I have been seeing lots of double (and triple) yolks in my eggs lately including two cartons from two different stores that were all double and triple yolks. Anyone else notice this? Is this a coincidence or did something change in egg processing?
This summer I think I saw the first double in my adult life. They used to be pretty thorough at sorting them out (in France), but maybe that’s slipping.
We had a carton back in late summer that was all double yolks.
I eat 21 eggs a week and haven’t seen a multi-yolk egg in 20 years. I usually buy my eggs at Costco. Where do you live Quimby?
Farmers Market here in Upstate NY sells eggs $5 a dozen, some marked ‘double yolkers’. The egg guy says they’re from his hens who are overachievers.
How do they know they are double yolks before cracking them? Is it normal to candle all eggs before taking them to market?
Are you buying jumbos? If not, that could be part of it. Jumbos for me have a fairly good chance of containing at least one double yolker.
I was just going to ask that myself! They obviously can’t see through the egg shell.
They have machines which can do that quite quickly and easily. They range in price from under $10 to tens of thousands.
These are the very large eggs. The farmers hens eggs are sorted into brown or white, regular or Jumbo size. They aren’t from a huge factory farm, they are from a small local farm. And eggs are easily ‘candled’ with a bright light so you can see what’s inside.
I am in North Jersey and the cartons were Jumbo sized eggs. Until this experience I would say I saw multiple yolks once or twice a year maybe?
My mother used to work for an egg farm. Double yolks come from young, new layers. Confirmed by here.
https://ask.usda.gov/s/article/Why-do-some-eggs-have-double-yolk
According to the American Egg Board, “Double-yolked eggs are often produced by young hens whose egg production cycles are not yet completely synchronized. They’re often produced too, by hens that are old enough to produce extra large-sized eggs. Genetics are also a factor. Occasionally a hen will produce double-yolked eggs throughout her egg-laying career.”
No, I never buy jumbo or even extra-large eggs. I only buy large eggs, and I guess that makes all the difference.
I saw my first one in my life (I’m 77) last week. I use eggs only in cooking, so buy very few. These were large eggs from Safeway.
In my experience double yolks are quite common in Extra Large and Jumbo eggs, one or two per dozen.
That might explain an upsurge in such eggs. They had to cull the flocks not too long ago, so pretty much all the birds currently laying eggs would be on the younger side.
I buy my eggs (large) five dozen at a time (by which I mean, I eat a lot of eggs), and can’t even recall the last time I saw a double-yolked egg. More than two decades, at least.
We mostly get eggs from local farmers and it’s much more common with those eggs than with eggs from the grocery.
Are they from downwind of Chernobyl?
I was starting to think I was the only one. I don’t eat eggs like I used to but can’t remember ever cracking open a double yolk, either.