Eggs are produced in the UK through 3 systems which are the laying cage system, barn system and free range & organic system.  The percentage of each of these are 62% being laying cage, 34% being free range (of which 6% is organic) and 4% is Barn. A huge total of 8,473 million eggs are produced a year in the UK. We have 29 million UK laying birds with each bird producing an average of 312 eggs per year.

We have some very high standards in UK egg production with 85% of the eggs produced in the UK produced to the high Lion Quality Standards which were introduced in 1998. These standards include vaccination against salmonella, full traceability of the eggs, a best before date stamp on the egg and packaging and high hygiene standards upon the farms and egg packaging environments.

Now egg sizes can be a mine field when cooking,  so here are some up to date tips to help. Eggs are now sold in four different sizes: Small (53g or under and sizes 5,6 and 7), Medium (53-63g or sizes 3,4 or 5), Large (63 to 73g or sizes 1, 2 and 3) and Very Large (73g or over old size 0 and 1), (these sizes replaced the old sizes 0 to 7). Therefore if you have alot of old recipes which show a old egg size of size 3 for example you are best to use a large egg. So break out those old recipe favourites and get cooking.

Eggs simply poached for breakfast or even eggs benedict are simple and favourites with many. If you don’t like poaching eggs in a saucepan why not treat yourself to a egg poacher.

The John Lewis ‘The Pan’ egg poacher  above is an enamelled aluminium egg poacher with a glass lid and heat-resistant, silicon rubber, easy grip handles. Suitable for all cookers except induction and comes in a 2 hole or 4 hole poacher and to be honest I wouldn’t be without mine.

My son’s favourite egg recipe would be Egg fried rice with chicken. Its quick and easy

You will need 30ml vegetable oil, 1 garlic clove (chopped), 2.5cm piece of root ginger (grated), 225g cooked chicken (diced), 300g of stir fried vegetables of your choice, 350g cooked rice, 6 large eggs (beaten), 4 tbsp dark soy sauce.

To make this simply dish firstly place half the oil in a large wok and cook the garlic, ginger & chicken for about 2 minutes, then add your stir fried vegetables & cooked rice and stir fry for another 2 minutes then place this in a bowl.  Put the rest of oil in the wok , add the beaten eggs and cook for 1 min stirring until the eggs have scrambled. Then return the rice, chicken & vegetables to your wok containing the cooked eggs, add the soy sauce and mix well. All you have to then do is serve immediately with chop sticks.

Send me any egg facts, tips or recipes you have come across. Eggs are packed with a range of nutrients including protein, essential vitamins A, D, E, and B group as well as minerals iron, phosphorus and zinc. They’re relatively low in saturated fat and calories with only around 80 kcals per medium egg – so they are great if you’re on a diet, especially combined with vegetables and salads as part of healthy balanced meals!