COOKING OF EGGS

Any single food containing all the elements necessary to supply the

requirements of the body is called a complete or typical food. Milk

and eggs are frequently so called, because they sustain the young

animals of their kind during a period of rapid growth. Nevertheless,

neither of these foods forms a perfect diet for the human adult. Both

are highly nutritious, but incomplete.

Served with bread or rice, they form an admirable meal and one that is

nutritious and easily digested. The white of eggs, almost pure

albumin, is nutritious, and, when cooked in water at 170 degrees

Fahrenheit, requires less time for perfect digestion than a raw egg.

The white of a hard-boiled egg is tough and quite insoluble. The yolk,

however, if the boiling has been done carefully for twenty minutes, is

mealy and easily digested. Fried eggs, no matter what fat is used, are

hard, tough and insoluble. The yolk of an egg cooks at a lower

temperature than the white, and for this reason an egg should not be

boiled unless the yolk alone is to be used.

Ten eggs are supposed to weigh a pound, and, unless they are unusually

large or small, this is quite correct.

Eggs contain from 72 to 84 per cent. of water, about 12 to 14 per

cent. of albuminoids. The yolk is quite rich in fat; the white

deficient. They also contain mineral matter and extractives.

To ascertain the freshness of an egg without breaking it, hold your

hand around the egg toward a bright light or the sun and look through

it. If the yolk appears quite round and the white clear, it is fresh.

Or, if you put it in a bucket of water and it falls on its side, it is

fresh. If it sort of topples in the water, standing on its end, it is

fairly fresh, but, if it floats, beware of it. The shell of a fresh



egg looks dull and porous. As it begins to age, the shell takes on a

shiny appearance. If an egg is kept any length of time, a portion of

its water evaporates, which leaves a space in the shell, and the egg

will "rattle." An egg that rattles may be perfectly good, and still

not absolutely fresh.

TO PRESERVE EGGS

To preserve eggs it is only necessary to close the pores of the

shells. This may be done by dipping them in melted paraffine, or

packing them in salt, small ends down; or pack them in a keg and cover

them with brine; or pack them in a keg, small ends down and cover them

with lime water; this not only protects them from the air, but acts as

a germicide.

Eggs should not be packed for winter use later than the middle of May

or earlier than the first of April. Where large quantities of the

yolks are used, the whites may be evaporated and kept in glass bottles

or jars. Spread them out on a stoneware or granite plate and allow

them to evaporate at the mouth of a cool oven. When the mixture is

perfectly dry, put it away. This powder is capable of taking up the

same amount of water that has been evaporated from it, and may then be

used the same as fresh whites.