The first part of visual characteristics is how they look. Two words . . . WE WIN! Okay, maybe that is premature, but there is something to be said about the rainbow of egg colors. White = BORING! While the others are a pretty brown, again there is only uniformity and that is appealing to some, but the color range creates curiosity. We even are trying to add more variability by adding Cuckoo Marans and Welsummers to the flock, both of which can lay a very dark brown egg. Below is a basket of Welsummer eggs. I think they will be an interesting addition to the kaleidoscope of eggshell colors.
Thank you to those of you who have commented on the previous two parts. I know it is weird to be passionate about eggs, but when you go from not liking them to the opposing view by just raising your own, that is meaningful and worth exploring.
As promised, this one is full of pictures. I could have measured yolk size and other aspects, but I think we can trust our eyes in this next comparison.
COMPARISON #5 - VISUAL CHARACTERISTICS
As promised, this one is full of pictures. I could have measured yolk size and other aspects, but I think we can trust our eyes in this next comparison.
COMPARISON #5 - VISUAL CHARACTERISTICS
The next visual comparison is what is in the eggs. To do this and be fair, I numbered the egg positions in the cartons and randomly chose four numbers one through twelve. I then picked the four corresponding eggs in each position in all cartons. The reason for this is that our eggs vary in size while others are all uniform due to egg grading.
A quick glance demonstrates that our eggs and the free range eggs have a nice orange color. The others look okay, but pale in comparison (see that pun there) with yolk color. Not sure what to think about the organic eggs and their clearly defined boundaries. So what is with orange yolks you say? Not a whole lot actually. Later I will discuss yolk viscosity, which I think is important in eggs when eating. In my experience, orange yolks are thicker and more desirable, yellow yolks tend to be runnier. Not good in my opinion, but we shall address this in a bit.
Side-by-side comparisons are next. Here we get a better idea of differences in yolk color and yolk size. Our eggs seem to have the same size yolks as standard eggs and are bigger than the other two. While bigger than the free range eggs, the colors are quite similar in a side-by-side. Standard and organic eggs are almost similar in color. It also seems that the free range eggs have the smallest yolks.
This provides a better picture as they are all side-by-side with a yolk comparison. I used three eggs from each and partnered them up with the comrade in the other cartons. So the six pictures are three comparisons of four eggs and the yolk cut pic that followed.
VERSION ONE - This shows a darker and larger yolk in our eggs; free range is smaller and slightly darker than the others. The standard egg is second largest. In cutting the yolks, we begin to see the benefits. You cannot see through our yolks, plus it did not run much. The others are not bad. The organic egg ran a bit more and is more transparent. Not much ran from the free range egg, but it is more transparent too. Let's try it again.
VERSION TWO - Dandelion Hills egg has a bigger yolk again; all others are roughly the same size with free range being slightly darker. Yolk test again not friendly to the organic egg, while the others performed pretty much the same. I don't know about you, but the yellow of the standard egg is like a creepy manufactured yellow, almost too bright.
VERSION THREE - Yolk size champion is our eggs, no doubt with standard eggs the first runner-up. Color again with our eggs. Yolk test finds our eggs to be even more viscous and not runny. The others are not too bad, but again somewhat transparent and ours is very opaque.
CONCLUSION - Visual characteristics appear to favor Dandelion Hills eggs in all measures. Ours are prettier (hey that matters), ours have more orange yolks, the yolks are bigger and they are thicker and more viscous. These make fantastic "dippy" eggs as my boys like to call them. The yolks are almost spreadable, definitely not runny. Big failure goes to organic eggs. Small yolks, more yellow and more runny. Last in all categories! Interestingly enough they were by far the most expensive.
Part Four will bring us a visual comparison of cooked eggs. Also, look forward to Friday and the Epic Conclusion! to The EGGSperiment blog series.
In case you missed the rest of the EGGSperiment series:
http://dandelionhills.weebly.com/blog/the-eggsperiment-part-one
http://dandelionhills.weebly.com/blog/the-eggsperiment-part-two
http://dandelionhills.weebly.com/blog/the-eggsperiment-part-four
http://dandelionhills.weebly.com/blog/the-eggsperiment-epic-conclusion
VERSION ONE - This shows a darker and larger yolk in our eggs; free range is smaller and slightly darker than the others. The standard egg is second largest. In cutting the yolks, we begin to see the benefits. You cannot see through our yolks, plus it did not run much. The others are not bad. The organic egg ran a bit more and is more transparent. Not much ran from the free range egg, but it is more transparent too. Let's try it again.
VERSION TWO - Dandelion Hills egg has a bigger yolk again; all others are roughly the same size with free range being slightly darker. Yolk test again not friendly to the organic egg, while the others performed pretty much the same. I don't know about you, but the yellow of the standard egg is like a creepy manufactured yellow, almost too bright.
VERSION THREE - Yolk size champion is our eggs, no doubt with standard eggs the first runner-up. Color again with our eggs. Yolk test finds our eggs to be even more viscous and not runny. The others are not too bad, but again somewhat transparent and ours is very opaque.
CONCLUSION - Visual characteristics appear to favor Dandelion Hills eggs in all measures. Ours are prettier (hey that matters), ours have more orange yolks, the yolks are bigger and they are thicker and more viscous. These make fantastic "dippy" eggs as my boys like to call them. The yolks are almost spreadable, definitely not runny. Big failure goes to organic eggs. Small yolks, more yellow and more runny. Last in all categories! Interestingly enough they were by far the most expensive.
Part Four will bring us a visual comparison of cooked eggs. Also, look forward to Friday and the Epic Conclusion! to The EGGSperiment blog series.
In case you missed the rest of the EGGSperiment series:
http://dandelionhills.weebly.com/blog/the-eggsperiment-part-one
http://dandelionhills.weebly.com/blog/the-eggsperiment-part-two
http://dandelionhills.weebly.com/blog/the-eggsperiment-part-four
http://dandelionhills.weebly.com/blog/the-eggsperiment-epic-conclusion