On Food and Cooking

the yolk from breaking and mixing with the
white; and a high proportion of cohesive,
jellylike thick white compared to runny thin
white.
And what makes a good egg? Above all, a
good hen: a hen of a select laying breed that is
healthy and not approaching the end of a
laying year, when shells and whites
deteriorate (this stage is shortened by
restricting the hen’s food, which induces her
to molt and reset her biological clock). A
nutritious feed, free of contaminants, and
without ingredients (fish meal, raw soy meal)
that impart off-flavors. And careful evaluation
and handling once the egg leaves the hen.
In order to determine egg quality without
actually breaking them, producers candle their
eggs, or place them in front of a light bright
enough to pass through them and illuminate
their contents. (Candle and eye were the
original equipment; today electric lights and
scanners do the work automatically.) Candling