For me farm fresh eggs is about care and chickens being chickens..it's also about the micro nutrients I get because they get to eat buggies and snails and good things for them.

It's also the fact that I try to avoid soy and corn and things sold that are genetically modified..which the crapiest of the crap is made into animal feed.

The eggs I eat come from free range, yard birds that are feed leftovers from my garden, the garden near their pen and organic feed. I pay $4 for 18 or swap things...

A lot of things go into the equation--his breeds, his feed, the overall way he cares for the chickens, and the amount of time his "farm fresh" eggs have sat in the fridge at his place. I personally don't really care for eggs so I can't tell the difference, but I would prefer to support local businesses in today's economic times. You can definately taste the difference in the chickens when you eat them, lol!

Ever hear the song "See Rock City?" which is a take on all the road signs you see driving to FLA thru the south. One of the lines is "Buy my fresh homegrown watermelon that I got at the A&P." One never knows . . . . :)

What a chicken is fed determines the flavor of the egg.
Breed of chicken probably figures in some, too.

And it is entirely possible your store brands eggs are really good.
That does happen now & then. :>)

But if he is feeding his chickens run-of-the-mill chicken feed, the eggs aren't going to be anything special.

If they are allowed to run and 'graze', that is what produces the deep orange color and highly flavored yolks.

Either way, supporting the local small farmer is a good thing.

Rusty

One of the biggest differences between grocery store eggs and farm fresh is just that - "Fresh". I like the fact that the eggs I buy are laid the same day. Who knows when the eggs sold in grocery stores were laid.

When you crack a farm fresh egg into the frying pan look for the albumen to surround the yolk and be noticeably firmer. Grocery store eggs usually have a more "runny" albumen.

Good picture showing what a
fresh egg should look like.

Ann

Wow! 3.00 for a dozen eggs? I pay 1.50 for farm fresh eggs here. I can tell a difference in size and taste. Often get double-yolkers, too.

I bought a couple of dozen free range organic eggs a couple of weeks ago.... they were a little more yellow, but not significantly and we detected no difference in taste. And they were $4.00 per dozen. Not going to bother buying them again.

Alexa

I haven't done a blind taste test, but I really do think they're better. Were the yolks light yellow or darker yellow/orange? I notice a drastic color difference between storebought and fresh. It's entirely possible for individual people to take average or poor care of their chickens. Some people, when you go to get the eggs, talk your ear off about the breeds, personalities, diet, habitat, social relationships between the chickens, etc. Those are the people with good eggs.

In the past year, I have bought farm eggs from three different sources, ranging in price from $2 to $3.50 a dozen. Two of these sources I know are free ranging their hens; I have no knowledge of how the chickens of the third source are raised. The eggs look good and taste great, but to be honest, I can't tell that much difference in taste from grocery store eggs. I try to buy local eggs in part because I like to support local farmers and because I think these eggs may be safer and a little healthier for me. I don't mind paying more for local eggs and only wish I could be keeping hens of my own for eggs.

Teresa

You have no idea how old store bought eggs are.They peel really good, fresh dont.

I love the idea of farm fresh eggs , especially hormone free, free range. I like them because I feel they are better for me but I cannot tell the difference in taste.

I can taste the difference in the chicken itself , but not the eggs.

Very interesting responses - thanks!

Where I bought them leads to more questions than answers. The oldtimer didn't speak much, so while I would have liked to question the age of the unrefrigerated eggs and the feed of their mothers, I chose not to.

Jessica, the yolks were ever so slightly more orange than those of the supermarket eggs, but not enough to notice unless carefully inspected side by side.

Being as he's so close, maybe I'll try to establish a rapport with the man so I can pick them straight from the coop. That way I'll know they're closer to the "vent." [LOL, last night was sleepless and I finally watched Julie and Julia which prompted me to browse my "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" in the wee hours. When she referred to the two ends as the neck and the vent, it made me laugh!]

The farm eggs we use have orange yolks, so much so that you would not confuse it for any other colour. The yolks also "stand" proud of the whites significantly more than store eggs.

Also, the eggs, when fried or basted, have a thicker white part than store eggs, either they don't run out as much or they actually cook up thicker.

they poach better as well.

the shells are hard to crack, you really have to think about it and rap them pretty smartly or you won't get it done.

Taste is better but lets face it an egg taste is an egg taste and once you fry it in bacon drippings, add kosher salt and fresh ground pepper and wash it down with a glug of Bloody Mary...well, you buy from the local farmer for lots of reasons but being cheep (get it?) is not one of them for us.

we pay $3/dz in Canadian funds which, depending on what day of the week it is, is either 25 cents US or 25 dollars US.

SeriousEats, a site I have great respect for, did a set of blind taste tests of supermarket vs cage free vs farm fresh eggs, and found much the same as you did -- not huge differences in taste once the tasting was truly blind. I've attached a link to the article below. Again, this doesn't have anything to do with issues of how the chickens are treated, etc -- only with taste.

Here is a link that might be useful: Blind Egg Taste Test

Ooops -- forgot to mention that the SeriousEats site found that while the freshness of the egg had minimal impact on the flavor, it did have greater impact on the texture of the white and yolk, which get thinner with age...

One of the aspects I failed to mention in my decision not to buy the free range organic eggs, is they come from an Amish farm in Lancaster. Now, I am not suggesting that there is any sort of false advertising, but the Amish are not known for their ethical treatment of animals. This is the same area that most of the puppy mills are located and there are more cases of equine abuse reported than any other county in PA. To the Amish animals are chattel and nothing more.

Alexa

I can't really tell any difference in flavor between farm fresh and supermarket eggs, either. But as others have said, the yolks are deepr in color, the whites are not as thin and the shells are thicker.

I pay $1.00 a dozen for my neighbor's fresh eggs. they are not free range because of the danger of coyotes and such, they run in a large pen with sufficient food and shelter, and I can see how they are raised.

I like to support small farmers whenever possible as well.

Linda

Unless you know the farmer, you really don't know how fresh your eggs are until you crack them. Unless you raise your own laying hens it's really hard for most of us to get really fresh eggs. If they were fresh when I buy them they will not be that fresh when we finally eat them all. I refrigerate my eggs immediately and am pretty choosy about where I buy them but I don't buy them every week. I had a friend who had free-range hens and his yard man collected the eggs and saved them for him in the fridge in the garage. He always offered his excess eggs but he had 4 hens and 2 dozen eggs in the fridge most of the time. I always thanked him but refused as we could never eat so many eggs before they got even older. I love eggs but I just don't eat or use them every day.

The freshness is of course important, but equally so is that they are free range so they can be on clean grass and eat insects. Also, the great advantage to free range eggs is that they are very high in Omega 3 fatty acids, high in good cholesterol and low in bad. I know a number of people, my son included, who cannot tolerate (literally makes them sick) supermarket eggs but have no problems with farm eggs.

Alexa, in comparing counties in PA you have to watch out for sampling error. If there are more reported cases of abusing horses in Lancaster County, it may be because there are vastly more horses there than in other PA counties.

Well, I'm clearly paying too much for my eggs, but the farmer I buy them for is good at telling a sob story about how much he has to pay to buy his organic feed he feeds his chickens. I'm paying $5.00 a dozen for free range organic eggs, and, not having done a blind taste test, but having done a comparison between organic store bought eggs and this farmer's eggs, there is a clear difference in yolk color - the farmer's eggs are much darker yellow/orange, while the store bought eggs are pale yellow.

What I don't get is why egg companies brag about their chickens being fed a vegetarian diet like it's a good thing. What makes the eggs I buy so good is the diet the chickens eat, which not only includes the "oh so expensive feed" he feeds them (he doesn't let me forget that!), they get to roam and peck at the ground and eat bugs. What better life could there be for a chicken? That's the primary reason I buy my eggs from him, even though they are expensive. I just can't abide animal cruelty, and there's no getting around the fact that hens that live in factory farms live in horrible conditions. And that includes the so called cage free egg factory farms. Okay, enough with my soapbox.

Sally

Not only that true free range chickens eat insects, seeds, etc. they also need to eat sand, and small pebbles.

dcarch

That blind taste test is pretty convincing! Honestly, though, I would have preferred to go on thinking they taste better.

Some of them sure taste very different.

Alexa, not always are animals "chattel" to the Amish, most that I know take very good care of their animals because they are necessary tools to their survival. They are not pets, but they are valuable and well fed and tended to.

Dad's dear friend, Ido Brenneman, is the kindest man I've ever met, to animals and people alike. When I took those 32 ducks out to his son for slaughter, I had them in one large cage. Joel said he couldn't process them until the next morning and they were too crowded, so he turned them into a pen of his own that was empty and filled a tub with water for them to splash about and roost for the night. And those weren't even HIS animals, and they would be in the freezer within 24 hours, but he wouldn't leave them crowded together overnight.

Here we have a large Amish community and in the 32 years I've been with the Prosecutor we have not once had a criminal complaint involving the Amish and their animals. We've had several complaints regarding starving horses from local riding stables and rodeo operations, but not the Amish. Their animals are too necessary for their livelihood to be taken for granted in most instances. I won't say it doesn't happen, but it seldom happens here.

As for eggs, eat whatever you like. Mine are much different than the store eggs, darker orange yolks, much fresher and with a discernible flavor difference. The store eggs don't taste bad, they just don't taste like anything at all, and that includes the Egglands Best.

Annie

I think it's likely that organic eggs (from birds fed an organic ration) but kept in confinement wouldn't taste any better than regular industrial eggs. It's the access to insects and green grass that makes the eggs so good.

BTW, beware of marketing ploys (for either eggs or broilers) that tout them as being "hormone free." In contrast to beef, no poultry in the US are given hormones; it's against the law.

Annie, I certainly understand that your local Amish community may be very different than those in the Lancaster PA area, and I bet you don't have puppy mills either. I did not mean to generalize all Amish across the country, but the puppy mill issue certainly has put Lancaster "on the map".

Alexa

Most of the time, in the US anyway you can easily tell how old store eggs are.

Pack dates and sell-by dates
According to the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture (USDA), "Many eggs reach stores only a few days after the hen lays them. Egg cartons with the USDA grade shield on them must display the "pack date" (the day that the eggs were washed, graded, and placed in the carton). The number is a three-digit code that represents the consecutive day of the year (the "Julian Date") starting with January 1 as 001 and ending with December 31 as 365. When a "sell-by" date appears on a carton bearing the USDA grade shield, the code date may not exceed 45 days from the date of pack."

Plants not under USDA inspection are governed by the state laws where the eggs are packed and/or sold. Most states require a pack date as described in this article. For more information about state egg laws, contact your state's Department of Agriculture.

Here is a link that might be useful: Cracking the Date Code on Egg Cartons

I live in upstate NY between Syracuse and Rochester. In my immediate area we have Mennonite farmers, but no Amish. However, if I drive 20 or 30 miles from home there are many Amish communities. And, this area is well known for the deplorable conditions of the dogs in the Amish puppy mills. Most recently, an Amish puppy miller gassed more than 60 dogs and puppies rather than treat them with antibiotics or pay a vet to put them down. He made a gas chamber from a whelping box and some farm machine that produced CO. There are frequently well documented reports of these puppy millers abusing the dogs and going to court because of their actions. I understand the farm animals aren't human but it sickens me to see the number of Amish who don't feel there is anything wrong in abusing animals. I have many Mennonite neighbors and I have never heard of them abusing animals. They drive cars so they don't have horses, but I have never seen any Mennonite with a pet of any kind. I think their values are so practical that they consider time spent on pets to be a frivolous waste of time. I have no direct knowledge of this--it is just what I think may be the answer. These folks work constantly, six days a week. Only on Sundays do I see them gathering with friends and family and playing softball, badminton or using a trampoline. Otherwise, everybody, young kids included, seems to work from sunup to bed time.

Enough said. I saw something funny today at the local IGA type "super market" that is 6 miles away from my home. A Mennonite woman was shopping when I arrived. The local communities of Menninite women dress slightly different from each other and this lady's dress and cap were slightly different. I don't know exactly where she lives. I couldn't help noticing she had eight dozen eggs in her cart! Many Mennonite farms offer fresh eggs for sale (the chickens are outside if they wish, in large pens) and I can't understand why she wouldn't give her business to someone in her community. I have lived here for 5 years and keep thinking I will someday stop at a farm and try their eggs. I wanted to ask the lady with all the store eggs what was wrong with Mennonite eggs. Maybe I will just go on buying Eggland's Best with Omega 3 fatty acid from vegetarian hens :-)

Yes, Alexa, we do have puppy mills here and they aren't Amish either. Most recently it was a woman who had 33 basset hound puppies in an old house trailer. We also had a dog fighting ring that we broke up, they were mostly Hispanic and black, but no Amish.

Here, the Amish are good neighbors who care for their tools, much like the farmers keep their tractors in tip top shape and the truck drivers change their oil faithfully and the carpenters keep their tools clean and sharpened, etc. The Amish care for their "tools" like any other craftsmen.

As for the Amish puppy mill that grainlady mentioned, here the Amish don't have any machines that would produce CO 2 because they don't use machines, that's why they have horses. No tractors, no vehicles and no electricity or phones. Dad would give Ido a ride to the stock sale occasionally so they could drink coffee and swap farmer stories.

So, if an Amish farmer had a machine that produced CO 2, he's not Amish, at least not according to the standards here.

Annie

Many Amish communities differ from each other in the use of technology. Some will use gasoline or diesel or propane to run various pieces of machinery. Their major need seems to be not to connect to any grid that might include the "English" or other non-Amish people. If an Amish dairy farmer wants to do business with a commercial milk buyer he has to find a way to refrigerate the milk between the time of milking and the time the stored milk is transferred to a truck. Many use propane to run refrigerators and stoves in their homes. Again, they aren't connected to the outside community--they just buy the fuel from them and store it in tanks. The Mennonites near me use cell phone, cars (almost always painred black), and huge modern farm trucks and equipment. However, every Monday the ladies hang out their wash to dry on lines. Large families may have laundry drying on other days, but never on Sunday. It seems the women aren't allowed dryers and I really hope they aren't washing the laundry in tubs by hand. Maybe someday I will ask the farmer who plants hay on three of my five acres if his wife has a washer. It seems to be perfectly acceptable for the farmer to have tens of thousands of dollars in modern farm equipment. I like my hay farming neighbor. I know the Mennonite people don't believe in law suits so I am comfortable having him put hay on my unused fields. If he should hurt himself while haying I trust he won't try to sue me. I don't take any money from him because I am satisfied that the fields are mowed several times during the growing season and always look neat. Around here the Mennonite people are very good neighbors and often help non-Mennonites if they have some kind of catastrophe. I have been towed out of my drivway and ditch in the winter when the snow has done me in. Each time, one of the men saw me in trouble and came to my aid. No money is ever accepted.

Annie - I'm sure there are other differences between Michigan and Pennsylvania too.

Alexa

Alexa, I'm quite sure there are.

Animal abuse happens everywhere, though, by all kinds of people in all kinds of situations and across lines of race, gender, religion. It's the pointing fingers at one group of people that I'm opposed to, it's like saying the whole NFL is into fighting pitbulls because of Michael Vick.

and, since this started as store eggs, in many commercial egg facilities across the country, although people don't seem to be quite so incensed about it, as though chickens are less living beings than dogs or horses...

So, buying store eggs can often mean that a person is paying for/supporting animal abuse that they are opposed to in other sitations.

Annie

Annie, that is one of my buttons to push! I agree with you whole-heartedly. I've never understood why it's okay to abuse food animals but appalling to abuse dogs and cats. To me, all animal abuse is intolerable. To me, buying cheap store-bought eggs, or chicken nuggets or whatever at the fast food restaurant is contributing to animal abuse, plain and simply.

Sally

Sally - Thank you so much for saying what I was thinking so eloquently. Many people don't realize the false marketing in store-bought eggs - cage-free doesn't mean humane.

Unless one is willing to do on premise surprise inspections I think it would be difficult to absolutely confirm that the hen who squeezes out your egg is truly a contented creature whiling away her days happily scratching for bugs and grit inside a white picket fence in a lovely pastoral scene with rolling green hills and Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World" on surround sound.

I no longer drive so I must count on Trader Joe's or another grocer to supply me with a credible local product. Long ago I bought eggs on my way to and from work in another town from a small farm. They were lovely brown eggs with orange yolks and sturdy shells. One day she told me she could no longer afford to feed the hens for the what she could make from egg sales as they didn't lay much at all during the winter.

I don't think most people interested in humane treatment of the animals they eat are looking for Mayberry RFD and background music, just a reasonable belief that the animals are being raised by standards that they can live with. I have a certain amount of faith that stores like Whole Foods, and TJs, practice truth-in-packaging. But if I buy food at any other grocery store chain, I'm assume the animals are factory farmed, even when the packages have pictures of happy cows and chickens.

My post was intended to be tongue-in-cheek. (I have a mild hangover from my wild evening at home with two glasses of wine.)

No guilt accepted here. I haven't been able to find a local chicken grower and almost all beef and pork come in from out of state. Shrimp and fish are wild caught, but I can't live on that alone. Florida is a unique market that cannot grow the stuff that grows in the midwest. The closest Whole Foods is 70 miles away, not close enough to be considered convenient and the closest TJ's is Atlanta. It's nice to be highly concerned with humane treatment of animals that we eat, but sometimes it truly difficult to find reasonable alternatives. Heck, it's even hard to be a "eat local" vegetarian down here because from about May to October all the routine veggies come from up north.

I recently got some from my newphew when on a visit to Michigan. They were way yummy and I usually buy the cage-land organic cage free at the store, these were better. The yolks were more intense but not significantly so. His chickens do go outside and free roam during the day.
I tried an organic chicken once and wasn't overly impressed, all that talk about "how clean they taste", maybe it was just that one chicken, don't know but I didn't get it.
Years and years ago after I left home my mother got some chickens. I was home for a visit and one morning very hungover she cracked an egg and I practically recoiled the yolks were so bright dark yellow, they were practically neon, I wouldn't eat one they seemed freakish to me in my stupid youth LOL!

Who's talking about guilt? Obviously, everyone has to make their own decisions as to what they're comfortable with, but I believe everyone should have a full understanding of what happens to the animals they eat. I also hate the shady labeling games that lead people to believe they're doing the "right" thing (whatever they think that is), when that's really not the case. I'm lucky in that I've found some great sources of humanely raised animals, but I don't shop exclusively that way. I eat out, and am aware that I'm supporting factory farming when I do that. That's a choice I've made. I don't see it as all or nothing, so I'm trying to change the way I shop a little bit at a time.

I understood your post, Barnmom.

You're right about the food labeling, Goldgirl. It's very frustrating when we read labels, but can't really trust what we read because they're allowed to basically lie on the labeling. But, that's another subject from the original post.

Whether a chicken is considered organic or not is based on the feed it's given, among other things, I think, such as hormones, medications, and that sort. However, I'm really talking out of my confident knowledge base here.. If a chicken is fed organic grain, and nothing but organic grain, it's not going to taste much different than a chicken that's given conventionally raised grain. That old saying, you are what you eat, applies to this case. It's the pasture raised chickens that are going to taste different, most likely, because they're eating bugs and grit and whatever their fancy tells them to eat, along with whatever grain they're given. At least, that's the case with the eggs I get from the farmer.

Sally