IN THE KITCHEN
From page 45
dietary guidelines and have
given healthy adults the green
light to enjoy eggs once again.
Prof Tim Noakes tells us to
“embrace eggs”, as part of his
high fat low carb diet. He
particularly encourages
pregnant women to eat eggs.
If you want to test the egg for
freshness, put the raw
unbroken egg in a glass of
water to which a teaspoon of
salt has been added. If the
egg is very fresh, it will rest on
its side; if it's about a week
old the big end will rise and if
the egg is stale it will float.
When you are boiling eggs to
make them hard, add a
teaspoon of baking powder to
the water. This makes it easier
to peel the eggs because the
increased alkalinity in the
water separates the cooked
egg white from the shell.
To store eggs put them in a
cool place. It has been
suggested that the world
consists of two groups: those
who say eggs must be stored
in the fridge and those who
leave them in the pantry. The
fear is that if they are left at
room temperature they are
more susceptible to bacteria
such as E.coli, the superbug
staphylococcus aureus or
salmonella.
Tests have been carried out in
food testing laboratories, with
some eggs stored in the
refrigerator and some at room
temperature. The results
showed that neither batch of
eggs developed bacteria
Some like ‘em brown, some white, and some like ‘em speckled
infestations.
Wherever you store them,
place the little end pointing
downwards, so that the yolk
does not rest on the air
chamber.
If you are storing eggs to
incubate them, they are also
stored pointy end down, in a
cool dry place (but not the
fridge), and should be no
more than seven days old
when starting the incubation.
Eggshells are porous so do not
store them next to strongsmelling food such as onion.
If you are collecting your own
eggs, do not wash the eggs.
Unwashed eggs have a
natural antibacterial coating
called bloom, so try to clean
your eggs without wetting
them. This means using
something abrasive to rub off
any dirt or droppings until the
egg is clean. This method
keeps most of the bloom
intact. Use an abrasive
sponge of some kind to dry
clean your eggs. Be sure to
sanitise the sponge occasion-
ally.
If your eggs are just too dirty
to dry clean you can use
water to clean them.
Sometimes they get egg yolk
on them from a broken egg,
which is impossible to
remove without washing.
Make sure to use water that is
warmer than the egg temperature - medium warmth, not
hot, but not tepid, either.
Cold water actually causes
the pores in an eggshell to
pull bacteria from the surface
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in through the shell and into
the egg, where you don't
want it.
Do not immerse the eggs in
water or let them stand in
water - rather wash the eggs
under running water from the
tap. Another method is to
spray the eggs in wire baskets
with warm water, let them sit,
and then wipe them with a
dry paper towel one at a
time. Place clean eggs into
another basket.
Follow this with a sanitising
spray, using bleach diluted in
water for the spray mixture.
Then allow the eggs to dry on
a rack or in a basket.