Have you ever cracked open an egg with a double yolk? How about an entire carton of double yolks? Whether you've come across one or multiple, double yolks are an egg-citing and natural phenomenon. Because after all, who doesn't want a little extra sunshine on their plate? Read on to learn how double yolks occur and why they often wind up together in the same carton.
What causes eggs with double yolks?
Eggs with two yolks are fairly rare: statistically speaking, you might find them in just 1 of every 1,000 eggs. These eggs typically come from two types of hens: younger hens whose bodies are still just learning how to lay, and older birds who are experiencing the natural course of reproductive changes as they age. In fact, many egg anomalies, such as blood spots, follow the same pattern. Like humans, hens' bodies tend to go through their most significant changes during "adolescence" and late into adulthood, so it's during these two periods of time in a flock's life that we tend to see a higher rate of unique and irregular eggs.
Why are double yolk eggs so large?
In general, as hens age, their average egg size increases. Because double yolk eggs are laid by these more mature hens, it's quite common for them to appear much larger than your average egg. Many of the eggs that come with this bonus yolk are so large that our packing team here at Nellie's Free Range fondly refers to them as super jumbos!
Why do double yolk eggs end up in the same carton?
After being washed, all of our farm fresh eggs go through the sorting machine together to be sized. Once they are identified as super jumbos, double yolk eggs are sent to the first packing station where they are hand packed because they are too big for the machine to pack. They are then packaged as jumbos, even though they are technically super jumbos, before being sent off to our partner stores.
As the hand packing station runs all day long, jumbo cartons continue to be filled with super jumbos. These eggs usually contain 50% double yolks. As these cartons are filled, they all go into the same case. So, even though they are rare statistically speaking, double yolk eggs often wind up in the same cartons.
How to find double yolk eggs
What does all this mean for shoppers like you? Well, if you're on the hunt for double yolk eggs, we recommend grabbing a carton of jumbos from your local grocery store. And if you crack open any egg from the Pete & Gerry's Family of Brands and find a double yolk, chances are pretty high that you'll find another bonus yolk or two in that same dozen. On top of that, because those jumbo cartons are hand packed and placed in cases together, you could find a whole grocery display of lucky dozens with more than a few double yolks!
