A box without hinges, key, or lid,
yet golden treasure inside is hid.

“Eggses!”

I have a fairly wide selection of eggs in my refrigerator, considering I raise them myself on little over a quarter acre in town. 

Here are the results from today’s egg collecting:

 Comparing

 Chicken eggs are the base line for all egg production, taste, and uses. And the chickens are regular producers. However, they do make more noise than my other two options, not a great thing when living in town. I prefer a lower profile, even though I write about them here.

Quail are also regular producers, but it takes a lot more eggs to substitute for a chicken egg. Depending on their size, it can take anywhere from 3 to 5 quail eggs to replace a single chicken egg. But quail are quieter, and take up less space. They do requiring higher protein content in their feed, so it costs more and is very hard to forage locally and get a good result. As a utility egg (and meat) producer, I really like quail.

Most weeks I have quail and chicken eggs. Duck eggs are more sporadic, but since I have very little inputs for maintaining the ducks, I don’t complain. As I write this, I’ve “donated” thirteen eggs to a nesting mother duck. I consider these an investment in meat production. (Or is that “meat pro-duck-tion”?) Either way, each donated egg has the potential to become 3 to 4 pounds of tasty duck meat in roughly 16 weeks.

Taste?

Again, with chicken eggs as a baseline, they are a non-entry.They taste exactly like chicken eggs.

Quail eggs taste VERY similar, I’d say you’d be hard-pressed to tell the difference between quail eggs and free range chicken eggs, if they were scrambled. Obviously, fried over easy is a dead giveaway visually.

Duck eggs offer more yolk, and a slightly different texture. I find the whites to stay together more, and the yolks to be thicker also. The wife RAVES about using them to bake, and tries to save them for making baked goods. The flavor is similar to chicken eggs, with a richer taste and a more firm consistency.

Currently in my fridge, I have quail eggs, white and brown chicken eggs, and Muscovy duck eggs. I like each for a different reason, and ultimately, I like have the options. The ones you see here (left to tight – two quail, two chicken, and one duck egg) were all scrambled and made into a frittata.

Did you know frittatas are supposed to be served at room temperature?

Florida Hillbilly Frittata

• Cast iron skillet on medium heat. AS it heats up, throw in an oil, bacon grease is best, of course.
• Brown some meat. I’ve used pork, ham, beef, gator, fish, rabbit, bear, SPAM, and other things that shall remain unnamed here.
• Saute some vegetables. I usually use leftovers, since they are already cooked.
• Throw some cheese over the meat and veggies.
• Turn on the broiler. This is about the only time we EVER use the broiler!
• Scramble some eggs. I use a large cast iron skillet, so usually end up using 5 or 6 chicken eggs (or equivalent)
• Pour the scrambled eggs over the meat, veggies and cheese.
• If using a cast iron skillet, I turn the heat off at this point, allowing everything to coast with the heat retained my the cast iron. Allow everything to cook for about two minutes.
• Put the skillet on the top rack under the broiler. Set the timer for 3 minutes.
• When the timer goes off, pull the skillet out, allow everything to cool.
• Eat it.

This is a the Ultimate “use up the leftovers” recipe. I make this at least 3-4 times a week.

So there, I’ve shown you egg options for the back yard, as well as how I end up using all of my eggs.

Hope it helps!

Peace,
db

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