“Egg”sactly what is the difference between a store bought egg and a farm fresh egg?  It’s a question I never would have thought to ask before moving into the country and raising chickens of our own.  Besides, don’t all eggs come from chickens?  So, how could there be any difference?

Farm Fresh Eggs

The difference is drastic!!  Most store bought eggs come from factory farms where chickens rarely see the light of day and don’t get the privilege of free roaming and looking for their own natural nutrition from bugs and insects outside.  Store bought eggs are thoroughly cleaned and often “bleached” to give them a really nice white sheen to them.  That cleaning process not only adds unwanted chemicals, but takes away the natural coating on the shell that helps them last longer and stay fresher longer.  A very noticeable difference between store bought eggs and farm fresh eggs is the yolk.  If you were to crack open a store egg and a farm egg, the farm egg would have a very bright, dark yellow coloring in contrast to the pale yellow coloring of the store egg.  You can really see the color difference in the eggs below.

Most store bought eggs will still last about a month; whereas, farm fresh eggs can stay fresh up to 2 months if the majority of the natural protective coating has not had to be washed off.  The cleaner you can keep your hens laying bins, the cleaner the eggs will be when you go to gather them.  If the egg looks perfectly clean, then simply put it in a carton and directly into the fridge for longer lasting eggs.  If you do need to clean them, take a slightly dampened towel and gently wipe the part of the egg that needs cleaning—trying not to wash away any coating on areas that aren’t dirty.  Sometimes, it may be necessary to completely wash an egg, but make sure to use that one more quickly.

Hardboiling fresh eggs can be really challenging and nearly impossible with eggs that are really fresh.  It is best to use eggs that are a couple days old.  Here is a technique that we have found that works the best on farm fresh eggs.

Hardboiled Eggs:  Place only one layer of eggs on the bottom of a pan and cover with cold water about an inch over the top of the eggs.  Put a lid on the pan.  Turn the heat on high and bring the eggs to a rapid boil.  Once the water is rapidly boiling, turn off the heat, leave the pan on the burner and set a timer for 20 minutes.  Immediately dump off the hot water and rinse with cold water and begin to take the shells off the eggs.  Tap the egg gently on the largest end of the egg and peel it under lightly running water.  There is a membrane that must be torn that will make the peeling process easier and it is almost naturally broken if you tap it on the largest end of the egg.

So, what are the overall benefits of farm fresh eggs:

1. Healthier
2. Stay fresh longer
3. No harmful chemicals
4. Chickens are treated more humanely
5. Richer, Creamier Taste

Grass Fed Beef

Grass Fed Beef Distinction

To the casual observer it would seem like grass fed beef is like saying “water drinking human”.  Of course beef cows eat grass just like people drink water, but it is really not that simple.  Like almost all of our food producers have realized that how something is named can make a big difference in how it sells and what they can price it, so they come up with labels that seem to convey something nebulous but answer a concern of a segment of the population.   The grass fed beef label is just like that,  there are some people concerned about beef that is fed a high grain diet and how it impacts human beings health.  They think that corn fed beef may cause higher rates of heart disease, high blood pressure, and higher cholesterol and so they postulate that by switching to grass fed beef the meat is healthier for human consumption and will lower disease.  Another group of people is just against the small area that each cow has in a feed lot that crams thousands of head of cattle into a small area and gives them lots of corn and soy beans and they are standing knee deep in manure eating until they are slaughtered.  So some people say that by switching to grass fed beef we will push the farmers and beef producers to allow the cattle herds to roam on open pastures and the cows will be happier and healthier.

There is no certain science that can say with certainty that grass fed beef is better than corn fed beef, but you will find ardent supporters on either side of this argument.

Grass Fed Beef Benefits

So what are the benefits of grass fed beef.  If you are raising your own beef for your families consumption, grass fed beef can  reduce the cost of raising the beef and make your grocery budget smaller.   In addition by allowing your grass fed beef to forage on the pasture you are reducing the use of carbon fuels to harvest corn or soybeans with tractors and combines and contributing to a better environment and doing your part to reduce dependency on foreign oil.  There are benefits to grass fed beef, at this point we don’t know for certain if they include human health benefits.