the internet.

'specially, if its a blog type site.

 

[Birdinhand]

it could very well be that when people have zero relationship to the food they eat that they haven’t developed the capacity to sense differences in quality and one things for sure, when you have no relationship to the creation of the food you eat, the senses go bland.

Compare that to what happens when you have pride in the food you eat because you had a hand in creating it… something the objectivity of science will never be good at identifying. Nothing has changed the way I hear music more than beginning to learn how to play it. I savor what I grow, I listen for the subtleties when I taste it, it boosts the signal. Relationship is the number one reason to grow a garden and raise chickens!

 

[azurbanclucker]

it could very well be that when people have zero relationship to the food they eat that they haven’t developed the capacity to sense differences in quality and one things for sure, when you have no relationship to the creation of the food you eat, the senses go bland.

Compare that to what happens when you have pride in the food you eat because you had a hand in creating it… something the objectivity of science will never be good at identifying. Nothing has changed the way I hear music more than beginning to learn how to play it. I savor what I grow, I listen for the subtleties when I taste it, it boosts the signal. Relationship is the number one reason to grow a garden and raise chickens!

There's another piece at play to this as well. Genetics. Some people are just more sensitive to specific tastes/textures/ whatever than other people are. The level of that varies. I think most people would be able to tell you the difference between a store egg and a fresh one straight from the nesting box, even if they can't specifically describe why. On the other hand, Cilantro is a delicious herb to many people, and soap to many others. And Brussels sprouts taster like dirt or they don't depending on your genes.

Some of it is training too. Like a sommelier for wine or that guy from a few years back who is the ice cream taster for... Dreyers?

It can be complicated, for sure.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

I can't taste the difference. I've gone back and forth between home-raised and store eggs many times in my life, and it never mattered to me. I know several other people that cannot taste the difference either.

Maybe only some people are able to taste a difference? I know I've read of some other flavors that are tasted only by certain people (for example, coriander tastes bad to some people, with a flavor that other people can't even detect.)

I can occasionally, if the egg from the store is one of those super pale ones. But typically I can't really taste a difference most times. Just tastes like an egg.

 

[ShotgunDog]

I can't taste the difference. I've gone back and forth between home-raised and store eggs many times in my life, and it never mattered to me. I know several other people that cannot taste the difference either.

Maybe only some people are able to taste a difference? I know I've read of some other flavors that are tasted only by certain people (for example, coriander tastes bad to some people, with a flavor that other people can't even detect.)

Most times I can't tell the difference in taste either. But we have several friends who swear my eggs are 'so much better' than store bought. Maybe they are being nice and appreciative of my girls' gifts, or maybe their palettes are just that much better than mine (either way, it is nice to hear). That being said, I can tell, absolutely, the difference in baking with my fresh eggs vs. store bought. Homemade muffins with fresh eggs--can't beat it.

 

[getaclue]

There is a reason that many cannot taste the difference. Ever watch Hell's Kitchen when they put a mask on the chefs, and have them tell what they're eating? Most cannot pass the test. Smoking, allergy medicine, etc. are blamed, but that's not entirely true. Have someone grab a store bought egg and scramble it plain. Don't add oil, butter, salt, or anything to it. Put it on a small bowl, or on a small plate. Have them do the same with a freshly laid egg from your chickens. Only the other person knows which is which. Now taste from each sample, BUT cleanse the palate with water when you switch to the other sample. If you can't tell, at first, keep repeating it. Most people, by the time they get to the last of the egg sample, will begin to notice at least a slight difference, and be able to give the correct answer.

Once we eat a basic food, our brains input the information, giving us a preconceived notion as to their taste. Thus, when you see a basic food, even before you eat it, your brain is already telling you what it should taste like. Subtle distinctions tend to be lost. Our taste buds are not being told to taste for subtle distinctions. I said "subtle distinctions", not major ones like condiments, sauces, flavorings, etc. Doing the aforementioned taste test, changes things up. First, the egg is NOT scrambled in the traditional method. It may look the same, so the brain may try to tell you it tastes the same, or almost the same, but you know that's not possible. Slowly, your brain has to adapt to this new information, and wake your taste buds. Secondly, while the brain is working to add this new information, the two sample look the same, so our brains initially tell us they must taste the same. We know that's not so, therefore the brain must once again input even more new information.

We can even carry it a step further. Once our taste buds can clearly tell between a store bought egg, and a freshly laid one, adding another ingredient, such as a little chopped onion, to both the store bought, and freshly laid egg, then doing the taste test, we should still be able to tell which is the fresh egg? This is only with eggs.

Tomatoes work the same way too. Take the same type of tomato grown in the summer, and fall. There is a big difference in taste. Without a basis for comparison, and challenging our brain's preconceived notions, waking up our taste buds, the difference goes unnoticed.

Most other foods work that way too.