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Why are some egg yolks so orange?

foodunfolded.com

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Re: Why are some egg yolks so orange?

#211

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you have a reason to think eggs are unhealthy, state the reason so that there can be a discussion. Eggs are as close to a miracle food that I know, and I think it would be a shame to discourage their consumption.

The USDA prohibits eggs from being called safe or nutritious because of their cholesterol and saturated fat content. Video and transcript expanding on this available at https://nutritionfacts.org/video/who-says-eggs-arent-healthy... .

Personally, I would not pay any attention to that whatsoever.

Re: Why are some egg yolks so orange?

#212
post #17

J. Kenji López-Alt has a bit in his Food Lab book where he explores the effect of yolk colour on taste. Paraphrasing, the takeaway is that people generally perceive redder/deeper yolks as more flavoursome, but if you remove this factor (with food colouring, say), then people can't tell the difference. He summarises this in a twitter thread: [1] [1]: https://nitter.net/kenjilopezalt/status/1176542696724320256

Some french tv channel did a quick game test, asking a bunch of students to sip colored soda and guess the flavour. Green was mint, Red was strawberry, Yellow was citrus, they were all strawberry. Surprising "reality".

A food scientist came to my high school and did a similar demonstration with us - except with different flavors of koolaid. Students reported red as cherry, purple as grape ... but they were actually the same flavor and only differed in color.

Re: Why are some egg yolks so orange?

#213

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, this. Red and white don't taste that similar to me. My nose isn't great, especially compared to my wife's, but I could tell you 100% of the time if I was tasting red or white while blindfolded.

Would you be able to tell if you weren't blindfolded and it was white wine that had food colouring added to it so that it appeared as red? Would your sense of taste overpower what your eyes were telling you?

I absolutely could do this, even with food coloring.

Re: Why are some egg yolks so orange?

#214

I got five chickens last year and now have more eggs then I know what to do with (so we give a lot away). Everyone that has them says they are so much better and I have wondered if that is just due to them being able to see the chickens and their home. It is near impossible to hard boil the eggs they lay because the “membrane” (layer between the shell and egg-stuff) is so thick. The yolk is a darker yellow as well. I…

Kenji covered hard boiling eggs with scientific rigor: https://www.seriouseats.com/the-secrets-to-peeling-hard-boil... We have backyard chickens and hard-boil a lot of eggs. The biggest effect on peel-ability: Start with boiling water, do not start the eggs in cold water. For years I started with cold water because that's what Alton Brown said to do in Good Eats. And for years the eggs were a pain to peel. When I rea…

I steam them to get consistent hot exterior temps. Plus it is easier to rinse them when they are in a steamer basket. And it uses less water. And the water is faster to boil.

Totally agree with you on this though.

Re: Why are some egg yolks so orange?

#215
post #17

J. Kenji López-Alt has a bit in his Food Lab book where he explores the effect of yolk colour on taste. Paraphrasing, the takeaway is that people generally perceive redder/deeper yolks as more flavoursome, but if you remove this factor (with food colouring, say), then people can't tell the difference. He summarises this in a twitter thread: [1] [1]: https://nitter.net/kenjilopezalt/status/1176542696724320256

There's a legitimate reason what one might hold that impression, although I'm not sure to what degree it is at play. A home grown chook that gets a lot of its diet from foraging insects and eating various scraps probably will have a more flavorful, eggier egg and due to the carotenes in the diet the yolk will be redder.

Of course, you can get the same orange yolk from adding caroteens to the feed of an industrially grown layer's feed with none of the associated other differences

Re: Why are some egg yolks so orange?

#216
post #214

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Kenji covered hard boiling eggs with scientific rigor: https://www.seriouseats.com/the-secrets-to-peeling-hard-boil... We have backyard chickens and hard-boil a lot of eggs. The biggest effect on peel-ability: Start with boiling water, do not start the eggs in cold water. For years I started with cold water because that's what Alton Brown said to do in Good Eats. And for years the eggs were a pain to peel. When I rea…

I steam them to get consistent hot exterior temps. Plus it is easier to rinse them when they are in a steamer basket. And it uses less water. And the water is faster to boil. Totally agree with you on this though.

[deleted]

Re: Why are some egg yolks so orange?

#217

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Would you be able to tell if you weren't blindfolded and it was white wine that had food colouring added to it so that it appeared as red? Would your sense of taste overpower what your eyes were telling you?

I absolutely could do this, even with food coloring.

Please report back after confirming :)

Re: Why are some egg yolks so orange?

#218

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some french tv channel did a quick game test, asking a bunch of students to sip colored soda and guess the flavour. Green was mint, Red was strawberry, Yellow was citrus, they were all strawberry. Surprising "reality".

We did an experiment in class, where we drank sodas blindfolded. Not only did we fail to distinguish Coke Cola and Pepsi, we couldn't even tell sprite from coke! I would have never believed that they taste so incredibly similar without the experiment.

I'm skeptical. Coca Cola and Pepsi have fairly distinct flavor profiles. There are some that I could see being more problematic. Like RC vs Pepsi, which have a similar profile. But Sprite? Nah, that's got a strong citrus component that definitely doesn't exist in a cola.

Re: Why are some egg yolks so orange?

#219
post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Dude get some chickens. My cost per dozen is around $3 at current feed prices and 60% laying rate. If you feed them your kitchen scraps the feed cost is even lower. The eggs you get that dont peel well are fresh. Less than 2 weeks old. Home grown eggs are the same way until they age and dry out a bit.

How long do they keep producing eggs and what do you do with the chickens after?

I have chickens and while the eggs are great, what you have is new pets that also happen to produce eggs as a side-effect. (Assuming you live in a city and not on a farm) You treat them like any other pet. Chickens will live 3-10 years. One of my chickens died a year or so after she stopped laying, another chicken is now 10 and lays one or two eggs a year but is otherwise looking as healthy as they day we got her. I suppose you could kill them or even try to eat them but most layers are pretty skinny and would not make a great meal.

Re: Why are some egg yolks so orange?

#220
post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Who were the participants? Random people off the street, or professional tasters who actually pay attention to what they're eating?

Hard to believe that discerning people exist! It's the same as the claims that no one knows they are sick for weeks before symptoms. If you're unhealthy and living with that, yeah, I guess you might not notice feeling off

> no one knows they are sick for weeks before symptoms

Weeks? Regular colds and flu have incubation periods of just a few days. Diseases with incubation periods measured in weeks tend to be the more serious ones that don't occur often enough (thankfully) to be used as a good comparison point.

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