Is it time we fell out of love with large eggs?
Many of us don’t think twice about buying large or very large eggs. They’re popular among cooks, with lots of recipes calling for them. Industry experts agree greater popularity of boxes of mixed-weight eggs would be good for farmers because it would prevent smaller eggs being devalued. But some campaigners argue it would benefit chickens too. What are the issues and should you worry? Chickens naturally lay eggs in a variety of sizes, often producing small eggs when they’re young and increasing in size as they age. Eggs are graded by weight into four categories – small, medium, large and very large – with large and very large being the most popular in the UK. “When it comes to eggs, size matters”, argues Jane Howorth, founder of the British Hen Welfare Trust (BHWT), which is behind a campaign to raise awareness of welfare issues it believes are associated with large and very large eggs in the UK. It is campaigning with the British Free Range Egg Producers Association (BFREPA), whose CEO Robert Gooch says almost half the eggs their members’ free-range hens lay are large or very large. Poultry veterinarian Ian Jones explains that in a commercial environment many hens are encouraged to lay larger eggs through selective breeding, their feed, and the number of hours of light they get. The large eggs some lay can cause stress and lead to health problems and even death, he continues. Jones says he regularly sees chickens that have consistently laid medium eggs over their lifetime look better and healthier than those laying “just two or three grams more – it’s almost obvious, they’ve worked less hard, and produced something that’s easier for their bodies.” No conclusive research has been conducted into the connection between large eggs and health in chickens, so it is difficult to draw conclusions. Jones says all chicken farmers are aware of the issue. “I can consistently relate to having more health and welfare issues in hens with a larger egg size”, he explains. He’s embarking on research about the relationship between hen mortality and egg size. But Andrew Joret, chairman of the British Egg Industry Council (BEIC), which represents the interests of the UK’s egg industry, says “we do not believe that egg size has an impact on the health and welfare of the vast majority of hens. Today’s breeds of hen have a good body weight and are robust, meaning that they are able to lay eggs of all sizes without any welfare issues.” Nonetheless, Joret agrees mixed-sized boxes are the “most helpful for the farmers, as they can manage the demand and supply more easily”, and notes they are often the best value option in the supermarket. Benefits of smaller eggs for farmers and cooks Some chefs and food writers have decided to eliminate large eggs from their recipes. Food writer and president of the Guild of Food Writers, Orlando Murrin, has taken them out of his new cookbook, explaining “small and medium eggs have numerous all-round advantages”, including to farmers, who don’t have to sell small eggs at a discounted cost if they can sell boxes of mixed eggs. There are benefits for the cook too – yolk-lovers may prefer a smaller egg as the size of the yolk stays the same no matter what the size of the egg. The smaller the egg, the larger the yolk-to-white ratio. How to weigh eggs for cooking The weight difference between each egg size category is about 10g – a medium egg (in its shell) weighs between 53-63g, a large egg 63-73g. “It will make little difference to the end dish to substitute medium eggs for large ones, but for recipes that require several large eggs (more than four), add an extra medium egg”, advises Joret. Murrin agrees that you often won’t notice the difference, but he advises if you’re making meringues, you weigh your egg whites and add the equivalent amount of sugar. It’s easy to adapt your approach to suit the eggs you have. Weigh them and check the results against the British Egg Information Service’s scale to work out the difference. If you’re baking and have slightly less egg than specified, you can make up the shortfall with milk, oil or even mashed fruit where appropriate.