Egg science
I just bought some farm fresh egg and set out to poach one for my lunch. I cracked one open, and let's say it was uncooperative. I opened another to poach using my regular method in simmering water. The albumen almost immediately separated from the yolk and formed a raft. The yolk seized up into a tight, not runny little sphere. What's going on here.
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8 Comments
Get to know - and trust - the vendor(s).
Toss them out if you don't trust them to be as fresh as advertised. Be safe and avoid the bathroom.
I'm thinking in the same direction as Sarah, old eggs. Was the carton stamped with a pack date?
Another possibility would be jostling / agitation which can thin the whites (one of the reasons for not storing eggs in the refrigerator door).
You could try the old float-the-egg-in-cold-water test (sinking = good, floating = bad).
I had that happen to me when trying to strain off the watery white. I assumed that was the reason (and that the yolk seized on me because it wasn't protected from the heat by the albumen).