Handling Eggs

Eggs are one of the nutritious animal products. They are a rich source of some amount of protein and vital mineral elements and vitamins. Due to the fragility of eggs, precautions should be taking in handling them. Processing table eggs 1.Collect the eggs from the poultry pens and keep them in a cool dry and well ventilated store. 2.All dirty eggs collected must by dry-cleaned with either wire wool or a stiff-bristled brush 3.Dirty eggs can be washed in a clean water of about 400 C and wiped with a dry clean piece of cloth. Such eggs may not store well and should not be kept for too long but should be sold quickly. This is quite necessary as eggs are sources of bacteria infection, are unattractive in appearance, and may spoil after a short time. Features of an egg 1.SIZE: Every egg for the market should weigh about 55-57g to attract a good price. 2.SHAPE: Good eggs must have the normal oval shape since long or short round shaped eggs are less acceptable 3.SHELL: Eggs for sale must have a good shell colour of chalk white or brown and the shell must be smooth, thick and even all over. Thin, rough and uneven shelled eggs are unattractive. 4.INTERNAL PARTS: The albumen (the egg white) must be firm, thick, and clear to keep the yolk in position to avoid free movement. Egg Preservation 1.Cold Storage: This is where clean eggs with good internal contents are stored at temperature of -20 C to 00 C. A good household refrigerator can provide this storage condition. The cold storage method can keep eggs in sound condition of about 7 months when eggs are kept without other fresh food items like milk and vegetables. 2.Frozen Liquid eggs: This involves breaking good eggs to separate the yolk from the albumen. The yolk and the albumen are pasteurized against disease organisms and then frozen in large quantities for bakeries, which need such quantities for food preparation. 3.Egg Powder: Eggs are also preserved by drying liquid eggs into powder, which is packed into well-sealed, airtight containers for storage and sale. 4.Use of Sodium Silicate solution: Sound eggs without cracks in the shell can be stored in 10 percent sodium silicate solution for a period. It is important to note that all methods used in preserving eggs should aim at reducing loss of moisture, carbon dioxide from the egg and attack by micro-organisms.