In the interactions with customers, family, and friends the question of how I peel quail eggs has come up frequently. I have finally put it in writing to make it easier to share. For those who read here frequently but do not visit our farm, I often give educational printouts to our customers.
When I boil eggs, I boil about 10 to 12 dozen (and sometimes more!) at one time. I have a little experience peeling the delicious little treats!
I place the room-temperature eggs in a pot and cover the eggs with about an inch of tap water. I put them on the stove and gently stir them until the water boils. The yolk in a quail egg is larger comparatively. Stirring while heating makes the white cook on the outside and covers the yolk. Having the yolk covered by the egg white makes peeling easier and gives an aesthetically pleasing appearance.
Once they boil, I put a lid on the pot. Then, I turn the stove off and leave them for 5-6 minutes.
While waiting, I prepare an ice bath that is 2/3 ice and 1/3 cold water. Anything less than this has warmed up too quickly and not gave me the desired results. I admit it is mostly ice, but once the eggs are transferred the ice melts quickly.
Once the eggs are done, I use a strainer spoon to move them to the ice water bath. I gently move them around the ice cubes and water until they are all covered. Then, I leave them for another 5 minutes. This sudden temperature change creates a thin air layer between the egg white and the membrane.
After they have finished cooling, I drain them. Then I place them in a container in my fridge and leave them overnight.
The next morning, I gently roll the eggs to create fractures in the shell. Then I quickly place them in hot tap water. This creates another sudden temperature change which helps create more of an air layer between the membrane and the egg white.
Then, I peel them over a colander under a slow steady stream of water in the kitchen sink. The colander catches the shells which makes clean-up easy.
As I peel and rinse each egg, I sort them. The imperfect ones go into the "snack or salad bin" and the perfect and near-perfect eggs go into the appetizer or pickling bin.
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There is another way which involves stirring and cooking the eggs. Then you soak them overnight in vinegar. The vinegar removes the shell. The membrane is intact which keeps the vinegar from flavoring the egg. One simply peels the membrane off. I do not do this method because I want the shells for my birds.
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I have tried the jar-shaking method, but FOR ME my eggs have been damaged and/or not any easier to peel. I guess I am going between shaking too hard or not hard enough.
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For the eggshells, I drain and place those in a cake pan. I wait until the toaster oven has been used and then pop them in there afterward. This dries them, cooks off anything that can grow bacteria, and makes them brittle. Once they are done, I crush them with my hands and then sprinkle the shells over the feed for my quail, chickens, ducks, and geese. This provides them with a little protein and a lot of calcium which they need for egg making. There are people who also clean and bake their eggshells. They grind them and then use them as a calcium and mineral supplement.
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There are quail egg peeling machines sold on Amazon. There is a manual one and an electric one. I have ordered the manual and will let you know how it works. If I do not feel it is adequate, I will try the electric.
