Essential Eggs

It’s called the chalazae. These whitish cords, located at each pole, keep the yolk centered; they are very evident when you attempt to separate an egg. The more prominent the chalazae, the fresher the egg. They’re completely safe to eat but for smooth-textured egg dishes, such as custards and puddings, we usually strain the chalazae out so they don’t interrupt the texture.

The likely culprit is overcooking. When heat is applied to the protein strands in eggs, they begin to unwind. Eventually the now-loosened protein strands run into each other and reattach in a pattern more like a spider web, which traps moisture (added or innate to the egg), and is why eggs cooked to just this point are moist and tender. If you keep cooking the eggs, though, the protein strands once again become unstuck from each other, the web dissolves, and the moisture comes flowing out. That's why overcooked scrambled eggs begin to "weep.” Check out the video lesson on scrambled eggs to learn our technique for tender, moist curds.

Most egg cartons have a “sell by” date that’s pretty self explanatory (it’s usually 30 days after the eggs were packed) but the other number may look a bit foreign; the pack date is printed on egg cartons as a three number code just next to the sell-by date and it runs consecutively from 001, for January 1, to 365, for December 31. This is known as the Julian date.

Definitely not! We’ve found that eggs suffer more from the vagaries of improper storage than from age. If your refrigerator has an egg tray on the door, don't use it. The American Egg Board recommends 40 degrees for storage; the average door temperature in our test kitchen refrigerators is closer to 45 degrees. The interior top shelf is a better bet—ours registers between 35 and 40 degrees.

Eggs are also better stored in their protective cardboard carton; when removed they may absorb flavors from other foods. The egg carton also helps maintain humidity, which is ideally 70 to 80 percent.

Many recipes call for shocking the cooked eggs in an ice bath to stop the cooking, and then transferring them to a paper towel lined plate to hold. This method is fine for short periods of time, and for instances when the temperature of the eggs isn’t important, but for dishes like the Lyonnaise salad in this class where we want the eggs to be served warm we hold them in a water bath. A pot of 150 degree water is ideal for keeping the poached eggs warm without overcooking them.