egg - telor (1)

fast facts
http://health.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=108677
A mother hen turns over her eggs about 50 times a day — and it's not just for exercise, she actually does it to prevent the egg yolk from sticking to the sides of the shell. All of which is great for us … it means those little beauties slide straight off the shell into the pan.

At the time of the French Revolution, the clever French already knew 685 different ways of preparing eggs (including, of course, the omelet).

White-shelled eggs are produced by hens with white feathers and ear lobes. Brown shelled eggs are produced by hens with red feathers and red ear lobes. There is no difference in taste or nutrition between white and brown eggs.

An average hen lays 300 to 325 eggs a year. A hen starts laying eggs at 19 weeks of age.

As a hen grows older she produces larger eggs.

The egg shell may have as many as 17,000 tiny pores over its surface. Through them, the egg can absorb flavors and odours. Storing eggs in the carton helps keep them fresh.

To tell if an egg is raw or hard-cooked, spin it! If the egg spins easily, it is hard-cooked but if it wobbles, it is raw.

The stringy piece of material in the egg is not an embryo but rather a special protein called chalazae, which acts as a shock absorber for the yolk so it doesn't break.