The very yolky chicken egg yolk

[rotuts]

this has interested me for quite some time :

 

way back when I used to visit my father where I grew up

 

and the supermarket was Safeway , for general items , in alluding eggs.

 

I made him his breakfast and alway go Jumbo eggs , as he would only eat two.

 

It was my understanding that jumbo eggs came from older hens.  Im sure Safeway had their

 

egg producing emporium micromanaged to the milligram of feed etc , it being such a razor thin margin item.

 

from time to time , there would be double yolks in the judo's ,  unusual , but not a big surprise.

 

rarely if ever have I come across a double yolk in extra large etc.

 

but here is the interesting point. :  from time to time , tase yolks tastes very very eggy and yolk-ey

 

delicious.   I cant describe this any better , but it was a very very tasty egg , one Id seek out if I understood it.

 

if you have had an egg like this , you would know it and remember the taste.  Since production of

 

Safeway eggs is so tightly controlled , I thought a Hen from time to time, but rarely , high have a genetic

 

uniqueness , that produced this flavor.    Ive had this flavor from time to time over the years , but rarely.

 

fast forward to now.   I rarely shop now , for obvious reasons.  I have several doz eggs in the refrigerator and

 

the refrigerator is very cold.  I been making scrabbled eggs for several days aa I have for fresh english muffins from

 

my recent trip o RocheBro.   the eggs have been in te lower part of the refrigerator for a while , and are still fine to eat

 

but the eggs have gotten quite cold , if not even frozen they were soy far back on that lower shelf.  they ' spin ' as if they wered

 

cooked.  but they were not.   the yolk is very dense and almost jell like, even after sitting on the counter for a bit

 

before I scramble them.   the precooked scrambled eggs are thick and almost jell like.

 

but my point is these eggs , and ive now had 8 from the same carton ( ' large eggs ' )  have a good deal of that

 

super yolk-ey flavor I like so much.

 

so , if you've had this taste treat , you know what I mean.

 

is this flavor not really a genetic thing ? , I doubt a rare genetic hen would put 8 eggs so far in the same carton.

 

and the consistency of the yolks right out of the shell was very different from other yolks.

 

so , does this flavor come from serous cold storage for a while , and possibly a freeze ?  the yolks

 

at room temp do not return to the ' standard ' yolk consistency.

 

after I finish this carton , Ill put a fresher carton in that same area , after trying one egg as a taste test

 

and see how the rest evolve   I understand this might only interest me

 

but if you've eaten this sort of egg w super yolky flavor , you would probably seek it out if you could.

[heidih]

Get duck eggs!  Our hens were of various breeds and yes sometimes more "yolky" in taste. They all ate the same feed though they foraged. in a good size yard.  Do report your experiment results.  The supermarket eggs from either Kroger or TJ all taste the same to me. 

[rotuts]

no duck eggs within my foraging area

 

and this yolk-ey taste is very noticeable , in an excellent way.

[lemniscate]

My time-distant farm chicken background tells me that the feed the chickens were laying on determined the color and size and taste of the yolk.  Egg yolk is about my favorite food in the world.   I don't remember egg size being a hen age thing, but we didn't let ours get too old anyway.  The eggs were all different sizes per hen throughout the laying seasons.

 

Edit:  these were yard ranging birds, not cooped or caged.   Bugs and yard scratch were large part of food also.

Edited August 27, 2020 by lemniscate (log)

[rotuts]

@lemniscate 

 

were thre breeds different ?

 

I have a personal view of "" The Egg ""

 

as having some restrictions on nutrients and outside

 

consumed stuff , as the egg determines future generations 

 

that's not for this thread

 

did you ever get a ' supper egg-ey yolk ?

 

thanks 

 

 

[lemniscate]

Just now, rotuts said:

were thre breeds different ?

 

Mutt-ly selection, I remember red hens (maybe Rhode Island), standard white hens (maybe Leghorn), some other types mixed in; all chicks from the local feed store.  Nothing fancy.

Yolks were deep yellow and very thick sometimes.  Sometimes double yolkers.  Probably more in the late summer when the weed seeds and alfalfa grass was prevalent.  But this is a vague memory, so don't have absolute factual evidence.

 

[kayb]

I used to live near a hatchery that raised the parents and grandparents of the chickens you buy in the grocery store. They'd separate those that didn't fertilize, size them, and sell them in a local grocery. The jumbos were most always double-yolkers. I used to buy them regularly. That said, I get the "eggier, yolk-ier taste" in free range eggs I buy around here, of most any size, as opposed to ones from hens fed entirely on a feed ration or even the "tractor chickens" who are in big cages with mesh bottoms that are moved every two or three days to different spots in a field to allow them to forage some in addition to their feed. Free range yolks are almost orange, and will have a much more domed shape than will a feed-ration yolk, meaning they're thicker. I've seen them get even thicker if they stay in the fridge an extended period.

 

[Kerry Beal]

I know when @Anna N and I were getting eggs up north - some would have very dark yolks, others light - the farmers we got them from said it was breed dependent.   Apparently double yolks happen more in the early days of a young hen's laying life and tend to settle as the season progresses. 

[rotuts]

ive moved on to another doz. eggs.   I can't say how long they have been in the refrig. 

 

as I did not keep track,  I made sure the eggs were on the bottom shelf and closest 

 

to the refrigerators back wall.   the initial 6 were not very impressive.

 

but they have started to have firmer yolks , so sure

 

and possible more of that egg-ey flavor.

 

the second part hight be ' suggestion '  but the yolks have gotten firmer.

 

I have another doz back there and will get to them soon.

 

I have 2 doz I got a week ago and they will join their friends as far back on the bottom

 

shelf as i can put them.

[rotuts]

I finished the Doz. that I felt began to have a yolk-er taste

 

and a little firmer yolk.  todays eggs were in the same position in the refrig

 

for probably the same time , but were brown eggs. in N.E. brown eggs are

 

the more traditional eggs.  I think they come from Rhode Island Reds.

 

Brown eggs are more expensive :

 

https://www.bestfoodfacts.org/food-facts-what-is-the-difference-between-white-and-brown-eggs/

 

I know that many people feel the color of the yolk has a lot to do w the flavor of the yolk.

 

I(m skeptical of this personally

 

these eggs ( index : #1 #2 )  had firmer yolks and had a bit more yolk-ey flavor.

 

next blitz of the store Ill get 1 doz each , white and brown , and put them in the coldest part of the

 

refrig and try to keep track of the time they spend there.

 

I hope im on to something that's reproducible , as I love that yolk-ey flavor.

[teonzo]

Yolks get firmer when they go near 0°C. There is difference in firmness between a yolk at 20°C and one at 4°C, but the difference between a yolk at 4°C and one at 1°C is much bigger.

About the yolk-ey flavor, I'm not sure I'm interpreting it in the same way you are meaning. I never had an "industrial" egg that tasted yolk-ey. All yolk-ey eggs I tasted were free range, it depends mostly on what they eat: if it's winter and they eat mostly dried corn, then you have few hopes, much better if it's spring/summer and they eat much different things, including bugs and worms.

If my memory serves right I found only 2 double yolks in industrial eggs during my whole life. With free-range eggs a double yolk is much more frequent, about every 12-15 eggs I would say.

 

 

 

Teo

 

[rotuts]

@teonzo 

 

your points are very interesting .

 

Ill just re state my experience w SafeWay

 

( a large supermarket conglomerate , on the west cost USA )

 

jumbo eggs,   had noticeable number of double yolks .

 

some eggs , that that often , had that extra-yolky favor.

 

maybe just jumbo or extra large , never kept track

 

Im sure all these eggs ( white shell )  were mass produced where 

 

costs were critical for Safeway's profit.

 

that does not deny that perhaps free-range chicken have tastier eggs.

 

meat for sure .  this is not the place to diced if eggs are a semi-protected environment

 

so that the ongoing heredity of the chicken ( Evolution ) is semi-protected from

 

its current environment.

 

Sooo :

 

You ask ;  how are my experiments going ?

 

I had two scrambled eggs from a carton that had been

 

put as close to the coldest part of the refrg

 

and i think they had more Yolk-ey flavor

 

of course , well , well etc

 

butter me ;  its In The Mouth

 

so Ill keep doing this , 

 

there might be a difference  in my area 

 

er Brown Eggs    and White 

 

I just would like a more Yolk-ey egg

 

not every day , but more often that rare or never.

 

studies continue.

 

 

[donk79]

Your mention of double yolks makes me curious.  In my chicken experience, double yolks are more likely to come from older hens (larger eggs too).  I wonder if an older hen, who may be past her prime in number of eggs laid per day, may produce richer eggs.

 

Pure speculation here, but I am curious.

[Nyleve Baar]

We keep chickens. Double yolks are more common in very young pullets, just starting to lay. It's like they haven't quite figured out the system yet and - oops! Two yolks! As for taste and colour, it has to do with what they eat. In the summer our hens range all over the place and eat everything. Their yolks are very yellow and the eggs are really flavourful. In the winter they only have access to plain old chicken feed, plus whatever kitchen scraps I can save up for them and their eggs are paler and not as tasty.

 

I very much doubt the theory that an older hen lays richer tasting eggs.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I find that when buying even free range/organic eggs the cartons vary a lot in yolk color and flavor.  But the yolks don't vary that much within a carton.

 

[jimb0]

I didn't read all of the post but I would point out that the biggest determinant to egg flavour is what the chickens themselves eat (ah i see nyleve pointed this out just above!). It sort of doesn't matter what kind they are. High fat diets can create some insane eggs. I listened to an interview with one dude who started letting his chickens gorge themselves (not forced at all, they'll be happy to eat) and he said that the eggs had giant, rich yolks.

 

of course a downside was that the chickens were slightly more prone to cardiac arrest when a plane flew over, or something. but i mean. gotta break some eggs, right?

Edited October 26, 2020 by jimb0 (log)

[donk79]

It's been a good ten years since I had chickens, so the word of someone who has them now is good enough for me.