Are Expensive Eggs actually worth it?

What other ingredient deep dives should we do this year? Also thanks again to Made In for sponsoring this one! Head to my link to save on Made In cookware: madein.cc/0124-ethan

Ethan, have you thought about making a deep dive on rice? The various types of rice, how it's farmed, how and why (!) to cook it for various recipes.

My personal experience on this: I had a neighbor with a connection to someone who raised hens that laid eggs locally. That neighbor gave me a dozen eggs one day and I was AMAZED! I wasn't expecting them to taste any different when I first got them, but they were so much better! The yolk was so deep in color that I could make scrambled eggs that looked almost orange, and the flavor was mind-blowing - to the extent that it totally spoiled me on store-bought eggs, which now taste like bland plastic to me. Naturally from then on I asked my neighbor to get me eggs whenever there were extras to be had, and now that they've moved away I really miss those local eggs! I've tried all the different expensive eggs I can find since then, but I've never found anything in a store, for any price, that can compare to the rich flavor of those local eggs.

We have been keeping hens on our various farms for almost 40 years in central Ontario, Canada. Egg quality depends on many variables. Aside from variables like feed and genetics, there are things like winter eggs vs summer eggs. At our farm, in the winter, our hens are free range. In the summer they are pasture raised. In a couple of weeks, they will be eating toms of dandelions and that will change the colour of their eggs. I don't have the most discerning palate but that must have an effect.

Thanks for the video. I now get my eggs from a local old farmer couple, who only produces a few dozen eggs a day. They are white, brown, blue & green eggs of various sizes (Large to Jumbo) they sell them for $2 a dozen or $3 for 18, which is cheaper than the local WalMart.

Back in the days my grandmother sold butter and eggs at the local farmer's market. Everyone bought her butter and eggs, and she sold out quickly every time because everyone loved the golden yellow butter and yellow yolks in the eggs compared to the other. The only thing different was she feed her chickens carrot scraps and added a few spoons of carrot juice to the butter mix thus turning it a nice golden color. The orange pigments in carrots turned the butter and yolks this wonderful color. This secret she now shares with you.

Personal experience: I eat eggs almost every morning. But for years I've noticed that sometimes, after a while, I can't stand eggs anymore, they start getting a weird aftertaste so I stop eating them for a bit and start again. After switching from cheap eggs to free range/organic eggs, I've never had that sudden change in taste again and I feel like the yolk has a richer flavour.

Ethan, I appreciate your deep dives into everything food. The reason we buy the more expensive eggs is because 1) I’d like to think the animals/animal products live a humane life, i.e, get to peck around for their normal foods; plants, insects, seeds, etc. 2)It is hard to imagine that pellet food given to cheap egg layers has all the various nutrients that are available in a pasture. It has not been that long ago since egg producers started feeding “vegetarian foods to chickens and stopped grinding up unmarketable chicken parts; those chicks that are ground up at 2 weeks, feathers, fats and all other “waste chicken”s. All that said, a more useful study would be to examine the difference in available NUTRIENTS in eggs raised in large egg production vs. pasture raised. Thanks to listening, I appreciate your research and hard work.

I buy pasture raised eggs mainly to avoid the additives they have in the chicken feed they give to caged chicken, which range from fattening hormones to antibiotics. I think there's a slight difference in taste, for the better, too, but that's not my main reason for switching to pasture-raised eggs.

The first time I had an egg from my free range chickens at home. I definitely noticed it taste a lot better.

I’m a poultry specialist and I love you did such a great job explaining this and then detail you into. The only thing you missed I want to point out is. When it comes to organic vs other eggs. Something that might effect certain people and possibly the taste is how the company clean the eggs before they leave there facilities. The cheaper eggs are cleaned with a solution that is almost like diluted bleach. Eggs have these things called pores on them. And trace amounts can go into the eggs. Now the FDA says it not enough to kill or hurt anyone. But in some case this small amount is enough to effect people giving them a upset stomach when they eat the cheaper eggs.

Beautiful piece of work. Thank you for informing us!

This is the second “price comparison”video I’ve come across from you and I loved the chicken one. Now that I see this is a series I’ve subscribed and can’t wait to continue watching your analysis

In EU (or at least in Poland) every egg sold in store has a code, which denotes whether the farm is using cages, cage-free, pastured etc, and also from which farm the egg comes from. The code is printed on the shell.

Best way to taste difference in egg yolks is with a soft boiled egg, such that the yolk is still creamy but firm. I can definitely taste the difference in pasture raised vs caged eggs with soft boiled eggs, and pasture raised tastes much better.

Excellent detailed presentation and great explanations. Very well done. Thank you! Answered a number of my questions on the subject.

Thank you. I've been told it's healthiest to eat eggs from hens that forage for food outside instead of eat grains, so I've been eating Nellie's Free Range Eggs that claim "Outdoor Forage". I would love to save money but I'm not sure you've convinced me.

36 mins I've spent learning about eggs and how they're farmed on a Saturday night in February......this just randomly popped up in my feed. Yet I was thoroughly enthralled, really interesting deep dive on eggs!

I worked for a large egg plant in Boulder CO back in the 70's and they sent old hens and/or dead hens to Campbell soup company. They came with a large open bed tractor and trailer with a tarp to cover after filling with the old hens. The plant was torrid hot during summer and hen death would increase at this time of year. The hens would be tossed in a pile until pick up on Fridays with flies all over them. By the way, Campbells boils the chick meat until it's safe to eat, but often tough. If I hadn't seen this first hand I'd never believe it. The laying house was elevated high above the cement floor below where a loader constantly scraped up the waste into piles for fertilizer production. The driver had cardboard on top to prevent getting splattered throughout the day. The laying hens were in cages in rows as far as you can see with augers running down the line to bring in food and/or ground calcium. The calcium was added when the eggs began to break due to thin shells. Water was provided in troughs next to the food auger troughs. There was a boardwalk for workers to cull sick or dead hens. Each cage had from 6 to 8 hens per and no place to lay down. The rows ran along side each boardwalk on either side. It was very smelly with lots of ammonia in the air. The cages were tilted towards the back where a conveyor belt ran constantly bringing in laid eggs gradually downhill to a wash/inspection/packing room. Eggs were candled for blood then washed an packed in cartons.

Thank you very much for your valuable information, Sr. It is one of the best videos I have ever enjoyed!