Choice. The larger end of a new-laid egg feels cold when placed against the tongue. New-laid eggs appear semi-transparent when placed between the eye and a strong light, and have a small and perceptible division of the skin from the shell, which is filled with air. This mode of examination among the trade is called ‘candling.’ When they shake they are stale. The eggs of turkeys and pea-hens are much esteemed for some purposes; those of ducks and geese are coarse and inferior.
Sound eggs will sink if put into a solution, consisting of 1 oz. of salt in 10 oz. of water; in the same solution indifferent ones will float, whilst bad or worthless ones will swim even in pure water.
Pres. Eggs may be preserved for any length of time by excluding them from the air. One of the cleanest and easiest methods of doing this is to pack them with the small end downwards, in clean dry salt, in barrels or tubs, and to place them in a cool and dry situation. We have eaten eggs thus preserved that were more than a twelvemonth old, and that had been for some months on shipboard in a tropical climate, and which yet retained all the peculiar sweetness of new-laid eggs. With a like intention, eggs are placed in vessels containing milk of lime or strong brine, or are rubbed over with butter, lard, or gum water, all of which act by excluding the air. Eggs for keeping should never be laid on their sides, and when kept in the air should be occasionally turned to prevent the yolk attaching itself to the side instead of floating in the albumen. Some persons place the eggs in a netting or on a sieve or colander, and immerse them for an instant in a caldron of boiling water before packing them away. The practice of packing eggs in damp straw, or anything else that can convey a flavour should be carefully avoided. The shells of eggs are porous, and readily admit the passage of gaseous substances, especially of fetid odours. It is from inattention to this point that a large number of the eggs imported from the coast of France have a less delicate flavour than those of our poultry yards. Damp chopped straw, as well as most other organic substances exposed to warmth and moisture, readily ferment or putrefy; and during fermentation a considerable increase of temperature takes place, as any one may readily perceive by examining the common hotbeds in our gardens, which are merely masses of organic matter in a state of decomposition. Eggs, as long as they retain the embryo of the future chick in a vital state, possess in themselves a certain degree of warmth, which tends materially to promote the decomposition of the substances they are packed in, particularly in the presence of moisture.
A correspondent of the ‘Chemical News’ says: “Eggs may be kept fresh for a whole year by subjecting them to the following process. The fresh eggs are carefully placed in a mixture of five kilogrammes of alum, dissolved in five litres of water, heated to from 45° to 50° C., and left in that liquid for from thirty to forty minutes; the eggs are next drained, and in the meantime the solution of alum is heated to boiling-point. The eggs are again immersed in the liquid and kept therein from ten to fifteen seconds; after having been drained and cooled, they are packed in either dry bran, sawdust, cork-dust, sifted ashes, or in cotton-wool.”
M. Durand, of Blois, proposes to preserve eggs by coating them with silicate of soda.
To Preserve Eggs fresh for many weeks.—As the eggs are taken from the nest, brush each one separately with a thin solution of gum Arabic, being careful to leave no portion of the shell uncovered by it. The half of each egg must first be done, and left to become dry before the remainder is touched, that the gum may not be rubbed off any part by its coming in contact while wet with the hand as it is held to be varnished, or
with the table when it is laid down to harden.—Eliza Acton.
Eggs to boil in the Shell.—Eggs brought from a cold place and suddenly plunged into boiling water are very frequently liable to crack, and thus to allow of the partial escape of their contents. In winter it will be found a good plan to hold them for an instant over the steam of the saucepan before they are placed in it, which they should be, very gently. By boiling for three minutes, the whites will become in a partially solid state. Exactly five minutes will harden the whites and leave the yolks liquid. Eight or ten minutes will render them hard. Eggs should always be boiled in water sufficient to entirely cover them. They should be boiled 15 minutes for salad-dressings.
Eggs, to Poach.—Take for this purpose a wide and delicately clean pan about half filled with the clearest spring water; throw in a small saltspoonful of salt, and place it over a fire quite free from smoke. Break some new-laid eggs into separate cups, and do this with care, that the yolks may not be injured. When the water boils, draw back the pan, glide the eggs gently into it, and let them stand till the whites appear almost set, which will be in about a minute; then without shaking them move the pan over the fire, and just simmer them from two minutes and a half to three minutes. Lift them out separately with a slice, trim quickly off the ragged edges, and serve them upon dressed spinach or upon minced veal, turkey, or chicken; or dish them for an invalid upon delicately toasted bread, sliced thick and free from crust; it is an improvement to have the bread buttered, but it is less wholesome.
Comparative time of poaching eggs: swan’s eggs, 5 to 6 minutes (in basin, 10 minutes); turkey’s eggs, 4 minutes; hen’s eggs, 3 to 31⁄2 minutes; Guinea fowl’s, 2 to 3 minutes; bantam’s, 2 minutes.