Old cookbooks have lots of hints and tips. A 1925 cookbook supplement in the Sioux Falls, South Dakota newspaper tells readers to wait to form an opinion of an egg until something happens with the lid. But the old newsprint is blurry and I’m not sure what the last word says. Is it “off”? . . . or “on”? . . or perhaps “of”? (which makes no sense). It may be trying to say that you can’t tell how well fried eggs are going to turn out until the pan lid is removed (assuming that a lid was put on the pan as part of the process of frying the eggs). Or maybe the egg’s lid” is the shell, and cooks can’t really judge the quality of an egg until the egg is cracked.
Bottom line, I have no idea what this tip means, but I’ve spent much more time than I should have trying to decipher it.
Thanks for trying to crack the code for us.
Sly and clever is Anne!
I did an internet search and AI revealed that forming an opinion has to do with assessing the quality of the egg.
I also tend to think that it might be something about trying to assess the quality of the egg.
I think we take it for granted that our eggs are “OK” nowadays. But as murisopsis mentioned below we should crack our eggs into a bowl and inspect them before use whether in a baking recipe or a frying or simmering water pan.
As far as hard boiled or soft boiled eggs the only advice I had heard is the older the egg the better the outcome.
uttrediay I love that saying “Never form your opinion of an egg until the lid is off”
Thanks for your post
It’s wonderful to hear that you enjoyed this post. I had fun pulling it together. I always heard (and knew from personal experience as a child when growing up on a farm) that older eggs that were hard boiled were much easier to peel than very fresh ones.
It’s an old proverb. It appears in many lists of proverbs, like this one:
https://www.newspapers.com/image/1048346574/?match=1&terms=%22never%20form%20an%20opinion%20of%20an%20egg%22
(You may need a subscription to view it.)
It’s the same kind of meaning as you never know the day until it’s over, that sort of thing. You don’t know anything until evidence is before you.
I found the quote in the Argus-Leader, March 3, 1903, p. 19 at the bottom of a recipe for Cocoanut Cake. It was in between two recipes. It definitely says “until the lid is of.” I think it is safe to assume it meant off. While I agree it could mean the “Lid” of the egg is the shell and had to be opened, it was also apparently common among cooks to cook fried eggs with a lid on. Whites and yolks cook in different amounts of time, thus, the lid and the resulting steam helped the egg to cook evenly and not overcook the yolk or under cook the whites.
Wow, you’re good. I’m amazed you found that quote. I never even noticed it until I decided to make the Coconut Cake recipe (which will be a future post). It is almost hidden between the recipes. It makes sense that the quote probably was about evaluating the quality of fried eggs that had been cooked with the lid on.
You know they say curiosity killed the cat, but it likely means I have too much free time on my hands! It made me want to make a Cocoanut cake, so I will be looking forward to seeing your post! And it is always worth a grin to read cocoanut instead of coconut!
We are currently eating (and enjoying the coconut cake). Look for the post on Sunday. I’ve noticed over the years that “coconut” was often spelled “cocoanut” in old cookbooks. It’s apparently an archaic way of spelling coconut.
Well, of course, one could decide to simply not be judgmental at all!
Good point. It’s less stressful when the results of cooking efforts are not categorized as “good” or “bad.” I need to remember that when I take photos of foods for this blog and they don’t turn out quite as I’d hoped. 🙂
I know what you mean! We’re so critical of ourselves.
I think your life is jogging along OK even if you don’t find out!
Agree – don’t sweat the tiny (or in this case extremely insignificant) stuff.
I tried to leave a comment before, but now I don’t see it. It seems to be an old proverb. Many newspapers ran lists of proverbs or sayings around that time. Here is one from Danville Register and Bee, October 5, 1915:
If every man were taken at his own valuation there wouldn’t be half enough halos to go around.
It does seem queer that people who are not able to make good themselves seem to think they can hand a winning brand of advice to others.
A wise man does his duty; a fool does his friends.
Never form your opinion of an egg until the lid is off.
It takes more than sunlight to illuminate a shady reputation.
At the sound of a dinner bell great minds run to the same channel.
If you are dissatisfied with your lot get a real estate man to sell it.
A man isn’t necessarily bashful because he declines to meet his obligations.
When a man begins dodging his creditors he realizes how small the world is.
The trouble with a man who thinks he knows it all is that he always wants to tell more.
The patient seldom knows anything about the medicine the doctor gives him—and often the doctor doesn’t either.
– – Unquote.
Some clever, some funny, some rather dated – a glimpse of yesterday’s wit. (I edited out a couple of misogynistic ones.)
Thanks for finding and sharing. I enjoyed reading these sayings. Some of them are really good (and, as you noted, some are dated). I never would have guessed that “never form an opinion of an eff until the lid is off” was a somewhat common saying back then. Within the context of this list, it almost seems like the quote is a metaphor about the importance of not judging other people too quickly.
Yes, I think that’s it! People or things. A ‘never judge the day until it’s over’ kind of thing.
Yes I would think it means for a boiled egg – once you have taken off the top (the lid) to see how soft or hard it is.
sherry
Yes, that might be the meaning.
Interesting – We were taught to crack all eggs into a small bowl to make sure they were “good” before adding them to the recipe. That way you didn’t ruin any of the other ingredients if the egg had gone “off”…
So was I – though I can’t remember actually ever having a spoiled egg. These day’s I almost never crack eggs into a small dish before adding to the other recipe ingredients, but there’s always a tiny voice in the back of my head saying that it’s risky to crack eggs directly into the mixing bowl. 🙂
When we got eggs from the farm there was always the chance that it had been fertilized…
Another good reason to break them into a separate bowl. 🙂
Absolutely! But it rarely happens anymore. Although I’d love to find another source of farm eggs. My SIL has chickens but they’ve all but stopped laying – they are going on 4 years old. But she has made them pets so until some of them go she doesn’t have room for any new ones!!
Similarly to your SIL, I have a friend with a few chickens that she considers pets. Very different from how we thought about chickens when I was going up on the farm, but she has a lot of fun with them.
Yep. My SIL has named them all and they follow her around and come when called. We never raised chickens but I had a friend who did – they never let them get very old as they were “fryers”. She had some that were her 4-H show birds that always got auctioned off at the end of the fair… And the money was very generous for chickens!