Food Duel: Supermarket Eggs vs. Farmer’s Market Eggs
Like many other “foodies,” I tend to lean toward things that come from farmer’s markets, say they’re “all-natural” and so forth. As I was making my usual rounds at New York City’s Greenmarket (perhaps my favorite place to wander in this great city, save for Chinatown) and picking up eggs from my favorite purveyor, I got thinking. I knew the eggs that I buy from Tello’s (and sometimes from Flying Pigs Farm… though they’re much pricier) were always delicious, but how much, if at all, more than plain old supermarket eggs? I’d think by now mostly everyone in the country has access to a farmer’s market or somewhere that fresh eggs are available. It was time for me to put fancy vs. common to an old-fashioned taste test. Visuals and the verdict after the jump!
Here’s how it went down: The exact same cooking method was used – poaching, which is the type I’ll pick to eat 9 out of 10 times. Especially for this purpose, it gives the clearest impression of the egg and just the egg, with full clarity and no other butter business. Both my wife and I were given one supermarket egg, and one Tello’s Greenmarket egg. I disclosed which was which to my wife so that she could compare and contrast easier, but now I’m thinking I should have done the whole thing blind. Next time… Anyways, four poached eggs, all cooked pretty much the same amount, served atop a plain English muffin. Since True/Slant or any other generous sugar momma has yet to provide me with an immersion circulator to make this super precise and scientific, there’s obviously some variation, but not enough to differ at all. 
Strangely enough, both sets of eggs came from Brooklyn. As you can see displayed on the Tello’s, they’re free range, all grain vegetarian diet fed and have no hormones, steroids or antibiotics. There’s no such claims on the Jacks’ Egg Farm supermarket carton.
The Tello’s eggs are the brown ones on the left … but that means nothing. The only difference between brown eggs and white eggs is the color of the chicken they came from. Brown eggs don’t taste better, or vice versa. So there.
Straight off the bat, the Tello’s egg had much less of that globby white stuff you often see in eggs, and the white was lighter and more translucent in general. As for the yolk, I was surprised to find they were essentially the same color, while the supermarket yolk was a good deal larger. Go steroids!
Here, the eggs are cooking. The Tello’s on the left clearly lost more white and made the water cloudier, but again with this being massively unscientific, that could have been anything from water temperature to me being a bad cook. The supermarket eggs held together like champs. Again, steroids may have some perks.
After about 3 minutes in the water for each batch, the eggs were done. Again, the Tello’s are on the left and the supermarket on the right. Thanks to the whites holding together better in the pan, the supermarket eggs are much more uniform when it comes to shape. But just like most things culinary, shape doesn’t mean squat – it’s all about taste, so let’s get to it. (Also, isn’t the shadow from the wrought-iron bars on my window to protect from burglars just gorgeous? Super retro.)
With the eggs mounted atop their English muffins, there was a clear visual difference once the yolk was punctured. On the left, the Tello’s yolk is clearly a deeper hue of orange, while the supermarket egg is a thin yellow. There was also a discernable taste difference, as the Tello’s yolk was buttery, rich and altogether much more unctuous. The supermarket egg seemed watery in comparison and was slightly less flavorful. “I can definitely tell now, but I’m not sure if I had just one if I’d be able to say which was which,” my wife said, referring to the taste. If it weren’t for the texture aspect of the yolk, I might agree. The supermarket egg definitely won when it came to the white portion of the egg. The Tello’s white was quite loose and mushy, but the supermarket white was bouncy, firm and the perfect contrast to a yolk.
All in all, neither egg was bad. However, if I had to make a decision as to which was better, the deeply-flavored yolk of the Tello’s overrides the good white of the supermarket egg. Plus, there’s just something intrisically appealing to me about buying eggs from the person who probably scooped them out of the chicken coop that morning and placed them in the carton. Are they worth $4 a dozen compared to $2-ish a dozen, which is what the supermarket eggs cost? Maybe not all the time, and in a pinch, the supermarket eggs were just fine. Still, $4 is not a major splurge, and you can consider it a treat to yourself every now and then.
Now, for conversation in the comments, what type of eggs do you buy, and how do you like them cooked?
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Now a funny thing happened to me about a year ago. I was never a fan of poached eggs, but about a year ago I had an over powering yen for them, now it’s my primary means of cooking them. In all candor I think you should have done the test blind. I buy supermarket eggs.
Mike — I buy cage-free vegetarian eggs in the supermarket, which are just fine…have also bought the Flying Pigs eggs…but I’m not sure I can tell the difference in taste, just color. Frankly, if I’m going to splurge, it wouldn’t be on eggs!
As for cooking… I like a 3-minute boiled or a poached egg. My husband likes scrambled, which I’ve never seen the point of. Omelettes, however, are another matter….
p.s. Great photos!
Susan –
I’m with you on the poached, but I have a KILLER technique for scrambled eggs that will knock your husband’s pants off… um, figuratively and culinarily, of course. You basically cook them low and slow in a small saucepot, taking them on and off the heat and stirring them like mad. What you’re essentially doing is not letting the big clumps synonymous with most scrambled eggs form. What you get at the end (seriously, they take about 10 mins as opposed to 2) is almost custard-like, silky and luscious. You can see Gordon Ramsay cook with this technique here (though I like to go lower temp and slower than he does):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dU_B3QNu_Ks
In response to another comment. See in context »Mike–Tried your scrambling method this morning, and they were great! Since, amazingly, I had everything on hand for the Gordon Ramsey menu except creme fraiche (I substituted sour cream), I made his full English breakfast! Thanks!
In response to another comment. See in context »I like the 3-dozen wrapped cartons at Costco, since I tend to use eggs as an omelet-topping-delivery substrate (for bell and/or hot peppers, onions, cheese, turkey bacon, home-fried potatoes) or as ingredients in other things.. However, I do prefer the freshest possible eggs for frying over-easy, since their yolks tend to survive a one-handed crack better..
That said, if I were pregnant or feeding developing children, I’d probably look twice since I’m paranoid..
For me, its fritatta. Preferably with some pancetta and spinach. Best served with crispy bread.
A trip to Spain stole my culinary heart, David… so I hear you on the fritatta — though they call it a tortilla. If you haven’t seen it already, check out my fritatta post from a few weeks back:
http://trueslant.com/mikehess/2009/04/29/ts-cooking-school-vacation-clean-out/
In response to another comment. See in context »Anyone near a farm will let you know that the age of the egg makes a big difference in its texture: the older the egg, the more runny it is.
Further, there’s a huge difference between simply organic hens/eggs, and true free-range chickens (which are not vegetarians, BTW). When grasshoppers invade our valley each summer, the farm raised yolks are so deep orange they are almost red. Hen’s love ‘em and the eggs reflect it.
Further, if you can get hold of fresh duck or goose eggs, you’re in for a real treat…
This really needs to be done blinded. It means nothing if you knew which egg was which.