The entire yolk of an egg is only one cell, one of nature’s largest! An ostrich egg, which can serve about 24 for breakfast, is probably the largest cell nature manufactures (currently, that is).
The color of the shell is strictly a function of the breed of the bird. You can (usually) tell what color egg a chicken will lay by looking at the color of her earlobe. Hens with white ears produce white eggs, hens with red ears produce brown eggs, and hens with bluish-green ears produce bluish-green eggs.
Americans consume an average of 281 eggs annually, which keeps about 285 million hens busy day and night.
An old-fashioned but valid test for egg freshness is accomplished by gently dropping a whole uncooked egg into a salt solution (two tablespoons salt in two cups of water.) If very fresh, the egg will be full and heavy, and it will sink and tip to one side. If moderately fresh, it will remain suspended in the middle of the water upright; if it bobs up to the top, it is stale.
According to folklore, you can stand a raw egg on end on the spring equinox (or fall equinox).
Government grades are based on the size of the air cell in the egg, its quality, and its freshness. A Grade AA egg must be less than ten days old from packing, and a Grade A, 30 days.
The whitish, twisted material seen near the raw egg yolk is thick albumen. It is part of a layer of dense egg white surrounding the entire yolk. The albumen helps keep the yolk centered in the egg. It is especially prominent in fresh, high-quality eggs.
The feed determines the color of the yolk. If the chicken eats grass, yellow corn, or other feedstuffs rich in yellow pigments, the yolk will be deep yellow in direct relation to the amount of yellow in the feed, regardless of the breed of chicken or the color of the shell.
The incubation period of a chicken egg is 21 days.
The greenish-gray color around the yolk of a hard-boiled egg is a harmless compound of iron and sulfur called ferrous sulfide, which forms when an egg is heated. To prevent its formation, boil the egg only as long as necessary to set the yolk, plunge it into cold water, and peel it promptly.
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