Cookbook:Egg
Cookbook | Basic foodstuffs | Dairy and eggs
Bird and fish eggs are common food sources. For fish eggs, see roe or caviar. Reptile eggs, particularly turtle eggs, are sometimes eaten as well. Chicken eggs are standard. Duck, goose, quail, and ostrich eggs are occasionally used as gourmet ingredients.
Eggs are frequently used to bind other ingredients together, trap air in the food, or create an emulsion. Sometimes the whole egg is cooked together. Sometimes the egg yolk is used separately from the egg white. In most recipes, a whole egg may be replaced with two egg whites to make a dish lower in fat and cholesterol.
The primary cooking techniques for savoury eggs are:
Egg wash is also often used in baking and battering.
Eggs are a common food allergy.
Egg sizes
The "USDA Large" egg is about the same as the "EU size M" egg. (both being the standard choice in the appropriate locations) So, for normal recipes, it is best to avoid specifying egg size. USDA eggs are specified as the minimum weight of a dozen. EU eggs are specified as per-egg weight ranges, plus a per-100 minimum.
EU weight standard
SIZE PER EGG PER-100 MIN
XL-very large 73 g and more 7.3 kg
L-large 63 to 73 6.4
M-medium 53 to 63 5.4
S-small under 53 g 4.5
USDA weight standard
CLASS MIN NET PER DOZEN CONVERTED TO MIN GRAMS/EGG
Jumbo 30 ounces 70.9
Extra Large 27 ounces 63.8
Large 24 ounces 56.7
Medium 21 ounces 49.6
Small 18 ounces 42.5
Peewee 15 ounces 35.4
Rotting and disease
Eggs may also be pickled, hard-boiled and refrigerated, or eaten raw, though the latter is not recommended for people who may be susceptible to salmonella, such as the old, the infirm or pregnant women.
When eggs become rotten, the yolk will turn green and the egg will emit a sulphurous smell when broken. Although deemed offensive by most Western palates, fermented eggs are considered a delicacy by some in China, when prepared using a special method which includes letting them sit for three months to age (or rot, depending on one's interpretation).
Raw eggs may carry salmonella bacteria contaminations, and should be avoided by those with weak or undeveloped immune system. The bacteria will be killed in fully cooked eggs, which may be considered safe.
Eggs should always be broken into a cup, the whites and yolks separated, and they should always be strained. Breaking the eggs thus, the bad ones may be easily rejected without spoiling the others and so cause no waste.
Frozen eggs
For baking, frozen eggs can be made quite as good as fresh ones if used as soon as thawed soft. Drop them into boiling water, letting them remain until the water is cold. They will be soft all through and beat up equal to those that have not been touched with the frost.
Egg products
Of the 71 billion eggs consumed in the United States in 2000, more than 30 percent were in the form of egg products (eggs removed from their shells). Liquid, frozen, and dried egg products are widely used by the foodservice industry and as ingredients in other foods, such as prepared mayonnaise and ice cream.
The term "egg products" refers to eggs that are removed from their shells for processing. The processing of egg products includes breaking eggs, filtering, mixing, stabilizing, blending, pasteurizing, cooling, freezing or drying, and packaging. Egg products include whole eggs, whites, yolks and various blends with or without non-egg ingredients that are processed and pasteurized and may be available in liquid, frozen, and dried forms.
Recipes
Eggs are used in many recipes; the ones below feature eggs as a primary ingredient. For a full list of recipes using eggs, see "what links here (http://en.wikibooks.org/w/wiki.phtml?title=Special:Whatlinkshere&target=Cookbook%3AEgg)".
Alternatives
Some people can't eat eggs because of allergies or because of ethical convictions about egg production. People who have allergies are usually allergic only to the egg whites. Often people are only allergic as children and later grow out of it. People with ethical convictions against eggs include vegans and some vegetarians.
All these people must use egg substitutes. No egg substitutes are perfect replacements, and most are very application-specific, but in many recipes an acceptable finished product can be achieved. Common substitutes from scratch include corn starch (2T per egg) or soy flour (1T + 2T water). Many use ready-made substitutes such as Ener-G brand egg replacer, which is largely made from potato starch. Tofu plus seasonings are often used as a substitute for scrambled eggs.
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