Peeling Hard Boiled Eggs
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| ilene, i'm thinkin egg shells have gotten thinner over the years. don't have any secrets for you either. i was a professional egg thrower as a kid, but please don't tell anyone.  |
| I wouldn't dream of telling. |
I just bang them on the work surface and roll them and the shells come off.....  |
| Tried that and usually end up with a lot of bits that I then have to try and get off. |
| Joan reports a similar trend... it's harder to peel eggs than it used to be. Hmmmmm... We put the eggs in COLD water leaving them uncovered, then bring them to a boil and immediately remove from the heat, still uncovered. 20 minutes and then drained and under cold running water for a couple of minutes to stop the cooking. Mightn't be the easiest way to peel hard boiled eggs, but the yolks are done and perfectly yellow! LOL |
| ron, was joan an egg thrower ya think???? |
Same frustrating problem here! I heard once that when the eggs are very fresh they are harder to peel--not sure that is true but seems like the problem is getting worse! Doesn't make for pretty 'deviled eggs'! But at least I think they are fresh!  |
| Your eggs are too fresh. I realize at this time of the year we are all in a hurry with the eggs, but in this case you really have to buy your eggs in advance. What makes it easier to peel them is the additional air pocket that gets between the egg and the shell. The older they are (within reason of course,) the easier they peel. I also add a bit of vinegar and a heaping tsp of salt to the boiling water. Seems to help. My method is, eggs in cold water to about an inch above eggs. Turn to high till they begin boiling. Cover pan and turn off heat. Let sit for 12-13 minutes. Drain, and run cold water over them to stop cooking and cool. Perfect, and no green ring on the yolk. And YES, I do find it slightly different now than 20 years ago. Maybe it's because our food it fresher than it was then. The shells also seem a bit thinner... Shellie |
The sound of eggs being cracked/tapped repeatedly against the stainless steel sink reminds me of my mother.  I used to crack them all around; tap tap tap tap tap tap tap then roll them between my hands for a moment and then they would usually peel well, the shell sticking to the membrane. Every so often an egg white would split while rolling. Seems the membrane doesn't want to come loose from the albumin now. Probably genetic modifications. |
Guest wrote: ron, I don't really understand.was joan an egg thrower ya think???? |
| well now my memory has been thouroughly jogged. shellie is right about buying eggs in advance. even though she's just a youngster(20yrs ago) ron, you've hit the nail on the head. the membrane was thicker years gone by and was easier too peel away. i still believe the main factor here is thinner shells as i have not been as adept at one handed cracking as i used to be. was just teasing about joan noting shells are thinner than years ago as i thought she may have been an expert egg thrower also. more than shellie's years ago, i would wait for my mother to go out shopping. i then would grab the carton of eggs from the frig and head outback.(backyard, not aussie outback) then i would grab an egg widthwise and with two fingers put an english spin on it and toss as far as i could throw and watch them bounce. except for the occasional slip-up on spin, i'd collect them all and put them back in ctn and return to fridge. the worst part of this is i can't remember whether i just did this on my own experimentation or a science teacher clued me in. oh well, age and crs. |
| Shellie is right about using older eggs, it helps having that air pocket. Also (not for Easter eggs) but when you finish boiling them, take a spoon and give a smack to each egg, breaking the shell.........then shock in cold water. When completely cold, remove one and roll it on the counter under your hand to fully fracture the shell, then peel. At church we dye at least 900 eggs dark red. Yes, the shells are a lot thinner than before, we can't put as many in the baskets to boil least just their weight on one another cracks them. For each case we find 6 already cracked before we even touch them. Then removing them from the dye water, they often crack just from hand pressure. Someone said the brown shelled eggs are thicker. I think white or brown are thicker if the hens are not kept in factories, but allowed free range and given better feed. We have a local organic free range place near me. Their eggs are brown, which is great for the super dark red color, and thick shelled, but their price is at least 2x market price. |
Pierce the shell on either end, the size of a needle or pin. My egg slicer has a handy little sharp to do this with. Place the eggs in cold water, set to boil for 20 minutes. Works like a charm, I don't know why.  |
I'll try that Devra! Of course you can't have your dye in the water  |
| thanks for all the suggestions, I do buy farm eggs from real chickens that get to scratch and usually try for brown but take whatever. And never use them right away, they sit in the fridge for a while but maybe the shells are thinner, never noticed. I've done most of the suggestions except for poking the hole and just notice that they are so much harder to peel, will live with it just not beautiful but then nothing I make is that beautiful, everyone is used to it. I've seen those dark red eggs on t.v with an explanation of the meaning behind them. 900 is a lot of work. |
| Eggs are dyed on Holy Thursday and always done red, deep red, to symbolize the blood Christ shed on the cross. They can also be dyed on Holy Saturday, but never Holy Friday, day of mourning. Don't forget cracking the eggs against one another, in a competition for the year's good luck. The yummy Easter bread, tsoureki, usually has several dyed eggs woven into the braids. I don't do this, too much time and I don't need to be eating the bread. |
| I've also seen that bread but never have eaten any. Bread, especially good bread is my downfall. |
| It is very much like Challah bread but with different flavorings. You can get sorta close by boiling cinnamon sticks with the milk and plenty of butter. Otherwise the flavorings are Machlepi and Masticha. Machlepi is ground cherry pits (from the Middle East) and Masticha is sap from a bush grown on the island of Chios. Often we'll use all three (cinnamon, M and M)...depends who is heading up the baking that day. |
| Well, this is what we uused to do in the grocery store deli to get good looking eggs for pickled eggs. Get eggs that are a few days old at least. Take them out of the carton & place them in an empty pan & let them sit out on your counter top overnight. Next morning, fill the pan with cold water, add a small amount of salt, bring to a boil, turn off the heat & let them sit in the hot water for 20 minutes. Then run cold water on them (the hot water will work itself to the top & come out of the pan). The cold water keeps the yolk from turning dark. I used to do 13 dozen this way every Monday night / Tuesday morning. Very few of the eggs didn't peel perfectly & if that did happen, they went into the chicken salad. I know the health dept. would get after you now a days for letting them sit out but in almost 11 years I never had a spoiled egg or anyone who bought them ever get sick. |
| ok, will try that next time. I think in some places people just leave eggs out on the counter anyway so don't think I'd be worried about them being out overnight. They do sit in the nests for a while if you don't get them right away, no refrigerators near by. |
| Forgot to add, when the eggs are sitting in the hot water, put a lid on the pan. |
ChSheepdogs wrote: Forgot to add, when the eggs are sitting in the hot water, put a lid on the pan. Todd does basically as Marilyn does, and they are perfect every time (yes, another cooking job Todd excels at!) He always has perfect yolks too. I used to manage a 35,ooo laying hen farm for 5 years (pre-nursing days). We brought deviled eggs by the dozens to all family and social occasions! And basically lived on eggs, as we were young and poor..... "Old" eggs are by far the best way to ensure they peel easily - the other methods you can resort to if you are dealing with too new of eggs.  |
| I have chickens so I know about hard to peel eggs. My eggs are fresh! I find a little vinegar in the water helps. Also if you do poached eggs that keeps the whites together and nice little round mounds of yummy egg. |
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