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There was a lengthy thread about eating well on here that turned to farm eggs. Can't recall who posted it and don't want to go digging.

 

Kroger has started carrying brown eggs from Vital Farms http://vitalfarms.com

and they are awesome. Not as cheap as buying direct from your locals but they have that distinctly orange - not yellow - yolk that is the mark of good eggs.  The shells aren't all the exact same color, either, which is another indication of quality eggs.

Get you some.

That is all.

 

 

 

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nice to see major chains carrying some decent eggs. my wife used to work in a remote area here and co workers had chickens, was cheap and easy to get eggs, when she transferred we were stuck with kroger(king sooper) eggs again, but they started carrying 3-4 brands that were decent enough.. and over the last few years their stock of those is now larger than the crap eggs they used to sell..

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4 hours ago, Cat said:

Ok, I am not being an ass here, I am being sincere - is there really THAT much of a difference?

 

Is it taste? Health? Both?

 

Mostly taste, I would say the difference is definitely noticeable, though I also like my food with brains not to suffer unnecessarily. 

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Cage Free Eggs

Basically eggs from Chickens that are left free to roam instead of cooped up in a cage

And yes they taste much better imo, although my diet these days removes the yolk from them in order to get rid of my fats during breakfast, that will change once by body fat is down to 15% and I am allowed to start massing. (I was at 20% about 9lbs ago, I have a DEXA scan scheduled on the 15th so I should know where I am at then. If I had to guess I'd say 17%)

imho the are a bit thicker in both white and yolk so it makes for a better tasting egg

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10 hours ago, Jamie_B said:

Cage Free Eggs

Basically eggs from Chickens that are left free to roam instead of cooped up in a cage

 

Not exactly, which is why they now differentiate between "cage-free" and "free-range".  Places that claimed to be free range were just stacking them one on top of the other, literally.  It's not like folks you may know with coops who let them roam the yard eating bugs and whatever else.  Chickens will eat damn near anything, my friend had his dig up a rabbit burrow under their coop and eat the pinks.  And yes they will go to town on some chicken wings.  Anyway it's that varied diet that gives them so much flavor.  It's not that kinda flat, sour sulfur-like taste that we all know from dehydrated eggs or fast food. 

It's crazy but people in general seem scared of brown eggs.  There's this food pantry down the road from me that I volunteer with sometimes & one of the customer families keep hens. Every month or so they will send their boy in with a donation of several dozen farm eggs. We're set up like a small grocery store, crediting ppl so many meat/dairy/grain/veg/etc choices based on family size, and I can tell you the one job I avoid there is walking through with the clients.  Most folks are happy to have whatever is available but it's hard to bite my tongue watching people turn up their noses at this stuff in favor of Wal-Mart eggs, Wonderbread vs. fresh-baked loaves from local bakeries, canned green beans vs donations from local gardeners.. Ultimately it's none of my business and I'm happy to see them fed but patience is definitely not one of my virtues.  We do get Health/Nutrition students from the local university in as often as we can to cook real food demos from available ingredients.

 

4 hours ago, CincyInDC said:

If you can increase margin with a little animal suffering, it's not unnecessary, right? 

Fair point, though I paid around twice what the cheapest store eggs were going for so volume aside I'm not sure who's really getting over in the end. If I took the time to stop at one of many local farms I could get the same or better for around $3/dozen, though. Give me convenience..

 

 

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that comment was a little tongue in cheek.  I don't really think the invisible hand of the free market is suited to ensure things are done the "right" way.

As for taste, the eggs here in Germany are typically (but unfortunately not always) the deep orange color you mentioned above, and yes, it makes a huge difference unless you're baking or something.  The lowest "grade" of chicken-keeping I've seen here is "floor-raised" meaning indoor, no cages.  Apparently, cages are allowed but as I said, I don't see those kind at the supermarket for whatever reason.  Labeling for eggs is pretty strict as one might imagine.  It's Germany, after all (see the video clip).

 

Quote

0 = "organic" eggs - In the barn, a maximum of six animals per square meter for foraging. The stall has roosting poles (18 cm per animal) and is at least one third with straw, wood chips or sand. In addition, each hen has at least four square meters of outdoor space available. The animals may only receive food from organic farming.

1 = Free-range - Here are nine animals per square meter allowed in the stable. The stall must have roosting poles distributed over one-third of the space. In addition, the hens have an outdoor run during the day, each animal must have at least four square meters available.

2 = Floor management- The animals live in a closed stable. For nine animals, at least one square meter of floor space must be available. In nests, which are laid out on several levels, the hens can lay their eggs. At least one-third of the stable is planted so that the animals can scratch on the ground.

3 = Cage management - Since 2012, laying hens have only been kept in so-called "designed cages" throughout the EU with a minimum of 0.075 square meters of cage area per hen, a laying bed, litter and roosting pole. The cages must have a height of at least 50 centimeters.

 

 

 

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My wife's co-worker raises chickens (yes, in Las Vegas) so we've been getting our eggs from her, and the difference is stark compared to the store-bought eggs in regard to color and taste. And one of them lays blue eggs, which I wasn't expecting. There is a natural food grocery store out here called Sprouts, and they carry a line of range free eggs that run $9 per dozen. I was buying those until we hit the free egg gravy train...

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15 hours ago, T-Dub said:

 

:huh:

 

I ducked in a Sprouts while on vacation & while kind of cool it did seem like the sort of place to sell $9 eggs

That's actually an anomaly for them. I've described Sprouts as "Whole Food for normal people" or those that aren't independently wealthy. They do have higher ticket items, but most of their stuff is affordable or less expensive than the big chains. At least around here...

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8 minutes ago, Elflocko said:

That's actually an anomaly for them. I've described Sprouts as "Whole Food for normal people" or those that aren't independently wealthy. They do have higher ticket items, but most of their stuff is affordable or less expensive than the big chains. At least around here...

 

Cool, I just ducked in there for some juice and a beer but they did have a nice selection, got a Ninkasi Tricerahops which aren't distributed around here. It did look like a Whole Paycheck inside so I kinda assumed it was the same sort of deal

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