If you’re brand new to quail keeping or are just trying out quail eggs for the first time, the new food (and quail egg scissors) can seem intimidating. We will walk you through all the quick steps of preparing quail eggs for kitchen use with pictures! I promise it is easy!
Preparing Quail Eggs for Kitchen Use
Gathering your quail eggs from the backyard coop and getting them into the house without breaking them is the first step. Standard size quail eggs tend to fall through chicken wire baskets but many small chicken egg collecting baskets can hold them, like this one and this one. You can also use a small stainless steel colander and go directly from the coop to the sink if you prefer! (Affiliate links)
Preparing Purchased Quail Eggs
Quail eggs can be cream colored with brown splotches, which is their natural wild-type coloring, or celadon, which can be shades of solid powder blue, robins egg blue finely speckled with brown or even greenish colored with brown speckles. Celadon eggs are rare and must be specifically bred for but it is possible to have some blue eggs in the cute little cartons found at specialty food stores. Those you’ve purchased from a store or a local farmer may have already been washed but it is still a good idea to give them a fresh rinse. Here is how:
How to Wash Quail Eggs
Quail tend to lay their eggs wherever they are standing when the need arises. Many of them seem to end up in the sand bowl where they dust bathe. Because of this, quail eggs may have a few granules of fine sand clinging to them. I always suggest washing quail eggs to get this sand off. Washing them can be as simple as rinsing them under cool running water or using a classic green scrub sponge if you would like your eggs scrubbed clean before use. After being washed, quail eggs should be refrigerated.
Storing Quail Eggs
You can purchase diminutive little paper pulp or clear plastic egg cartons to store your quail eggs if you desire. The clear plastic ones can be hand washed and air dried if they get dirty in any way. But you don’t need a carton – quail eggs store just fine in a small bowl in your fridge. You can even purchase quail egg spiral skelters and other quail egg holders that help you use up the eggs in the order they were laid so nothing is wasted. (Amazon affiliate links)
Cutting Open Quail Eggs
Quail egg scissors are a must! They are sharp and pointed so children under 12 need to be supervised and children under 7 should not handle them. To use them you place the smallest end of the quail egg into the circular opening of the quail egg scissors, ensuring your fingers are out of the way. Squeezing the scissors closed sends the pointed end slicing quickly through the top of the shell and removing it like a lid. This leaves the shell holding the egg contents like a cup which you can then pour out from the shell. (Affiliate link)
Cleaning the Quail Egg Scissors
Right after cutting open the quail eggs, take the time to quickly rinse your quail egg scissors under running water and set them to air dry on a towel. Quail egg whites can dry quite firm and glue the scissors shut if they are not quickly rinsed after use. Just be sure to keep the scissors well out of reach of young children. We keep ours in the back of the silverware drawer, hidden behind the plastic silverware organizer tray. I know where they are when I need to use them and they vanish right back into their back-of-the-drawer hidey spot as soon as I rinse and dry them.
Removing any Stray Shell Fragments
Because it is easy to get little shell chips in the quail egg whites, I usually pour the quail eggs into their own little dish to make removal of any fragments easier. If you end up with an accidental shell piece in your quail eggs, use the tip of a small spoon to scoop it out and discard. The eggs were washed before use and the eggs will be cooked at high enough temperatures to kill any bacteria so there is nothing to be concerned about after removing the shell piece. The eggs are clean!
Recycling Quail Egg Shells
You can air dry, crush finely and offer the quail egg shell pieces back to your covey if you want to offer supplemental calcium. The quail hens may not eat much beyond the tiniest pieces but it is nice for them to have occasional access to their own shell pieces to replenish their bodies if they need it. If you happen to keep chickens and quail, the chickens love quail egg shells just as much as they appreciate being given their own egg shells. Adding the crushed quail egg shells to your compost is another great way to dispose of them. Large breed dogs also enjoy the empty shells as a calcium boost.
Using Quail Eggs in Recipes
Quail eggs taste and bake just like chicken eggs. In baked goods or desserts, it is impossible to tell the difference. Click the links if you’d like to see pictures of things I’ve baked with quail eggs or how they look when scrambled!
Converting Chicken Eggs to Quail Eggs
Quail eggs come in standard size and jumbo. Most people who keep quail hens for eggs prefer to keep jumbos. But most quail egg cartons hold standard size eggs so standard size is what you’ll usually find for sale in stores. Because of this, and the varying quail egg weights from 9 grams all the way up to 22 gram jumbo eggs, I find it easiest to substitute for chicken eggs by volume instead of counting quail eggs. You need 3 Tablespoons of total combined quail eggs to replace one grocery store white chicken egg. (It is fine to go up to 4 Tablespoons of combined quail eggs, which is the equivalent of one Extra Large Brown chicken egg.) You’ll find this 3 Tablespoon trick quick and handy in the kitchen!
Enjoy Your Quail Egg Culinary Adventures!
These scrumptious little super-foods are a lot of fun to cook with, especially if you are able to hand-gather them from your own backyard covey. I hope this article has made you excited about keeping Coturnix quail and readying your quail eggs for kitchen use!
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