What is a large egg?

[MissE]

It has been a long time since I've had to buy eggs in the store, so I really don't remember what size a "large" egg is.

I was packaging some eggs to give away. Generally I use the plastic cartons, but these were for some out of town friends, so I used cardboard cartons since I don't expect to get them back. I've never weighed my eggs, but saw on the carton label that a large egg is 50 grams, so I decided to weigh mine.

My average size eggs are 70+ grams. The little bitty Speckled Sussex eggs that I normally keep for myself and don't sell because they are so small are 48-52 grams! What?

I have one Rudd Ranger hen who always lays eggs that are huge. It's rare for one of hers to fit in a carton. I weighed the 4 she laid this week, and they were 90 to 103 grams. Then one of my Sapphire Gem girls laid a goofy wrinkled monster that was 111 grams, and a Calico Princess gave one that was over 100 grams this week too.

Calico Princess 107 grams, Sapphire Gem 70 grams, Speckled Sussex 48 grams.

Sapphire Gem weird egg

Rudd Ranger. All her eggs are this size.

Calico Princess. Unusually large for her.

Largest egg in the carton is 90 grams. Can barely close the lid with the big one in there.

 

[CluckerFamily]

Not sure if this will help, but my old egg scale says a large is 2-2.25oz.

 

[MissE]

Not sure if this will help, but my old egg scale says a large is 2-2.25oz.
View attachment 2595922

That's pretty cool. Thanks. Large isn't quite what I thought it was.

 

[Acre4Me]

Nice eggs. It is interesting to see the variation.

in my local grocery, they sell med, large, XL, and Jumbo eggs. However, they do not always have the jumbo eggs. If they have jumbo eggs and I need eggs, it is fun to buy them for their size!

 

[Sally PB]

I bought a digital kitchen scale for weighing eggs ($20). Most of the eggs I get are medium; occasionally I get a large.

I always bought jumbo at the store. One week they were out and I bought large. My husband referred to them as "quail eggs."

Ha ha, honey... wait until we have our own eggs. The only extra large was a double yolker from a new layer just getting her gear in gear.

Size in grams:
Peewee 35
Small 43
Medium 50
Large 57
Extra Large 64
Jumbo 71

 

[aart]

I use this USDA chart:

Another pic in that album shows how I deal with varying egg sizes.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/gallery/albums/eggs.7427742/

 

[MissE]

I use this USDA chart:

Another pic in that album shows how I deal with varying egg sizes.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/gallery/albums/eggs.7427742/

Thanks! No wonder I can't keep up on egg sales. My "average " eggs are jumbo size. The smallest I will put in a carton is still an extra large, and my ISAs and Calico Princess are usually around 80 grams.

Pretty eggs in your picture. Maybe I should double the size of my new coop so I can add some blue or green layers, too. Damn chicken math.

 

[sdm111]

A large egg would be one that is bigger than an average egg in physical size

 

[MissE]

A large egg would be one that is bigger than an average egg in physical size

I know, and that's what I was going by, but had just never checked the "official " definition of a large egg.

Funny thing is, I used to cook 15 dozen eggs or more each day. I should know what a large egg is, but when you get used so something else, your perception changed. Kind of like me thinking 0 F isn't really cold, but 75 F is getting pretty hot.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

As @aart says, the USDA has a chart for such things - and its based on the weight of a dozen eggs, not each egg singly (though I suspect commercial egg production scales eggs individually during inspection, since we consumers put value on uniformity). You should look into your local and state laws before making representations about egg sizes, EVEN IF TRUE. Here in FL, for instance, a Lmt Egg and Poultry License allows me to sell shell eggs and processed birds for human consumption, but I can't sell them in cartons, and I have to prominently display a sign, substantially "These eggs have not been USDA graded for size or quality". This is one of those situations where State and Federal lawmakers have decided truth is no defense, and the cost of fighting reasonably exceeds profits of sale by many, many orders of magnitude.

I don't recall ever looking at MN's laws specifically, can't offer keywords to search statutes on, besides the usual chicken poultry shell egg. Sorry.