Eggs are one of the most versatile foods in our kitchens. Packed with protein, these shell encrusted gems are as delicious on their own as they are baked into pastries or woven into fresh pasta dough. It's not uncommon to have experienced delicate quail eggs and intense duck eggs but few people have the privilege of experiencing the pure goodness that is a pullet egg.
Pullets are young hens typically less than a year old. And when those lovely girls start laying eggs, the tiny first attempts are called pullet eggs. While they taste the same as eggs from mature chickens, they are significantly smaller in size (meaning they cook faster!) and often have unusual shapes. We've also noticed that pullet yolks are shockingly spherical, gloriously orange, and seemingly more rich than those in standard eggs (although we can't say for sure if this is true for all pullet eggs).
The beauty of pullet eggs is their availability! Unlike quail eggs which are considered a specialty product and can be difficult to track down, every chicken farm puts out pullet eggs at some point. If you are fortunate enough to live near a farmers market where eggs are sold or, better yet, farms that raise chickens, ask the farmers if they can collect some pullet eggs for you next time they're hatchlings have matured enough to start egg-laying.
Prepare these flawless little eggs however you would typical eggs; we love the way they look fried or poached as this lets us appreciate how delightfully small they are! They also make beautiful hard boiled eggs for subtly unique deviled eggs or delicate soft boiled eggs to be laid on a crisp toast triangle. While there is not a drastic change from regular eggs, the slight difference makes pullet eggs infinitely more magical and we love when we get the prized text from our local farmer letting us know pullet eggs are in!
