Do Free-Range Eggs Taste Better?

• stacyj
  March 24th, 2008 at 9:38 pm

  I have to agree that there is a difference. For me it’s a little more subtle than what other people have described, but the free-range eggs just taste more “eggy” somehow. Actually, I bought a carton of regular grocery-store eggs the last time I got eggs, and after having grown used to the free-range eggs I usually buy these days, those regular ones seriously tasted flavorless. They needed a ton of salt and hot sauce on them just to taste like -anything-. I really hadn’t expected to be able to tell the difference, but it’s definitely there!

• skreidle
  March 24th, 2008 at 10:07 pm

  Having gone from “always bought eggs from the supermarket” to “have four hens out back*” in the last couple months, no question. A bit smaller, brown shells (except for the blue and green shells we’ll get when some of the current chicks grow up), deeper yellow-orange yolks, and a more flavorful egg. They have free run of the yard (or at least their large pen), eat crumble feed, scratch feed (cracked corn and wheat), crushed oyster shells, and well water, plus whatever seed they pick out of their straw, and whatever bugs they eat out of the yard. No strange hormones or chemicals, and the eggs are in the fridge for a few days to a week before eating–rather than the weeks they can be stored between production farm and the grocery store.

  * Well, a fox got three of them, and the rooster, so we currently have one grown hen out back, and only one egg per day, down from four. However, the four older chicks out there will grow to egg-laying age in a couple months, and whatever we keep of the younger, week-old chicks, too.

• Christophe
  March 24th, 2008 at 10:40 pm

  I suggest that you compare the taste of what have been cooked with those eggs as well : cakes, soufflés, custard, etc.
  And then you’ll find yourself going more often to the local bio market.

• Athon
  March 24th, 2008 at 11:36 pm

  I don’t at all doubt that there could be a noticeable difference between the two, but science education is of a ridiculously poor standard if an unblinded, straight-forward comparison is called a ’scientific test’. I’d have been impressed if he had have asked a friend to assist in a single-blinded judgement, perhaps even with a couple of examples of free-range and battery egg.

  It might seem nit-picky, but the very fact most people would think so is good evidence towards science literacy being so poor.

• NatrlPlz
  March 25th, 2008 at 2:46 am

  I always purchase free range eggs, but folks should be aware that a free range chicken eats everything that she thinks look good, including mice. But that is how the ‘real’ world works.

  I know for certain the chickens are happier than those poor hens stuck in those egg barns… talk about a horror story in reality. Poor things.

  I suggest you learn for yourself and make up your mind, but mine is def going for the organic/free range chickens.

• hedwig
  March 25th, 2008 at 2:58 am

  umm, well yes. As a farm kid, that’s no great secret to me. You should also try my dad’s home grown beef- I was shocked at what the rest of the world was eating when I moved away from home and had to fend for myself in the grocery store. And then there’s my friend who resolutely declared that she hated, couldn’t stand, would rather die than eat… strawberries. No biggie, I said. I’m more than happy to eat ALL your strawbs… I set out to do that… and she watched… and finally she’s like- you look so happy… and tried one. It was like watching a child’s face on Christmas morning- she’d never had strawberries except from the grocery store. Come my friend, let me introduce you to the wonders of farmer’s markets and road-side stands. They also sell apples, peaches, pears- all kinds of goodies… and 9 times out of 10 (or 99 out of 100) the quality so far exceeds the grocery store as to be truly laughable. I’m glad I grew up this way so I knew right away when I tasted that stuff from the store that there was something better to be had somewhere.

• clairmonde
  March 25th, 2008 at 3:08 am

  I like free range eggs. My taste buds and my karma. And I prefer free range organic milk more than regular milk. It tastes so much better! But even more important for my family is we don’t get sick! We thought we were kind of lactose intolerant, but not any more.

• Tim Giachetti
  March 25th, 2008 at 7:17 am

  Damn straight they taste better. And if you are able to get free range anything as far as meats go?, well, you wuold never buy at the supermarket again. Did you know chickens aren’t yellow skinned? Free range chickens have white skin, clean meat, no large amounts of fat. And the taste is just incredible.
  If you are a carnivore, you need to raise your own. I don’t hunt any more, But I would again to fill that freezer, save money, and eat healthier. Just not here in Floriduh, damn the animals are tiny.

• bob
  March 25th, 2008 at 10:36 am

  I’m not a green nut or a animal rights nut, but I do like good food, and I like farms. (and I mean nut in the nicest way possible).

  I’m working on convincing my wife that when we graduate we should move somewhere we can afford enough land for a couple cows, pigs and some chickens.

  And some fruit trees.

• farm and farmed
  March 25th, 2008 at 12:38 pm

  hmmm, i do agree that taste is substantially better in free range eggs and meats. however, i think the bigger point of this should really be the importance and need for small, independent and responsible farming (as well as responsible shopping), for both the animals and the enviroment. we should make it a habbit and not a trend, or taste prefernce.

• L
  March 25th, 2008 at 1:07 pm

  Good point, farm and farmed.

• VonSkippy
  March 25th, 2008 at 2:07 pm

  What ever you do, stay away from the Driving-Range eggs.

• Tempscire
  March 25th, 2008 at 3:24 pm

  That’s not a “scientific” test. =(

• Chris Gregory
  March 25th, 2008 at 5:33 pm

  Oh man…there’s no difference. Actual tests have been conducted, blind taste tests with a wide range of eggs from difference sources of similar freshness. The chicken’s lifestyle has no noticeable influence on the taste of the eggs. Freshness, however, is a big factor (which is why you should keep your eggs in the fridge).

  So yes, eggs straight from a farmer are likely to be more fresh (and taste better). But the chicken’s lifestyle isn’t a factor. If you think they’re happier, and that’s important to you, then pay the extra money.

  We’re talking about eggs from a source that isn’t even certified organic. They could be from ANYWHERE. Just because you’re getting your eggs at a farmers market doesn’t mean they’re from a different source than the eggs you buy in the supermarket.

• cuimhne
  March 25th, 2008 at 8:44 pm

  Tim - Yellow skin on chicken is usually attributed to them being corn-fed. You can easily find free range yellow skinned chicken.

  In the UK at the moment there’s a whole movement to get the treatment of chickens improved. Jamie Oliver did a special about the industry. (I’m in Ireland but we get the same TV shows) We only ever buy organic meat and eggs but watching it made me so much happier that we do!

• oakling
  March 25th, 2008 at 10:22 pm

  yes! real food is better than fake food! spread the word. They tried to do this on King of the Hill the other week, but man was it… weirdly pushy and unsatisfying. Except when Hank said “You’re not making any sense. Tomatoes don’t taste like anything!” and Peggy said “If this is what food tastes like, what have we been eating?!”

• ted
  March 25th, 2008 at 10:30 pm

  Yeah, the test can hardly be called “scientific”.

  So many other factors could have affected the results of that particular test.

  I think in the Scopes monkey trial, they determined that Creationism was yummier than Evolution.

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