Drying Quail Eggs

[cathunter10]

I read some where that you can dry quail eggs for decorations.As I am thew hatching for this year and my quail are still laying a few eggs I thought I would give it a try,problem is I dont have a clue how to go about doing this.Any help will be greatly appreated.Thank you.
Bill

 

[BasilHillFarm]

Well I don't know if this will work for you but it worked for me with some small chicken eggs that were the same size as quail eggs. (First eggs). I scrubbed them super clean with detergent and let them sit in a dry windowsill for a few weeks then scrubbed them again and did the same. Now they are completely dry. They are neat when you turn them over cause they spring back to their former place. lol. I can't guarantee they won't explode. Probably depends on your humidity and temp as to if this will work for you. Only other thing I could think of would to be to put them in a dehydrator. lol. Maybe you can google search it. I know a lot of people when using eggs for decorations they blow them out. They poke a hole in each end and blow on it slowly to get all the goop out. I've always washed them really well first and done it by mouth but there are other ways. lol.

 

[Denninmi]

Because they are so small, I bet you could dehydrate them and have them become preserved for craft use. I think you would have to be careful to ensure they are used only in a dry environment afterwards, because if they pick up moisture again they might get rotten and smelly.

If you have a food dehydrator it should be a snap to do this -- I'd set it on a medium to high heat and let them go. Probably going to take 24 hours minimum, if not a lot longer.

You could possibly try drying them in a low oven and see what that does. Another possibilty since it's summer is try putting them someplace naturally very hot and drying like an attic or perhaps inside a car parked in the sunshine all day.

I think you should wash them in either a degreasing detergent like Dawn or with isopropyl rubbing alcohol first to remove the cuticle -- this layer naturally helps seal the moisture in the egg, and if you remove it they should dry faster. Finally, it probably couldn't hurt to dip the in a bleach solution first to kill off any surface bacteria so they don't get in there and make it rot during the process.

Good luck. Let us know if it works.