I can't seem to peel my hard boiled eggs - page 8 Solution!

[Agilityscots]

I tried the salt method last week and I wasn't terribly impressed. The eggs were only marginally easier to peel. I think I'm going to stick to aging eggs for the best taste and ease of peeling...sigh...

Amy

 

[McGoo]

Interesting.... Did you use 1/4 to a 1/3 of a cup? If that doesn't work then the vinegar is certainly better than nothing at all.

 

[Agilityscots]

Quote:
I boiled a dozen so I used more; the original post I think called for 1/4 to 1/3 for a half-dozen, so I used 1/2 cup for a dozen. I wanted it to work, I really did! Oh well.

Amy

 

[Patchofheaven]

Quote:
I boiled a dozen so I used more; the original post I think called for 1/4 to 1/3 for a half-dozen, so I used 1/2 cup for a dozen. I wanted it to work, I really did! Oh well.

Amy

I had the same problem as you - it worked really well the first 2 or 3 times and then I had a bad batch. I think I figured out why - I didn't let them boil long enough. I boiled 10 eggs this morning for 20 minutes, used 1/4 cup of salt and then drained water and added ice cubes and cold water to the boiled eggs - They peeled perfectly.

 

[tinman9952]

Quick Tip : Hard To Peel Eggs Freshly laid eggs are nearly always hard to peel when boiled. Aging them for a week or so would probably help, but if you just can't wait that long then try this method : Put them in warm water and bring them up to boil. Once boiling, put a lid on the pan, and turn the heat off and leave them for ten minutes.

 

[Happyfarmwife]

I have just been enlightened about this difficult problem. Here is a link to the other posts about peeling fresh boiled eggs. It really really does work!
YourLinkGoesHere https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=35885

 

[Flowerchick]

I wish I had read about the salt before I boiled eggs for Easter! They were grocery store eggs (my chicks are three weeks old--not quite laying yet) but very fresh I guess, because there is almost no air space. I wanted egg salad for lunch and tried to peel the first egg with little success until I ran it under HOT tap water to rinse off some stuck-on shell. It came right off, so I tried rinsing the next one in hot water before I even started to peel--and it worked! I hate to waste water, but peeling under warm running water made the shell slip off even easier. SO--if you didn't salt, vinegar or age--try hot water!

 

[McGoo]

Flowerchick,
Welcome to the forum

And thanks for the tip. From my research it seems that really fresh eggs have a different ph balance than older ones and it makes the shell adhere...

If you quickly peel the hardboiled eggs using the salt or vinegar methods, followed by ice water, they peel quite well... But it's when you put them in the fridge and try to peel them the next day or two. That's the reeeeeeeal problem.

So running them under hot water is helpful.

 

[fleenorfarmmom]

I just cooked the perfect hard boiled eggs!!
First time in my life I didn't lose one out of the 14 I cooked. Tried the prick a hole technique. Worked like a charm. I cooked eggs that were 24 hrs. old and they peeled perfectly. Shell came off in sheets. First time I boiled fresh eggs there wasn't anything left when I tried to peel them. I gave the whole mess to the chickens.

 

[SandraChick]

I'll add my 2cents

I grew up using the jerk a hole technique along with putting them in ice water right after. That did not work for my fresh eggs.

I tried the salt (albeit not 1/2 cup!)
I tried the vinegar
I tried letting them "age" which worked with SOME eggs

Now I don't hard boil my easter egger eggs! They are impossible to peel even if 3 weeks old.
The brown egg layers peel pretty well with almost any of the techniques above- to the point where we just boil a dozen eggs at a time when we have too many (11hen, 2people--yup, we get overrun easily!- the neighbors love us and never complain about the roo!-- of course I didn't tell them no roo is required for eggs! hahah)
Back to the topic.

My duck eggs are the easiest to peel of all. no tricks needed.

So- those of you that are having problems peeling eggs- I ask what breed are they. If they are americauna or easter eggers---you may just be out of luck!

Sandra