What does 'grade A eggs' mean?

[sunny & the 5 egg layers]

What does it mean?

 

[FireTigeris]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egg_%28food%29

Grading by quality and size

The US Department of Agriculture grade eggs by the interior quality of the egg (see Haugh unit) and the appearance and condition of the egg shell. Eggs of any quality grade may differ in weight (size).

U.S. Grade AA eggs have whites that are thick and firm; yolks that are high, round, and practically free from defects; and clean, unbroken shells. Grade AA and Grade A eggs are best for frying and poaching, where appearance is important.
U.S. Grade A eggs have characteristics of Grade AA eggs except the whites are "reasonably" firm. This is the quality most often sold in stores.
U.S. Grade B eggs have whites that may be thinner and yolks that may be wider and flatter than eggs of higher grades. The shells must be unbroken, but may show slight stains. This quality is seldom found in retail stores because they are usually used to make liquid, frozen, and dried egg products, as well as other egg-containing products.

In other countries, such as Australia[42] and European Union countries, eggs are graded by the hen farming method instead, e.g., from free range hens, battery cages, etc.

Chicken eggs are also graded by size, for the purpose of sales. See Chicken egg sizes.​

 

[justmeandtheflock]

sunny & the 5 egg layers :

What does it mean?

It is a measure of how fresh the eggs are. Grade AA are the freshest. I am not sure how long it takes for an AA egg to get to an A. They also candle all of them to make sure there is nothing unusual going on inside like blood spots, etc. If there are blood spots they don't get the A grading.​

 

[LarryPQ]

Quote:
It is a measure of how fresh the eggs are. Grade AA are the freshest. I am not sure how long it takes for an AA egg to get to an A. They also candle all of them to make sure there is nothing unusual going on inside like blood spots, etc. If there are blood spots they don't get the A grading.

Nooooope. All the eggs, no matter what grade they are, are dated. You can see the date on the egg carton. It is a 3-digit number that indicates the day of the year it was laid. So today's eggs would say 119 (day 119 of 365).

 

[A.T. Hagan]

Grade AA is the best, but not every hen lays eggs that good and even the ones that do won't necessarily stay at that grade for very long even if refrigerated immediately. This is why AA are hard to find. In my area grocery stores Grade A is it. A quality egg properly handled and refrigerated will stay at Grade A for pretty much most of the 30 day period the eggs are allowed to be sold at. Grade B eggs do not make it to the grocery stores. They go to the processors.

 

[Laurieks]

ugh..I just found out I'm supposed to be labeling my eggs with size (I thought they were assumed to be large, and do not pack any under 54 grams...turns out the law is 54.3 grams

), Grade, and Julian pack date....they don't want the date laid or collected. That omission got my eggs labeled a "public nuisance". New supplemental labels on the way!
I'm tempted to label them Grade AA, since they are less than 5 days old when they get to the store.

 

[Laurieks]

Yay! The inspector says absolutely grade AA is ok if fresh. And, jumbo can be in box marked large but not vice versa.