Eggs

[rosiew]

Can anyone tell me how to make sure that when I buy eggs that I'm going to get a lovely orange yolk instead of an insipid yellow colour. It seems that only when I buy the eggs from a farm i can be sure of this. When I buy from the supermarket they are horrible. Anyone know how to identify.

[ummmm]

What brand are you buying? I can't say I've ever seen an insipid yellow coloured yolk.

[dustypuss]

Get Happy eggs from Tesco

[rosiew]

Morrisons Big Eggs, but I have tried others as well. Have I more of a chance with farm fed chickens rather than caged hens

[Clanad]

The only thing that affects the yolk's color is the diet of the chicken. Want more yellow? Find a farmer who feeds cracked corn mixed in with the chicken feed...

The color, of course, has nothing to do with the nutritional value and reports of better flavored yolks are exaggerated as well... Although, corn fed chickens appear to have better flavored meat according to most polls...

[ummmm]

Free range...every time!

[Jackdaw33]

Eggsactly, ummmm, and I'm not yolking!

[Old_Geezer]

I agree with Clanad. It's only what it's fed. Bright yellow is unnatural. Pastel shades are just as nutritious.

[rosiew]

its NOT a yellow yolk I'm after its orange. When I buy eggs from the farm they are a beautiful orange colour but sometimes its a long way to travel just for me to have an orange yolk. Im just trying to find out what makes for an orange yolk rather than insipid yellow.

[ummmm]

It's been said...it's the feed.

[chelle7272]

As you have already been advised above - it is down to diet.
http://www.thekitchn.com/what-does-egg-yolk-color-actually-mean-ingredient-intelligence-215672

[CrapAtCryptics]

Duck egg yolks are bigger and usually more yellow, great for cooking and especially for cakes ( my wife tells me )

[chelle7272]

Bantam eggs are my favourite, large dark rich yolks, yum!

[Boto]

What difference does it make? They taste the same.

[Prudie]

Well, I always thought the deeper colour was because the egg was less fresh. Obviously not.

[Georgiesmum]

It sounds like an egg-straw-dinary subject to me!

[TonyV]

Buy mine at car boot sale some are guaranteed to be double yokes

[rosiew]

Boto, i disagree, they do not all taste the same. Thanks to all that took the time to reply.

[pastafreak]

They probably taste different according to diet. See here...

http://www.foodandnutrition.org/May-2013/Why-Are-Some-Egg-Yolks-and-Eggshells-Different-Colors/

And from Wiki...
The color of an egg yolk is directly influenced by the makeup of the chicken feed.[17] Egg yolk color is generally improved with a feed containing a large component of yellow, fat-soluble pigments, such as the carotenes in dark green plant material, for example alfalfa. Although much emphasis is put onto the color of the egg yolk, it does not reliably reflect the nutritional value of an egg. For example, some of the natural pigments that produce a rich yolk color are xanthophylls without much nutritional value, rather than the carotenoids that act as provitamin A in the body. Also, a diet rich in vitamin A itself, but without A-provitamins or xanthophylls, can produce practically colourless yolks that are just as nutritious as any richly colored yolks. Since unhealthy chickens produce fewer and smaller eggs, farmers ensure that whatever the source of their feed, the quality is adequate, so there is not likely to be much difference in the nutritional quality of the eggs.[18]

Yolks, particularly from free-range eggs, can be of a wide range of colors, ranging from nearly white, through yellow and orange to practically red, or even olive green, depending on the pigments in their food. Feeding fowls large amounts of capsicum peppers for example, tends to result in red or deep orange yolks. This has nothing to do with adding colors such as cochineal to eggs in cooking

[rosiew]

Thanks pastafreak for that.

[RATTER15]

Don't worry too much about the colour, it is irrelevant. You need to judge it by its flavour. Buy straight from a farm if you can.