Free-range is NOT the same as pasture-raised. The USDA defines free-range as "allowed access to the outside," with no specification to the time spent actually outside or the size of the "range" (which could just be a barn floor, not pasture).
Cage free chickens are not housed in the usual cramped battery cages, however there is no environmental or feed regulations within the industry. They may have a more humane place to roam, but without pasture, sunshine, and proper feed, their eggs are not much different than their caged cousins.
Commercial organic egg layers are fed organic grain, but they are usually still confined and thus missing the vital nutrients that can only come from chickens that roam on true pasture.
If your egg white is cloudy, that means it is really fresh. It is cloudy because the carbon dioxide found naturally in the egg has not yet escaped through the shell pores. The egg white will become clearer as the egg ages.
According to the American Egg Board's Egg Safety Center, "The shelf life for an un-refrigerated egg is 7 to 10 days and for refrigerated, it's 30 to 45 days."
Egg shell color does not make a difference in the nutrition or taste of an egg. Interestingly enough you can determine the color egg a chicken will lay by looking at the color of it's earlobe.
Cage free chickens are not housed in the usual cramped battery cages, however there is no environmental or feed regulations within the industry. They may have a more humane place to roam, but without pasture, sunshine, and proper feed, their eggs are not much different than their caged cousins.
Commercial organic egg layers are fed organic grain, but they are usually still confined and thus missing the vital nutrients that can only come from chickens that roam on true pasture.
If your egg white is cloudy, that means it is really fresh. It is cloudy because the carbon dioxide found naturally in the egg has not yet escaped through the shell pores. The egg white will become clearer as the egg ages.
According to the American Egg Board's Egg Safety Center, "The shelf life for an un-refrigerated egg is 7 to 10 days and for refrigerated, it's 30 to 45 days."
Egg shell color does not make a difference in the nutrition or taste of an egg. Interestingly enough you can determine the color egg a chicken will lay by looking at the color of it's earlobe.
