Green eggs and ham

HFG tip

All about eggs

White or brown?

• The colour of the eggshell doesn’t matter at all – the inside is equally nutritious.
• Cool fact: eggshell colour is determined by the breed of the hen. The Araucana hen from Chile, for example, lays blue-green eggs.

Is it fresh?

How do you tell an egg is fresh before you even crack the shell? Easy! Put the uncooked, whole egg in a see-through container of cold water. The water should be about 2cm deep for small eggs, 3cm deep for large eggs:

• If the egg lies on its side or stands at an angle, it’s good enough to eat.
• If the egg stands on its end in the water, it’s still good enough to use in baking. But if you eat it on its own, it might not taste the way it should.
• If it floats on the surface, there is a gas build-up inside, which shows it’s past its use-by date. Carefully throw the egg away, being sure not to crack the shell.