Warning - objectionable content! Can I improve my eggs' flavor?

[Shesapip]

Maybe I'm too sensitive, but to me my eggs taste like... well, like the way a chicken smells.

I remember listening to an "adventurous eater" author describe eating

!! WARNING *** CONTENT MAY BE UPSETTING OR OFFENSIVE ***!!
a dish in Southeast Asia made from canis and remarking that the stew was okay until, at one point, it tasted the way a dog smells when it comes in from a walk in the rain with its' master. He could eat no more after that.
OFFENSIVE CONTENT OVER

So I know I'm not totally crazy; other people pick up flavors of the live animal in their food.

I baked my daughter a birthday cake with my eggs and that barnyard flavor came through again! She doesn't seem to notice it and most of my egg customers don't, but one of them does.

So what can I give to downplay the flavor? They normally get Sunfresh layer pellets, plus cracked corn and black oil sunflower seeds, and apple cores and melon rinds and spinach. Plus whatever they find to eat in the back yard.

Can I improve the flavor by changing what I feed?

 

[SproutGirl]

Sounds like your eggs should be delicious! Maybe you should do a blind taste test. Have someone fix you an egg from the someone else's chickens and an egg from your chickens, separately but prepared in the same way, of course. Then blind folded, taste them. See if you can tell the difference.

Hmmm . . . You're not feeding them any medicated food are you? Those eggs should be great!

 

[MandyH]

Sounds about like what ours get and everybody RAVES over how rich and tasty our eggs are. I wouldn't know because I can't eat an egg, any egg. I hatch a LOT of eggs and the smell you get when you have to help one out of the shell is what they smell like to me when they are cooking. YUCKKKKKKKK!!!! Sorry I'm of no help, just wanted to let you know you are not alone.

 

[jenjscott]

Some people just don't like the real "yellow" taste of the free range type eggs. Due to dogs and hawks/owls, my hens are kept in a covered run, plenty big, but scratched to bare ground. Mine get layer pellets and a little scratch grain, with occasional treats of greens or kitchen goodies. The eggs, while better than store bought, are not real strong tasting, and I have had people who don't like "farm" eggs tell me mine are good. So while I find myself wishing I could graze them at least a little, others like the eggs better. So I don't think its what you can feed them, but what you don't feed them, to make them milder tasting. And I don't think you can do it with them free ranging.

 

[Anny]

How do you wash your eggs?

That might effect the taste. Since egg shells are have pores, you could be pushing in the "chicken stink" or so to speak.

 

[Shesapip]

You guys are all great and you're giving me great feedback!

Anny, I wash my eggs with 10% bleach solution and antibacterial dish soap, scrubbing them individually with a vegetable brush.

jenjscott, I wondered if all the worms, slugs, bugs, and beetles could be affecting the flavor. I also wonder if by tossing their scratch on the ground they might also ingest some of their waste particles, so to speak.

KristenH, I'm glad you know how I feel! I do have friends who rave about my eggs, too, and I just don't get it!

Thanks, SproutGirl! I was thinking I should maybe feed them straight sugar or vanilla beans or something that translates into tasty eggs. I'm pretty sure it's the yolks that carry the barnyard flavor, so maybe something both fatty and sweet would amend the taste?

I know next time I bake, I'll remove the yolks.

 

[MoodyChicken]

Sounds psychological to me. Maybe if you think abou crocodiles next time you eat eggs you'll taste crocs instead. lol Don't feed too much garlic or fish, those can give your eggs an off taste.

 

[Akane]

Actually fresh vegetation is affecting the taste more than anything you've mentioned but usually people find that it's a good thing. A few just don't like the stronger taste of the eggs when chickens have a good varied diet with fresh vegetation. The only other thing I could think of is that high omega fatty acids can give a distinct flavor that people usually consider fishy. Sunflower seeds do have a fair amount of omegas but I haven't heard of anyone noticing a problem. Usually it's too much flaxseed or something that causes the fishy flavor. I notice the flavor leaking through when I cook things with my eggs. It's not bad but unless I want everything I cook to taste like egg (including deserts) I have to sweeten it more, hold back the egg, or add more of the other ingredients.

 

[realmofthewoodsranch]

I had that problem with goat's milk... I'm keeping only does, no intact bucks, to see if that was the problem. Cross your fingers, I hope that was it!!! My hubby said he didn't taste a difference.... Maybe I'm crazy!

 

[Shesapip]

Yes, there are some subtleties going on here that I'll have to investigate.

I am quite sure it's not psychological,

as there are so many posts here attesting to the same thing or something similar.

Akane, thanks for the cooking tips.

realmofthewoodsranch, I appreciate the back-up on the taste sensitivity thing. Put a pea under our mattress, and we'll feel it! It's okay to be fine-tuned to life!

and fun, too!

I am going to follow up on the blind taste-test suggestion, both with a friend's organic eggs, my organic eggs, and store-bought eggs.