Sunday, November 16, 2008

Egg Surprise

Last week I was in Costco and went by the eggs. I knew I had eggs on my regular grocery list and I use them fast enough I could use up 18 before they went bad. The price looked good (it turned out 10 cents cheaper than Walmart) and they were extra large rather than large like I was used to. I found out three extra large eggs are considerably heavier than 3 large as I attempted to toss an omelet, the first try netted one little corner making it up to edge of the pan. I pushed the edges all back together and was much more successful on the second try. :-) Now I am worried the next time I have large eggs I will splat them on the bottom of the microwave again like I did once learning to toss them.

With so much discrepancy in egg volume I do not recall recipes calling for a certain size egg(s). I wonder if it is a given that a certain size is assumed when writing recipes?

2 comments:

Shannon said...

Substitutions for eggs (from: http://www.fsafood.com/fsacom/News+and+Information/Solutions/Food+Safety/All+About+Eggs.htm)

There are no substitutions between large, extra large, and medium sized eggs when the recipe calls for one to three eggs.

When the recipe calls for four large eggs substitute four extra large and five medium.

When the recipe calls for five large eggs substitute four extra large and seven medium.

When the recipe calls for ten large eggs substitute eight extra large and 14 medium.

When the recipe calls for 25 large eggs substitute 20 extra large and 35 medium.


Egg Sizes:

Jumbo: 30 oz./doz.
Extra Large: 27 oz. / doz.
Large: 24 oz. / doz.
Medium: 21 oz. / doz.
Small: 18 oz. / doz.


OR:
SIZE EQUIVALENTS Although any size egg may be used for frying, scrambling, cooking in the shell or poaching, most recipes for baked dishes such as custards and cakes are based on the use of Large eggs. To substitute another size. use the following chart.

LARGE, JUMBO, X-LARGE, MEDIUM SMALL
1 1 1 1 1
2 2 2 2 2
3 3 3 3 4
4 3 4 5 5
5 4 4 6 7
6 5 5 7 8

You can also figure how many of which to use by cup measurement.


This is a cool "eggciting" site as well:
http://www.georgiaeggs.org/pages/sizeequivalents.html

Knitterman said...

On a box mix that instructs to add 'x' eggs, it is assumed they mean large. That's why some folks screw up a box mix cake and use medium eggs.


Shannon, those substitutions make NO sense. How can four extra large and five medium be the same as four large?