What are eggs? About the ingredient eggs. Including 14,388 recipes with eggs, nutrition data, photos, where it's found, and video.
Chicken eggs are widely used in many types of dishes, both sweet and savory. Egg recipes are extremely versatile, are quick cooking and are a particular favourite for breakfast recipes.
Eggs are used both as an ingredient and a main dish, eggs are a food product produced by poultry. Though there are many types of eggs available for food preparation (duck, goose, quail, turkey, ostrich), hen, or chicken eggs, are the most commonly eaten.
Eggs can be pickled, hard-boiled, soft-boiled, scrambled, fried and more. They can also be eaten raw, though this is not recommended for people who may be especially susceptible to salmonella, such as the elderly, the infirm, or pregnant women.
In addition, the protein in raw eggs is only 51% bio-available, whereas that of a cooked egg is nearer 91% bio-available, meaning the protein of cooked eggs is nearly twice as absorbable as the protein from raw eggs.
As an ingredient, egg yolks are an important emulsifier in the kitchen, and the proteins in egg white allow it to form foams and aerated dishes.
The egg white, contains protein but little or no fat. It can be used in cooking separately from the yolk, and can be aerated or whipped to a light, fluffy consistency. Beaten egg whites are used in desserts such as meringues and mousse.
Ground egg shells are sometimes used as a food additive to deliver calcium.
Every part of an egg is edible, although the eggshell is generally discarded.
Although the age of the egg and the conditions of its storage have a greater influence, the bird's diet does affect the flavor of the egg. For example, when a brown-egg chicken breed eats rapeseed or soy meals, its intestinal microbes metabolize them into fishy-smelling triethylamine, which ends up in the egg.
The unpredictable diet of free-range hens will produce unpredictable eggs that arguably taste better!
Legends about eggs have abounded throughout the eons. Early Phoenicians thought that a primeval egg split open to form heaven and earth; Egyptians believed that their god Ptah created the egg from the sun and the moon; and American Indians thought that the Great Spirit burst forth from a giant golden egg to create the world.
Eggs are usually found in the dairy section or aisle of the grocery store or supermarket.
Eggs are a member of the Dairy and Egg Products USDA nutritional food group.
measure | grams |
1 cup (4.86 large eggs) | 243 |
1 extra large | 56 |
1 jumbo | 63 |
1 large | 50 |
1 medium | 44 |
1 small | 38 |
In Chinese: | 鸡蛋 | |
British (UK) term: | Eggs | |
en français: | œufs | |
en español: | huevos |
There are 14814 recipe that contain this ingredient.
American egg board | over 8 years ago |
Egg farmers for canada | over 8 years ago |
Egg safety center | over 8 years ago |
See more about eggs | almost 13 years ago |
Usda nutrition data | over 8 years ago |
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