IN THE KITCHEN
From page 42
bought kept in waterglass was
very definitely bad.
By 120 days after the
experiment was begun, all the
supermarket and all the
smallholder control eggs had
gone completely rotten.
The dry sand groups (both
fertile and unfertile) were also
terminated at that time, as
were the store-boughts that
had been coated with
Vaseline (the Vaseline-coated
smallholder eggs were only
marginally better).
The fertile and unfertile eggs
packed in lard were getting
pretty "iffy", the ones coated
with lard were doing a lot
better, the lime water groups
were still edible (although, in
the case of the supermarket
eggs, barely edible), the
refrigerated eggs seemed to
have firmed up and were
nearly as good as fresh, and ~
while the waterglassed groups
were, in general, doing far
better than average ~ one of
the fertile eggs covered with
Eggs stored in mineral oil is another old method
waterglass was very definitely
bad.
The ranks of the still-good
eggs began to thin considerably 150 days into their test.
The supermarket eggs packed
in lard weren't making it
anymore, while the fertile
eggs packed in lard were
runny but edible. Likewise the
waterglassed eggs.
The lime water store-boughts,
on the other hand, were still
"good" (except for the one
they didn't even open, since it
floated), while the lime water
plot eggs were only "edible".
All eggs coated with lard were
"good enough to eat for
breakfast". While ~ maybe
just by contrast ~ the storebought refrigerated eggs were
"good, like fresh" and the
smallholder refrigerated eggs
were "excellent".
At the end of seven months
they had drawn these
conclusions about their egg
preservation experiment:
K Unwashed, fertile small-
43
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holder eggs seem to store
much better than washed,
unfertile eggs. Why? Probably
for the simple reason that
they're unwashed, and not
because they're fertile. An
egg, as it comes from the
chicken, is coated with a light
layer of a natural sealing
agent called "bloom". And,
while a good wash may make
a batch of eggs look more
attractive, it also removes this
natural protective coating,
leaving the eggs more subject
to ageing and attack by
bacteria in the air.
K The very best way to store
eggs for long periods is in a
sealed container at a
Continued on page 44