Cage free eggs are awesome

[So]

Originally posted by: Ns1
this thread makes me want to invite my friends over for a double blind taste test

Go for it! Document it, give us the results. And pics. 🙂

 

[nakedfrog]

Originally posted by: Ns1
this thread makes me want to invite my friends over for a double blind taste test

Make sure no extra-curricular activities take place that might alter one's opinion of food 😛

 

[Perknose]

Originally posted by: Genx87

The main (and in most cases only) difference between free range and factory farmed eggs is that the birds are permitted to roam freely within the farmyard and only kept in sheds or henhouses at night. However, not all countries have legal standards defining what free range means. For example, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has no standards and allows egg producers to freely label any egg as a free range egg.[1] Many producers will label their eggs as cage-free in addition to or instead of free range. In other countries, such as Australia, strict regulations[citation needed] govern what can qualify to be called free range and those eggs which do not qualify must state that they are cage or barn laid on their container.

Free range does not imply in any way that the hens were fed any better than in factory farms. The "free roaming" does not provide the main feed supplies, which means that free range hens can be fed the same animal derived byproducts or GMO crops, as in factory farming. This is also the main reason why free range eggs are cheaper than organic eggs.

Consumers of free-range eggs want eggs from hens who are kept under traditional low-density, free-range conditions. Critics of EU-style free-range regulations point out that commercial free-range egg farming generally does not live up to these consumer requirements, since the regulations allow the use of yarding rather than free range. Yarding combines a high-density poultry house with an attached fenced yard, and both its methods and results are closer to high-density confinement than true free range.[2]

Free range eggs may be broader, and have more of an orange colour to their yolks[3] due to the abundance of greens and insects in the diet of the birds. An orange yolk is, however, no guarantee that an egg was produced by a free-range hen. Feed additives such as marigold petal meal, dried algae, or alfalfa meal can be used to color the yolks.[4]

Which is why I stated, earlier in this thread:

Look, the problem with any commerically distributed product is that they often cut every corner they can for . . . commerce.

The LEGAL USDA description of what constitutes "free range" is a fraud. Google is your friend here. And, anyway, what matters most is what constitutes the diet of the hen -- GIGO, my friends, GIGO.

And, so Google was your friend. I'm talking about my friend Susan's hen's eggs. It's no commercial operation. They rock with CLEARLY superior taste.

 

[Perknose]

Originally posted by: ggnl
What if the chickens were fed nothing but farm fresh free range eggs?

Super eggs?

"Inside Yoke" eggs! :laugh:

 

[jagec]

Originally posted by: So

Originally posted by: Perknose
You don't have to be a mythical "egg snob" to appreciate the AMAZING difference between a fresh egg from your own "free range" hens and the usual store bought ones.

The taste diff is STARTLING. I get 'em given to me occasionally by my friend Susan, and they are a welcome and undeniable treat.

This false "What, you don't completely embrace the same mediocre crap that I blindly do? You must be a <insert here> snob!" gets old fast.

Try one, Ocdguy.

I'm sorry, but I'm serious here: I won't believe it until you've figured out the difference in a double blind test.

We raised chickens growing up, and a friend raises chickens now. The breed is different, the health level is different, and they get more nutrition. The eggs are smaller, but the yolk is shockingly yellow in comparison to store-bought eggs. The fact of the matter is that you would be a fool to think that there is no difference when SO MANY VARIABLES are different, and it is more than plausible to think that these eggs are an improvement in everything save size (and potentially cost, I haven't run a cost-benefit analysis).

As for the cage free eggs that you buy at the supermarket, jury's still out, and I'm sure it depends on whether the vendor actually treats and feeds the hens differently, or if they just slap the label on there and hike the price so that they can move more product. But I don't need to do a double-blind test to know that a succulent burger fresh off the grill at a family barbecue tastes better than a cheeseburger from the McDonald's dollar menu, no matter how much you may claim that you "don't see a difference chemically".

The fact of the matter is that the human tongue is an incredibly sensitive chemical sampler, but the response curve is woefully nonlinear. As such, very minor chemical differences can make a huge difference in taste.

 

[Ns1]

Originally posted by: nakedfrog

Originally posted by: Ns1
this thread makes me want to invite my friends over for a double blind taste test

Make sure no extra-curricular activities take place that might alter one's opinion of food 😛

Well, it would make both kinds of eggs taste better.


This is the only way I can be sure my friends will come for a double blind taste test of eggs. lol

 

[Genx87]

Originally posted by: Citrix

Originally posted by: Genx87

The main (and in most cases only) difference between free range and factory farmed eggs is that the birds are permitted to roam freely within the farmyard and only kept in sheds or henhouses at night. However, not all countries have legal standards defining what free range means. For example, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has no standards and allows egg producers to freely label any egg as a free range egg.[1] Many producers will label their eggs as cage-free in addition to or instead of free range. In other countries, such as Australia, strict regulations[citation needed] govern what can qualify to be called free range and those eggs which do not qualify must state that they are cage or barn laid on their container.

Free range does not imply in any way that the hens were fed any better than in factory farms. The "free roaming" does not provide the main feed supplies, which means that free range hens can be fed the same animal derived byproducts or GMO crops, as in factory farming. This is also the main reason why free range eggs are cheaper than organic eggs.

Consumers of free-range eggs want eggs from hens who are kept under traditional low-density, free-range conditions. Critics of EU-style free-range regulations point out that commercial free-range egg farming generally does not live up to these consumer requirements, since the regulations allow the use of yarding rather than free range. Yarding combines a high-density poultry house with an attached fenced yard, and both its methods and results are closer to high-density confinement than true free range.[2]

Free range eggs may be broader, and have more of an orange colour to their yolks[3] due to the abundance of greens and insects in the diet of the birds. An orange yolk is, however, no guarantee that an egg was produced by a free-range hen. Feed additives such as marigold petal meal, dried algae, or alfalfa meal can be used to color the yolks.[4]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free-range_eggs

I doubt you got what you paid for, except the placebo effect.

lol, i would love to post that in the egg section at Whole Foods here in Boulder.

Hippie: "hey look at me im buying free range, cage free eggs!!! i feel so happy, im not supporting the wholesale exploitation of Hens, Look at me im making a statement!!!"

hippie reads printout and sulks off sobbing and thinking about a bong hit to get the edge off.

I believe this applies to a lot of organic labels as well. Basically the companies slap an organic label on the same item and make a higher margin off people duped into believe organic means anything.

 

[Oyeve]

Originally posted by: Ns1

Originally posted by: Iron Woode

Originally posted by: HardcoreRobot
time for a double blind experiment

yup, placebo effect.

I forgot that we bought cage free eggs until the wifey reminded me, so har =P


So does anybody else eat cage free eggs? lol

No, I like my food to be tortured before I eat it.

 

[winr]

Originally posted by: Perknose

Originally posted by: winr
We raised chickens when I was young.

The shells were harder to crack than the ones I buy in the store now.

The yolks were orange color and didnt break as easy.

They tasted stronger and better to me also.




🙂

Jeebus, YOU didn't do a double blind study! Your info is useless! Useless, I say, useless!

:laugh:

Darn those pesky double blind studys !!!😀

Even if I did the test it wouldnt count....I had my eyes open....:shocked:😉






🙂

 

[TuxDave]

Originally posted by: Ns1
It's amazing what 5 minutes of google will do

bah close enough

But that's a single blind test. The chef knew which eggs came from where which may have biased his delivery of the cooked egg and interpretation of the results.

/fans the flames.

 

[Perknose]

Originally posted by: Genx87
I believe this applies to a lot of organic labels as well. Basically the companies slap an organic label on the same item and make a higher margin off people duped into believe organic means anything.

Due to successful commercial lobbying of and influence on the USDA , this is sadly true.

Foodies who care will tell you that it is better to buy locally regardless of whether it has the organic label or not than to buy big Agro brand "organic", more often than not.

A person would have to be "double blind" not to eventually get hip to this.

 

[So]

Originally posted by: Perknose

Originally posted by: Genx87
I believe this applies to a lot of organic labels as well. Basically the companies slap an organic label on the same item and make a higher margin off people duped into believe organic means anything.

Due to successful commercial lobbying of and influence on the USDA , this is sadly true.

Foodies who care will tell you that it is better to buy locally regardless of whether it has the organic label or not than to buy big Agro brand "organic", more often than not.

A person would have to be "double blind" not to eventually get hip to this.

You're just digging yourself deeper. It's like you're proud of your ignorance of science. You should be ashamed. Asking for some basic proof of any claim isn't that much to ask, and I would hope that others would expect it of me.

 

[JS80]

1) does not justify 2.5x the price
2) I add ketchup to my scrambled eggs anyway

no go for me. for 2.5x the price, the reaction would have to be OMG BEST EGGS EVAR I CAN'T GO BACK. which would be the case for:

bad sushi vs premium sushi
prime steak vs kobe steak.

I can't really think of anything else that would justify the price difference.

 

[SunnyD]

Originally posted by: Perknose

Originally posted by: Genx87
I believe this applies to a lot of organic labels as well. Basically the companies slap an organic label on the same item and make a higher margin off people duped into believe organic means anything.

Due to successful commercial lobbying of and influence on the USDA , this is sadly true.

Foodies who care will tell you that it is better to buy locally regardless of whether it has the organic label or not than to buy big Agro brand "organic", more often than not.

A person would have to be "double blind" not to eventually get hip to this.

Unfortunately, unless the US goes back to "Small Town America" instead of "Big City Corporate America", the organic label is about the closest we'll be able to get to affordable and reliable food with locally grown quality.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: ggnl

Originally posted by: Perknose

Originally posted by: mugs

Originally posted by: ric1287
Uhh, did you not see that his friend Susan gives him these eggs occasionally? What, you don't trust Susan?

Susan gives him fertilized eggs with partially developed embryos. That's why they taste different. 😛

No shit. Got one "a little too far along" once. But THE REAL REASON they taste better is their better diet . . . again, GIGO.

What if the chickens were fed nothing but farm fresh free range eggs?

Super eggs?

That's like Kobe lobster... lobster fed with Kobe beef. :Q
/How I Met Your Mother

 

[Atheus]

Originally posted by: So

Originally posted by: Perknose

Originally posted by: Mr Pickles

Originally posted by: So

Originally posted by: HardcoreRobot
time for a double blind experiment

Science. It works, bitches.

This. Nothing says a happier hen lays a tastier egg. Next you'll be praying to jebus and feeling more protected.

Your stupidity eggs me on. It's all about DIET, dummy.

GIGO, Giggles, GIGO.

It's a testable claim. I don't see any difference between the two eggs chemically. Again, put your money where your mouth is. Turn an unsupported claim into one of the coolest AT threads ever.

How on earth do you know that? I bet there's loads of chemical difference between two eggs from two different breeds of hen that eat diffferent things and live differently etc.

 

[feralkid]

Originally posted by: So

Originally posted by: Perknose

Originally posted by: Genx87
I believe this applies to a lot of organic labels as well. Basically the companies slap an organic label on the same item and make a higher margin off people duped into believe organic means anything.

Due to successful commercial lobbying of and influence on the USDA , this is sadly true.

Foodies who care will tell you that it is better to buy locally regardless of whether it has the organic label or not than to buy big Agro brand "organic", more often than not.

A person would have to be "double blind" not to eventually get hip to this.

You're just digging yourself deeper. It's like you're proud of your ignorance of science. You should be ashamed. Asking for some basic proof of any claim isn't that much to ask, and I would hope that others would expect it of me.

Give it up, So. Taste is SUBJECTIVE anyway.

This isn't a court of law; you should be ashamed. 😕

 

[Nightfall]

Originally posted by: HardcoreRobot
time for a double blind experiment

Already did one about a year ago. Cage free won hands down.

Company who has a cage free egg business "Egglands Best" was out at a local supermarket. They cooked fried eggs that were not cage free and the cage free variety. They were cooked with non stick spray and a little salt and pepper. I was blindfolded and I tried each one. The taste difference wasn't incredible, but it was good. I picked the best tasting one and it was cage free.

 

[D1gger]

$3 a dozen for me, direct from the farmer, delivery to my office included.

 

[nonameo]

I don't know wtf you are talking about. I've never had cages in my eggs. I'd seriously get that shit checked out stat.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: Adul
we been buying organic brown eggs. First thing I notice was the thickness of the eggshell and the color of the yolk. Also a better taste. Not cheap though.

The differences you were noticing were probably entirely due to the eggs being organic. The only difference between brown eggs and white eggs is the color of chicken they came from. You'll find that most eggs in stores that are organic or free-range are brown; my theory on that is that whole wheat bread and white bread make people associate the brown color with healthier foods.

Originally posted by: Genx87
I believe this applies to a lot of organic labels as well. Basically the companies slap an organic label on the same item and make a higher margin off people duped into believe organic means anything.

Yeah I don't know about that. I believe the term "organic" as applied to food is regulated by the USDA, and it can only be used on food that is certified organic. I used to work for a non-profit organic research organization. I worked on a project relating to organic certification, and there are pretty strict guidelines.

 

[TheTony]

Find someone who raises chickens locally, if you want them without paying for the freerange/organic classification. In my experience, the eggs are generally better. Plus, most folks raising their own that sell them do so for little to no premium in price, if not for less than regular store bought, and much less than the free range/organic store brands.

 

[Ns1]

Originally posted by: TheTony
Find someone who raises chickens locally, if you want them without paying for the freerange/organic classification. In my experience, the eggs are generally better. Plus, most folks raising their own that sell them do so for little to no premium in price, if not for less than regular store bought, and much less than the free range/organic store brands.

man, I live in the middle of los angeles. Aint no chicken farms around here.

 

[waggy]

a friend of my wife's has about 30 chickens. so we get farm fresh eggs all the time. they are a lot better then the ones purchased by the store. Also we can get them much cheaper then the store. usually i pay around $2 a dozen or less. it really depends how many they get that week.

 

[scott916]

I used to go to the farmer's market and get the eggs there, they kicked ass. Most likely small farm free range, but I dunno. The yolk was much more deep orange than normal.