Egg prices are beginning to come down in my area. (keeping fingers crossed this trend holds)
About a week ago, Walmart had their 60-ct cases of Great Value eggs priced at $26 -something. Today, those same cases were $24.60 (works out to $4.92/dozen). Last week, Fred Meyer had a dozen Kroger large eggs for $7.49. Today, those same eggs are priced at $6.49. Our other grocery chain is Safeway/Albertsons. Their eggs are even more expensive at $6.99/dozen. These are historically high egg prices for ordinary white eggs.
Chickens have to be cage-free in my state. But that's not the same as pastured chickens (much more expensive eggs). Cage-free chickens may still spend their entire lives indoors, never seeing actual sunlight. So these egg prices are for the least expensive eggs in my stores.
This morning I shopped at a small NW chain grocery, Town & Country. They're not terribly convenient, but they do carry some items I can't find in my local stores and they have a nice gift section. (I was shopping for a gift for someone today.) I've become obsessed with egg prices lately. So of course I checked the egg cooler there. T & C tends to be on the pricey side for many items. Imagine my surprise when I saw eggs priced at $3.99/dozen for cage-free brown eggs. $3.99 per dozen is a fabulous price on eggs for my area right now. It gives me hope that eggs will be even more affordable as we inch closer to spring. I bought 1 dozen eggs while there this morning.
I had used my last fresh egg over the weekend. So I was glad to find the T & C eggs today priced so favorably. The plan is to use the frozen eggs that we have on hand, with an occasional fresh egg when I only need one at a time or need a hard-boiled egg for something. I searched through the various freezers and found 32 frozen eggs. They're spread out between 6 containers of 4 to 6 eggs each. I can make these eggs stretch for perhaps 6 weeks, using 1 container per week. I'm hoping that the price of fresh eggs will be lower when I've exhausted my frozen supply.
As I judiciously use the eggs I have, I'm using egg substitutes in baking and cooking as much as possible. I made pancakes Monday morning, substituting 1/2 teaspoon additional baking powder plus 1/4 cup of applesauce for the egg in the recipe. The pancakes turned out really well. I've baked no-egg cookies as well as this no-egg cake for my family in recent weeks. I'll give no-egg waffles a try this Friday morning. It goes without saying, having an egg for breakfast is off limits for now, unless it's a special day, such as this coming Valentine's Day.
What are egg prices like in your area this week? Have you noticed any price trends, up or down, since late-January? Have you tried any no-egg or less-egg recipes lately?
I happened to be at our Walmart yesterday and noticed that white, conventional eggs were 5.59/doz. That’s pretty much in line with the other stores I’ve priced lately, including Aldi while traveling. So no relief here yet.
ReplyDeleteI’ve got a partial dozen left and am being very strategic with them. DH wanted a Cobb salad so we split a boiled egg on that. I made a meatloaf using a flax egg and have saved the aquafaba from a can of chickpeas to use. I have a bit of applesauce I can use as well. I’m going to check back to your post where you listed additional alternatives.
Hi Lynn,
DeleteI hope your egg prices begin to come down soon. I noticed at our Walmart Neighborhood Market that they now sell half-dozen cartons of eggs. This is new for this market. My daughter wanted to buy some eggs for baking treats for her boyfriend and his grandparents, so she bought one of the 6-packs. Then at Town and Country Market (the one mentioned above with the less expensive eggs), they also had 6-packs, plus you could buy a single egg at a time for 37 cents each. I suppose if you were single or even a couple and didn't cook/bake from scratch much or didn't like eggs that much, buying one egg at a time might be the way to go.
I have some flax seed meal. I'll give it a try in some baking, maybe chocolate chip cookies, soon. I did really like the texture of the pancakes that used a combo of a small amount of extra baking powder plus applesauce. The two combined added leavening and moisture. Good luck in your strategic use of your remaining eggs! Please keep us posted on any successes in using fewer eggs. I like the splitting 1 egg between 2 salads. We did something similar in last night's hot tuna sandwiches that called for 2 or 3 boiled eggs. The sandwiches were delicious and didn't lack for using less eggs.
I heard on the news last night that egg prices should go down I. April. I hope so.
ReplyDeleteHi Cheryl,
Deletethat is great news! I believe we'll see this before Easter. Thanks for reporting.
I buy free range eggs. The ones I prefer at wm have gone down by $1 in the last couple weeks. They are $6.50. I was able to get a dozen of local eggs-the farm is about 30 miles west of me, at Safeway for $5.99 a week or two ago, I know these chickens are truly free range because the farm was a client of my dil’s and she says there are chickens running all over the place and it was scary lol.
ReplyDeleteDiane
Hi Diane,
DeleteThat's funny about your daughter's comment. I would absolutely love to see chickens running all over the place right now. One of my daughters chicken-sat last week and I got to go with her to see the "ladies". It was only 3 hens, and their owner said they haven't laid an egg since summer. As my daughter put it, the hens have transitioned from being productive to being pets. I was hoping to see what it would be like to collect eggs. At least I was able to see what the set-up could be for keeping hens.
Isn't it funny that eggs at $5.99 (or me when I saw $3.99/dozen) feels like a "good" price after seeing the historic high prices? I told my husband that I paid $3.99 for a carton and was thrilled. He was confused that I thought that was a great price. He remembers eggs just 4 years ago for about $1 a dozen for cheapest eggs at Walmart.
Being long-time Plant Based (health/ethical reasons), current egg prices weren't even on my radar until things really started hitting the news recently. And yes, the prices are quite high! I confess it does feel a little odd to be so unaffected personally when it's being so talked about at the moment -- but I haven't purchased them in probably decades now, so I guess I'm just used to not buying them and making substitutions as needed.
ReplyDeleteHi there,
DeleteCan I ask -- have you found any particularly good substitutions for eggs when baking or cooking?
The prices are still going up here, but they haven't hit the highs of the west coast. At Aldi's, they were $4.59/dozen last week.
ReplyDeleteHi Live and Learn,
DeleteThe egg prices ticked back up at Walmart this week, disappointingly. I do have a few dozen left, so I'm okay for now. Cheapest eggs at Walmart are $5.22/dozen this week, but the same price at Fred Meyer and Town & Country as last week.
I don’t know if anyone here uses the Ibotta app, but for a limited time on Fridays, they have a 2.50 rebate on a dozen eggs. I found an “off brand” of eggs for 4.99/doz. The other brands were 5.29+. With the rebate, 2.50 for a dozen felt amazing! DH got to eat 2 eggs for breakfast which he was excited about! :)
ReplyDeleteThank you for this information, Lynn! I'll look into Ibotta. I'm glad your DH could have 2 eggs for his breakfast -- practically living like a king!
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