Part 2. Chapter 2. Eggs

Eggs Shirred With Mashed Potato. Puffy Omelet With Macaroni And Tomato Sauce

Eggs average composition (Atwater)

It was our own Emerson, who said: "There is a best way of doing everything, even if it be to boil an egg." And yet with eggs the best way is not "to boil" at all, but to cook at a temperature below the boiling point of water, or, to be exact, not above 18o° Fahr, An egg possesses its highest nutritive value in a raw state, and the higher the temperature to which it is subjected and the longer it is exposed to heat the more indigestible the albumen becomes. The white of an egg is nearly pure albumen, the yolk, though rich in albumen, contains about 30 per cent, of fat, and is also rich in sulphur. There are no uric acid derivatives in eggs.

No other than fresh-laid eggs can be served at the breakfast table with full satisfaction. As the quality of the yolk, on account of its composition, is soon impaired, it should not be retained in the stomach longer than the time of normal digestion. If the egg, when eaten, be no longer fresh, or if, for any other cause, its digestion be impeded, derangement of the stomach and intestines is liable to follow.

Eggs are digested more readily, when the whites and yolks have been mixed thoroughly before cooking, as in scrambled eggs and omelettes; for, in this case, the white is not taken into the stomach in a separate hard mass.

Bilious people are accustomed to discard eggs in any form; but doubtless such may eat the whites of fresh eggs, especially when they axe served in the form of a delicately baked custard, since in this case, the white, which is used alone, is broken up by beating and then is diluted by the other ingredients. It is the richness of the yolks that occasions disturbance; thirty parts of yolk in one hundred are fat, or oil, while the white contains but two parts of fat in one hundred.

An egg is probably at its best when about twelve hours old. The shell of a fresh egg is full, but as the egg grows older, the water in composition evaporates through the porous shell, leaving a space, and the air penetrating causes the contents to deteriorate. When first laid the yolk is surrounded by the white, but evaporation leaves it nearer the shell, and, if the egg be not left with the small end downward, the yolk from its weight will soon touch the shell, and contact with the air quickly spoils it.

How To Tell Fresh Eggs

A fresh egg feels heavy and sinks in water; the dark spot that represents the yolk should be in the centre of the mass. No audible sound is made, when a fresh egg is shaken; shake one less fresh and the beating against the shell is perceptible.

How To Preserve Eggs

To preserve eggs for any length of time, exclude the air by covering them with fat, wax, strong brine, or lime-water; or pack them in sawdust, or meal.

Eggs may be kept fresh in a cool, dry place for months by packing them, small ends down, in a bed of ordinary coarse salt. The shells should not come in contact, and each egg should stand upright. The salt holds the egg firm in position and excludes the air. Fine coarse-salt such as is often used in freezing, is adapted to this purpose.

To Preserve Eggs For Use In Winter. (Mrs Kimball, Stockbridge)

Into each three gallons of water mix one pint of fresh-slacked lime and one half pint of common salt; put in the eggs and cover with a board sprinkled with lime and salt,