Did you know all eggs are NOT alike?

Case in point – Weight.

Eggs are size by minimum weight. While size does not make a bit of a difference when you are cooking eggs to serve in individual portions such as when frying or poaching, when baking, it makes ALL the difference in the world. Some baking cookbooks will give you the metric weight, which at this point you may rejoice and kiss that author - they just made your life easier - of course assuming you have a nice little kitchen scale as part of your kitchen gadgets - if not, go and get one - stat! But, if you don’t and you encounter the recipe without the weight measurements, you can use this handy chart below to check that you are using the right size egg for that recipe:

Jumbo - Greater than 2.5oz or 71g
Very large or Extra Large (XL) - Greater than 2.25oz or 64oz
Large (L) - Greater than 2.0oz or 57g
Medium (M) - Greater than 1.75oz or 50g
Small (S) - Greater than 1.05oz or 43g

So now that you know how to weight them.

How about storing them?

While eggs look as if they are sealed, the shells are, in fact, porous, making eggs vulnerable to bacteria and odors. To protect them from smells, they should be stored in their box or in a special egg compartment in the refrigerator, at or below 39F. At this condition they can be stored safely for 3 to 4 weeks. If you regularly use eggs quickly (Like me!) and have a suitable cool area (not like me!), away from sunlight (nope), then the eggs can be stored in a wire or wicker basket or in their box. As long as the outside temperature does not go above the 68 degree mark they will be good for about a week.

Ok, those eggs have been sitting out for days…and have no clue how old is that egg?

A simple way to check for freshness is to drop an unbroken egg into a glass of water. A fresh egg will sink straight down to the bottom and sit on the base of the glass. An egg that is a bit older, but still safe, will come up to the middle and an old egg, that you need to throw away, like PRONTO, will float at the surface.

And how about when you need to use the yolks, but not the whites or the other way around? How do we store them up?
For eggs yolks: store in a small bowl, covered with cold water (one or two teaspoons is enough) to prevent their outer membrane from hardening and cover the bowl with plastic wrap, making sure that you push the plastic close to the yolk. Eggs whites can be frozen in an airtight container. Defrost overnight in the refrigerator and use immediately.