Our EGGS
Put an egg on it.
We reckon this is simple: if it’s not raised right, it won’t be delicious. Which is why when you buy Freedom Farms eggs… you can taste the difference. Our egg farmers are outstanding in their field – based in the sunny South Waikato. They raise hens that live contented, healthy lives… full of foraging and snoozing under bushes and trees. Delightful.
Good for you.
Freedom Farms eggs have loads of benefits starting with their fantastic nutritional content. They are a great source of protein, they contain vitamins and minerals such as vitamin D, B12, B6, zinc, iron and copper. They help form a healthy diet, and let’s not forget… they taste amazing!
Good for the hens.
The chooks on our little group of independently audited farms have a damn good life… spending their days exploring big, tree-filled ranges – and their nights safely tucked up in warm, dry sheds. They get a good diet, free from any tricky chemicals or antibiotics.
Good for the planet.
The footprint of hens treds lightly on the environment… the farmers work hard to ensure the range is kept lush and grassy, with trees and bushes to promote biodiversity (and lots of bugs for the girls to forage!).
Some Practical Tipsstoring eggs
- Keep your eggs out of direct sunlight. As a rule, we suggest keeping them in the fridge between Labour Weekend and Easter to keep them as fresh as possible.
- Try to avoid storing them close to other strongly flavoured or strongly smelling foods like onions.
- Eggs should always be stored with the pointed end facing downwards – the fat end of an egg has an air pocket which gradually enlarges as the egg loses moisture over time. Keeping the air pocket at the top helps to keep the yolk centered and prevents the air pocket from rupturing, which reduces the risk of the egg spoiling.
Size matters... sort of.egg size guide
- Our eggs are graded into different sizes… which makes it easy for you to pick the right ones for the job!
| Size | Min. Weight | Best for… |
|---|---|---|
| Medium | 53g | Everything! |
| Large | 62g | Baking |
| X-Large | 68g | Big appetites |
- Lots of baking recipes call for large eggs. While we don’t stick to this as a hard and fast rule… it can be important for recipes that rely on eggs for leavening (like sponges and meringues) or for thickening (like lemon curd or pastry cream).
The Basics.
There are so many ‘tips and tricks’ on cooking eggs… we thought it might be easy if we just set out the basics. As much as we wish there were magical ways to cook an egg perfectly every time – the only thing that will make you excellent at it is practice. And using the best quality eggs you can afford!
fried egg
Time Commitment: 5 mins
Makes 1 Egg
- 1 egg (any size)
- 1/2 Tbsp butter or olive oil
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
Heat the butter or oil in a non-stick pan or well-seasoned cast iron pan over medium heat. Crack in the egg and season with salt in pepper. After one minute, turn the heat down to low. Cook until the egg white is opaque and set, and the edges are becoming delightfully golden and crispy crunchy. In the last 30 sec of cooking, tilt the pan up slightly and use a spoon to collect the hot fat and baste it back over the egg – this will help finish cooking the white. Use a spatula or fish slice to transfer the egg out for serving.
This is a basic ‘sunny side up’ fried egg. To make it ‘over easy’ just baste it with fat and then flip over about 45 sec before the end of cooking. A fried egg goes well on pretty much everything – a bowl of instant noodles, last night’s pizza that you remembered to put in the fridge, or our fave… well buttered hot toast.
boiled egg
Time Commitment: 10 mins
Makes 1 Egg
- 1 egg (any size)
Set up a bowl of ice and water. Bring a small pot of water to a gentle boil – you’ll need enough water to fully submerge the egg. Careful lower the eggs into the boiling water, and cook for 5 mins for a runny yolk, 7 mins for a custardy yolk or 10 mins for a hard yolk. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the egg to the ice bath to stop cooking as soon as it comes out of the pot.
Boiled eggs feature in pretty much every international cuisine. Medium to soft boiled eggs are great for Eggs + Soldiers (buttered toast strips dipped in the runny yolk) or carefully peeled and plopped atop Congee. We find it hard to go past a roughly chopped hard boiled egg served atop some well seasoned avo toast.
poached egg
Time Commitment: 10 mins
Makes 1 Egg
- 1 egg (any size)
Set up a bowl of ice and water. Bring a small pot of water to a gentle boil – you’ll need enough water to fully submerge the egg. Careful lower the eggs into the boiling water, and cook for 5 mins for a runny yolk, 7 mins for a custardy yolk or 10 mins for a hard yolk. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the egg to the ice bath to stop cooking as soon as it comes out of the pot.
The whites of a well poached egg should be soft and opaque – but not sloppy – while the yolk is still runny. Poached eggs as easily reheated by returning to gently simmering (not boiling!) water for about 1 min before serving – this works really well if you are planning on feeding a crowd!
