Yes, egg size does matter in baking

Many of the chicken eggs Americans will consume this Easter season will be hard-boiled and colored for egg hunts and baskets, while others will be baked into cakes or cooked into rich custards for a dessert following a holiday dinner.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture classifies egg size by the weight of the entire carton and not the individual eggs. The most common sizes found in stores are medium, large, extra-large and jumbo, and this leaves some wondering: Does size really matter when it comes to baking or cooking? The answer is yes — and no.

First, the no. If you’re simply hard-boiling them to make deviled eggs or egg salad, eggs are all pretty much interchangeable, unless you’re counting calories or trying to pack in the most protein. According to the USDA, an egg that is large, which is the most popular size and is the standard used in most recipes, has about 72 calories and 61/2 grams of protein, while an extra-large has slightly more and a medium egg has slightly less.

Size also does not come into play in nonbaking recipes that use up to three eggs — say, an omelet or frittata, or as a coating for fried chicken or pork where you can make a one-to-one substitution for medium, large and extra-large eggs with no worries.

It’s when you’re incorporating eggs into a batter to be baked or whipping them into a meringue that things get kind of tricky.

Eggs play several different roles in baking, says Casey Renee, the former pastry chef at Whitfield at Ace Hotel in Pittsburgh who now runs her own catering business, Confections. Along with richness, flavor and color, eggs add moisture to cakes and other baked goods. More importantly, they act as a leavening agent. By adding air to the batter, they allow a cake to rise.

If you add too much egg, she says, it makes the dough really wet and also more dense, which will weigh down the recipe. Using eggs that are too small, conversely, will make your cake dry and decrease its leavening power.

One way to guarantee good results when using eggs that are too small or large is to measure the volume of your substitute eggs by first scrambling them in a bowl, and then using the amount equivalent to what the large eggs would have yielded.

Generally speaking, a large egg yields 31/4 tablespoons of yolk and white, while an extra-large has four tablespoons and a medium egg, two tablespoons.

And if you’re cutting a recipe with an odd number of eggs in half? Add an extra yolk to make up the difference, says Renee, or half of an egg that’s been whisked.

When it comes to recipes that call for whipped egg whites, Renee says it’s essential you start with a really clean bowl and take care to not let even a drop of yolk get into it. “And no fats of any sort,” she says, recalling how she once used a bowl with a trace of nonstick cooking spray in it and the whites failed to come to the expected glossy peak.

While eggs whip up to a greater volume when they’re at room temperature, you’re not going to ruin a recipe if you use them cold, she says. That said, warming eggs fresh from the refrigerator in a water bath will make them easier to work with.

Brown eggs are often thought to be of better quality than white eggs, but the color really just denotes the breed of chicken, says dietitian Elise Wood. White-feathered chickens with white ear lobes lay white eggs and red-feathered ones with red ear lobes lay brown eggs. Whether the yolk is more yellow or orange depends on the feed.

Likewise, there’s no nutritional difference between cage-free, free-range and conventional eggs. All are high in protein, with zero carbs or sugar. So what you choose depends on your values and lifestyle. “The more that’s done to the chicken, the more expensive the egg,” she says.

In the 1980s, when cholesterol- and fat-free diets were all the rage, eggs — or at least their yolks, one of which contains about 186 milligrams of cholesterol — were a sworn enemy, Wood says. But it’s actually saturated fat that has a bigger affect on blood cholesterol.

Experts today believe their pros outweigh any cons when eaten in moderation (two eggs equals one serving). Low caloried and an inexpensive source of protein, eggs also are full of vitamins A, B-2, selenium, B-12 and folate, and are a great source of choline, which is important for memory function and a healthy nervous system, says Wood. It’s also important for fetal development.

As for your Easter egg hunt: Hard-boiled eggs should be refrigerated within a few hours of cooking to prevent salmonella. They keep in the fridge, unpeeled, for up to a week.