Double-Yokers: Are They One Egg or Two in Recipes?
Reader, Lori, sent in a fun question about double-yoked eggs that I thought I would address. I’ve had people email me before about double-yokers, even asking if they were okay to eat or if they should just toss them out.
It is a little odd looking when you crack into one, so I think they get a stigma for that reason, as odd things sometimes do. But in many countries they are thought to be a sign of good luck when you find one! Here’s her double-yoke question:
Hi Mavis, I’m a big fan and love reading your blogs daily. I have chickens and my girls lay fresh eggs daily. I love to cook and bake with them. My question is, I get a lot of large eggs many with double yolks. When baking do they count as one egg or two?
Thanks, Lori
A double-yolked egg occurs when two egg yolks are released into a hen’s oviduct too close together and end up encased within the same shell. It’s a pretty rare thing {unless you’re in India where they breed them to lay double-yolks!} but it’s more common in new layers or hens on the tail end of their laying life. I recently heard there are some specialty stores selling double-yolks by the dozen. Crazy talk!
Double-yolk eggs are perfectly safe to eat but can cause some questions in terms of baking recipes!
Really it all comes down to size. If your recipe calls for egg yolks only, you need to pay attention to the yolk size. Sometimes your double yolkers will have half-size yolks, so two would count as one.
But if they are full-size, you’d count them as two separate yolks. For full eggs in a recipe, just go by weight. You can use this handy chart to help determine what size egg you have vs. what the recipe calls for {most often, the recipe will specify size; if it doesn’t, I always assume they are referring to large eggs}.
- Small: about 1.5 ounce per egg
- Medium: about 1.75 ounce per egg
- Large: about 2 ounces per egg
- Extra-Large: about 2.25 ounces per egg
- Jumbo: about 2.5 ounces per egg
So there you have it. Double-Yokers: Are They One Egg or Two in Recipes, now you know. What do you guys think? Do you count double-yolkers as one or two eggs? Do you think they bring you luck or do they weird you out?
Peace out, egg lovers,
~Mavis
P.S. Now that we’ve got that settled, have you ever wondered about the difference between duck eggs and chicken eggs? Pop on over HERE to find out.
Anita says
I consider double yokers one egg, but with a bonus too. I think they look cool! We had a quadruple yoker once laid by our hens. Score!
Sus says
I feel lucky once I had a dozen sv
Dot says
I have just had 2doz double yolk eggs from morrisons
Cynthia E Lindsey says
I have a recipe that calls for 5 large eggs. I’m using jumbo eggs. One of the eggs are double yoked. Same sized (normal size). Can I use the double yoked egg? Wouldn’t it just make the cake extra fluffy?
Thank you so much,
New Baker
Teckla says
I think it depends on what you are making. For the most part an extra yolk won’t make that much difference; such as in cakes, cookies, etc. However, as Mavis said, if your recipe calls for yolks only, then it does matter. Double yolks are cool! As kids, we always got excited when Mom’s hens laid doubles. We loved it, too, when she kept some Arauncas for a friend. We thought those blue eggs were the coolest thing since sliced bread! And a double blue was like winning the lottery!
Carole says
I have had double yolk eggs before but about two weeks ago I had a four yolk egg!! I showed it to all my chicken friends. No one had ever seen one before. We get our eggs from a neighbor. What a girl that was to have quadruplets!!
Tracy says
I have a love-hate relationship with eggs, overall. I love scrambled eggs (the only way I’ll eat them), but I can’t think about it too much or I get totally grossed out that I’m eating undeveloped bird fetus. (Hold off on replies about the difference between ‘fetus’ and unfertilized, etc. …I know, I know, but you get the idea.) the older I get the less interested I am in eating meat, too. I love the flavor, but get turned off by the thought of gnawing on flesh. Go figure!
Another Lisa says
The way I understand it, the embryo is a tiny little dot inside the yolk. It’s not “set” to grow unless the egg reaches a certain temperature when the mama hen lays on it. So most of the egg is just chick “food”. Same as honey, or cow/goat milk, it’s basically baby food, packed with protein and nutrition : )
Weird thing for us humans to eat! I consider it a gift from God/nature as finding enough sustenance has been a human ordeal thru the history of civilization. Grocery stores with an abundance of food have actually been an anomaly in history.
Cindy Clayton says
Lol temperature has NOTHING to do with an egg becoming a chick if there’s No Rooster in the flock to fertilize it!! Lol … city folk!!
VKP says
Of course the egg must be fertilized, but even a fertilized egg will not develop a chick if not kept at a very warm temperature, either under a hen or in an incubator. I have heard of fertilized eggs beginning to develop if left for days on the counter of a very warm kitchen. In any case, temperature clearly plays a role in the development of the chick.
MaryW says
I usually only see them in Jumbo sized eggs. I always use those for over easy, and it’s always a bonus in my book!
Jayne says
I buy them by the dozen from the Amish at the Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia. They are HUGE. Buy them because I, well, love them, but it’s also a small bonus that they are *cheaper* by the dozen than “regular” eggs – go figure.
Linda says
Me too Jayne, I get them at Reading Terminal and they sure are. I absolutely love them.
Barbara Heiberg says
I love getting double yolk eggs but this is the first time I have ever had an egg yolk come out of the shell looking like a donut. Any ideas??? If it makes a difference, I currently live in Spain.
Justin Case says
Today is our 38th wedding anniversary. I decided to make a home made anniversary cake. The first egg I cracked had a double yoke. We used it in the cake which is very tasty.
Do you think it means anything since this happened on our anniversary?
Barbara malnick says
I always heard if you get a double yolk egg and are pregnant, you will have twins .. lol. Funny. Huh? Well my mom got a double Yokers and darn if she didn’t have twin boys… go figure! Hahaha