What Is a “Watery” Egg?

MUCH importance has been attached to the factor of “watery whites” in the commercial grading of eggs. Since the whites of eggs which have been in storage frequently appear “watery” it has been assumed that those fresh eggs which had a “watery” appearance were of a lower “quality” and lesser actual value, for the majority of purposes, than eggs in which the whites had a more firm appearance. Sharp (1929) is of the opinion that the change from thick to thin white, during storage, is detrimental. (See also Sharp 1934.) Balls and Swenson (1934) assume that the proportion of thick white indicates roughly the length of the storage period. Candlers frequently agree that “wateriness” cannot be determined by the candling procedure. Recently Canham (1933) has presented evidence confirming this. Egg whites have also been classified with respect to their relative “wateriness” by macroscopic observation of the broken egg, and it . . .