Local Free-Range Eggs vs. Whole Foods Cage Free Eggs

This is a photo of a local, free range hen. I had the pleasure of eating some of her and her friends’ eggs, so I decided to compare and contrast them with cage free eggs from Whole Foods.

These 4 eggs are from local and free-range hens. The two white-ish eggs actually have a green shell and come from Aracauna hens. All of the local hens spend lots of time walking around outside and get to eat lots of kitchen scraps and surplus from the owner’s garden.

The egg on the left is a cage free large brown egg from Whole Foods. These are the eggs I usually buy. The one on the right is from one of the local hens. There is a big difference in the color and size of the yolk and the albumen (egg white), especially up close. The photo doesn’t do the best job demonstrating this, but the difference is quite clear.

This is 4 store-bought cage free eggs beaten.

This is 4 local eggs beaten. Big color difference here. Also, the store-bought eggs were thinner and kind of frothy, while the local fresh eggs had a thicker consistency. Maybe this is because there was more yolk in the local fresh eggs.

I made a simple scramble. I sauteed some red onion in olive oil. Added some green pepper, and then the eggs to make two identical scrambles. Both were lightly salted and peppered. I didn’t make anything fancy so I could truly judge the taste of the eggs. The scramble on the left is from the Whole Foods eggs. It is much paler than the local eggs scramble on the right. Also, the flavor of the local eggs was really amazing. They were simply the best eggs I can ever remember eating. The store-bought eggs were bland, and not pleasant to eat next to something so far superior. They revealed themselves as better suited to be masked with other flavors, such as cheese, sauces, etc., than to be enjoyed for what they are, like the local eggs, which were exceptionally delicious.