Thanks, BBG. the slaughtered chickens are for meat, not egg-producing. I am vegetarian and even if I was not, the welfare of the birds on transport and the health and safety of the workers is are issues that cannot be rectified by one charity. The unions and IR ministers responsible are the only ones that can change this horrific and unjust industry.
I have at times thought I was being cheated as the eggs seemed smaller than usual. However when I weighed them, they were still above the 700gm overall
So, I gave up worrying about it, they must be quite a bit over most times
BTW, I do have some recipe books that specify how much the eggs should weigh in total (shelled), not the number of eggs to use
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Well, I have recipes that may say, take 275gr of egg white… I actually like those recipes. (especially for egg-whites, as I often freeze spare ones until I have enough to make something out of them. I actually know what an egg-white should weigh on average in a recipe) But then again, I love my scales. I HATE recipes that give you cups and spoon measurements
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But the weight does not include the box!
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It depends on what you are cooking. For baking, patisserie, bread etc getting proportions right is important. Given the packing problem with flour or the range of sizes in eggs, weighing is a good idea.
For stews, stir fry, meat and three veg, a pinch here or a smidgen there is just fine and of course for many such dishes you can and should taste as you go. Horses for courses.
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I agree. I meant that I hate recipes that give cups and spoons. There is a show on SBS at the moment with a supposed expert cake maker and she goes into great detail about everything, has a professionally set up kitchen (drawers for the flour and sugar etc under the bench) yet no scales in sight. Everything is in cups.
I certainly don’t weigh things for stews etc, but if I was to, it wouldn’t be with cups. What is a cup of chopped carrot? Chopped into what size? Grrrr
Besides, think of all the washing up you save!
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Answers can be found!
I join your irritation about recipes, especially those originating from the US that often dominate the respective sources of same. Cups, degrees F not stated whether conventional or fan forced and which country that terminology derives from is but a tip of the iceberg. In the US a convection oven is described as a fan assisted oven. My oven’s ‘fan assisted’ setting is Very Gentle, not ‘convection’ and not ‘fan forced’, that are both separate ‘programs’ in our part of the world.
Between everything being different, including many ingredients it is almost like there is a concerted effort to sabotage cooks not clever enough to know all these things.
Maybe they do these things so we don’t get too angry about cups of carrots since who can tell when something is burnt after 30 minutes at 180 on some scale, on a convection oven, whatever that is. 
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My Gran never used scales and was a great home baker. Mum always thought the secret was her measuring cups. Repetition and obsession of getting the exact same brand and packaged ingredients might have been more relevant.
Perhaps simple accurate and affordable kitchen scales were a step too far at the start of the prior century?
It comes as no surprise that such traditions hold fast as
It seems to align with other observations. 
I agree and thank you for the link. But I still reckon that your “thinly sliced” may be different to mine 
I was under the impression that they don’t use fan forced in the US much, so always take oven temperatures to be “normal”
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I agree, with the caveat that might be because they call it a convection oven
Us → Them
Fan Forced → Convection (European)
Convection → Convection (Traditional)
explained in this random web site
Clear as anything they name, possibly up there with chips and chips for clarity of nomenclature because using crisps and hot chips would be too easy.
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I think it was more to do with the fact that she was the only person measuring, so she would use the same method when putting stuff in cups. Also that she knew exactly what a cake batter should look like etc.
That said, I’ve read an article that if you take people measuring (say) flour in a cup, same cup, same person, they will never get the same amount twice.
I come from Europe and everyone had scales. The old fashioned ones with weights, possibly going back generations, but every household had them. What we didn’t have was ovens with thermostats or electric mixers (when the recipe said cream butter and sugar, one got the grandchild to sit down with the bowl and a wooden spoon…)
Recipe books were also different. You learned to cook from your mother… Recipes had helpful information like: Bake a sponge with 6 eggs…
When you can cook a great 8 egg sponge in a fuel stove you know your oven.
I have (somewhere can’t find it now) an old European cookbook that describes an elaborate cake. It was written by some aristocrat because at the part where you are creaming gallons of eggs and pounds of butter and sugar together it says ‘get your footman to do this’.
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I’m sure that was part of her essential knowledge, experience and skill. It’s just frustrating for us not so everyday cooks. It’s fair to assume baking was an art, aided in her day by skilful manipulation of the wood stove, or slightly newer 1920’s coal gas free standing.
It’s great to know that. I was just offering observations I can relate to, from observing my Gran and many Aunts cooking. The old fashioned weight balance scales (cast iron) and steel doubtless measured a pound or two or four, and ounces. I’ve two sets somewhere. The ones with the brass weights appear to be the better quality. The one pound blocks of butter came with measure marks in ounces along the long edge. Subdividing the block or halving and quartering by eye or adding part portions back in to get a weight was the norm.
P.S.
I rely on modern digital scales, although the sixties era plastic bodied units with a spring base seem good enough.
LOL I still have a (Hungarian) recipe book, written in 1920s by a doctor’s wife. It has comments like that… Have the walkway between the kitchen and the dining room well sealed, so the doughnuts won’t collapse from the draught while the maid is carrying them in.
She also has lists of what is to be done daily, weekly, monthly and yearly. I would move everything over one (and make the yearly, never or hardly ever) Mind you, she says to “have it done” not do it yourself. Did you know that one is supposed to move the wardrobes to clean behind once a week? I am sure you do that (as do I) 
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I’ve searched high and low but I can’t find my footman.
This is particularly challenging if the wardrobe is built-in.
But perhaps we should return you to normal programming i.e. supermarket egg sizes. 
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