Vintage Thingie Thursday, and an Egg-citing Adventure!

Happy Vintage Thingie Thursday!

Today's item for your viewing pleasure may be new to some folks, and 'old hat' to others. This is an antique egg grader, made by Oakes Manufacturing around 1920 or so. Used on many farms, it would give weight of the eggs by placing the egg on the little metal 'cup' after first adjusting the weight (seen on the left) with a twist or two, to 'zero' it out.

Egg Trivia:

A hen puts a protective coating (called the bloom) on the egg as she lays it. The bloom keeps contaminants from entering pores in the shell (eggshells have up to 17,000 pores). Processing plants wash the eggs and coat them with mineral oil to replace the bloom. This protective coating is removed when you wash or boil the egg.

What does Grade A mean? Eggs are graded based on quality and appearance (there is no difference in nutritional value or safety). Grade AA eggs have thick, firm whites and high round yolks. The shells are clean and unbroken. Grade A eggs are just like AA eggs, but the whites are 'reasonably' firm, and Grade A eggs are usually sold in grocery stores. Grade B eggs have thin whites and wider yolks. The shells are unbroken, but might have slight stains.

Why do some eggs float in water? Old eggs float in water because of a large air cell. The air cell forms as the egg cools after being laid. As the egg ages, air enters the egg and the air cell becomes larger.

Why are some hard boiled eggs hard to peel? Hard to peel eggs are probably fresh (small air cell). Use eggs that are at least a week old to make peeling easier. Boil, then plunge into ice water, wait a few moments, then peel!

Eggs of a "Different Color" -

• RED--Blood spots in the yolk are caused when a blood vessel breaks on the surface of the yolk. Blood spots indicate a fresh egg (the spots fade with time) and are safe to eat.
• GREEN--The greenish ring around a hard-boiled egg yolk is due to an iron and sulfur compound that forms when eggs are overcooked, not cooled quickly, or are prepared with water that is high in iron. Concentric green rings inside a cooked yolk are probably formed because the hen's feed or water contained iron. In both cases, the green color is harmless and safe to eat.
• EGG SHELLS(brown or white)--Shell color is determined by the hen's breed. Hens with red feathers and red ear lobes have brown eggs; hens with white feathers and white ear lobes have white eggs.
• EGG WHITE--A cloudy white in a raw egg is caused by carbon dioxide and indicates freshness. As the egg ages, the carbon dioxide escapes through the pores of the egg, and the white will become less cloudy. A pinkish or greenish-blue raw egg white possibly indicates spoilage with a certain bacteria (Pseudomonas spp). We recommend not eating these eggs.
• YOLK--Yolk color depends on the diet of the hen. The more yellow-orange plant pigments (xanthophylls) she's eaten, the darker yellow the yolk.

Please visit Colorado Lady for more participants in her Vintage Thingie Thursday meme!

More Egg-citement!

Be sure to drop by tomorrow for the start of an Egg-citing Idea! Barb from Treasures from the Heart and I are starting a new weekly meme, and hope you will all participate! It is called GET R DONE FRIDAY, and will show projects that we have procrastinated on long enough, and have decided to finish by Friday! We welcome you to join in, with YOUR projects - with before and after pictures to share with us. Projects as simple as floral arrangements or spray painting your living room (RIGHT!), bathing your dog, or creating a quilt - we agree it would be fun to see what people have been up to! You can simply post pictures with a brief description, or write a short How-To. It's entirely up to you! Create the posting on your blog, and sign up on Mr. Linky tomorrow (I hope that goes smoothly, as I'll be out of town and won't be able to correct it this first time - oh dear!) When I get back, I will be able to see how things went, and hope to have plenty to read on Monday morning!