Egg Sizes. All About Sizes Of Chicken Eggs

Eggs are an important ingredient in many baking recipes and are part of traditional cooking. The letters S, M, L, or XL are printed on the egg carton: as an approximation for the weight of the eggs. But what does it mean? We explain what weight classes and quality classes mean, what special shapes there are, and what you have to consider when baking.

EU-wide weight classes

In the EU, so-called weight classes are defined into which all eggs that end up in retail are sorted. These are S, M, L, and XL. Within a weight class, there are fluctuations in weight.

Abbreviation – Designation – weight class

• Chick egg special shape “Mini”
• S – Small – under 53g
• M – Medium 53 – to under 63 g
• L – Large 63 – to under 73 g
• XL – Very large – 73 g and more
• XXL – special shape “giant” – 120 g and more

The table lists special forms of egg sizes that are only available at farm markets. These may not be sold in grocery stores.

• Chick egg: this particularly small egg impresses with a firm shell, has a particularly large yolk, and is therefore considered very tasty
• XXL egg: this egg weighs up to 120 g and more; it sometimes has two yolks and a thin shell

Grade A

The EU standardized eggs have these minimum standards:

• Shell: clean and undamaged
• Albumen: clear, transparent, free from foreign deposits
• Air chamber: fixed and not more than 6mm high
• Yolk: free from foreign accumulations and deposits, central location
• Odor: no foreign odors

Bake with eggs of different sizes

Recipes for cakes and tarts are usually given with eggs of size M. But is it possible to bake with size L eggs instead? While it is of course only advantage with an omelet, the baking result can differ. The following calculation shows this.

1. We use 5 eggs size M with 53 g = 265 g (minimum weight within size M)
2. We use 5 eggs size L with 72 g = 360 g (maximum weight within size L)

Of course, we show the “extreme situation”, but not without reason: it should make it clear how important the choice of size is. Let’s assume the average of an egg in sizes M and L:

• Size M: 58 g (M = 0.85 eggs size L)
• Size L: 68 g (L = 1.17 eggs size M)

Difference: about 10g. When we bake, we can now use this difference to decide when we need how many eggs if we want to use size L instead of size M. Small calculation example: for our strawberry roll we need 5 eggs in size M.

• 5x size M corresponds to approx. 290 g
• 290 g divided by 68 g per egg size L = 4.3 eggs

It would be worth considering using only 4 eggs, size L.

We hope not to confuse you with this, but to help you to achieve the best possible baking result. Have fun with arithmetic, gaining experience, and baking.