vendredi, novembre 25, 2005
eggs
eggs
here's an excerpt from something talking about Salmonella being all over eggs... Big end up indeed... tralala
Does it make a difference whether you refrigerate eggs with the big end or the little end up? Big end up is the recommendation of food scientists. Why? The object is to keep the egg yolk and any embryo residing on it as close to the center of the egg as possible. This maximises the distance an invading microbe would have to swim from the shell to the yolk. The egg white is filled with chemical hazards for the bacteria. Lysozymes attack the bacteria cell walls, killing many bacteria by rupturing their walls. Nutrients, vitamins, and metal ions of iron, copper, and zinc are wrapped tightly by proteins and other substances in the egg white and so are unavailable to the bacteria. Deprived of nutrients and chewed up by lysozymes, bacteria do not survive the swim; the embryo is safe.
But why the big end up? The natural tendency of the lipid-rich yolk is to rise, just as oil floats to the top of water. Bird eggs have two ropy cords called chalaza, which act much like the ropes of a hammock to suspend the yolk from the shell linng. The larger chalaza is at the small end of the egg and can hold the ylk down better, preventing it from rising too close to the edge of the protective egg white.
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