Boiling Eggs

[alejaredden]

Ok, so I don't want to have to buy store bought eggs in order to be able to boil eggs! I have tried twice to boil my araucana, ameraucana and buff orpington eggs, and the outer membranes on all of them stick to the shell and egg. So frustrating to start peeling an egg and then destroying it because it won't come apart. Can anyone give me some insight into why this is happening, and is there anything I can do so that I can use my eggs for multipurpose use?? Thanks in advance for your time...

 

[Alaskan]

There are some tricks that people use..... That I can't remember off hand.

But, the biggest thing is AGE. Your eggs need to be at least a full week old if you want them to peal nicely. Three weeks old is even better.

 

[alejaredden]

Oh wow!! I didn't know that. They don't last long around this house. It is a wonder they make it a few days, we have a large spanish / italian family and we are the talk of the place because of our girls. I am thinking I need to get 4 more hens just to keep up! Thanks for your fast response. It makes sense then if that is the case.

 

[rocknchickenfam]

X2 I had the same problem when I first started boiling my own eggs. I tried boiling with baking soda but still ran into sticking issues. If you let your eggs sit and age a couple weeks, they will peel just as easily. I remember reading that the store bought eggs are already pretty old by the time they hit the shelf and that is why they peel nicely. I have a extra container in my frig just for my boiling eggs, that way I know the aged eggs perfect for boiling. Hope this helps

 

[yawningreyhound]

From what I've read, fresh eggs have very little air around the white/yolk inside the egg which is what you're exploiting to expand with all the hard-boiled eggs easy peeling tricks. I believe as the egg ages, it dehydrates some and allows air into the shell, which is porous, which was news to me!

I had to do 2 dozen deviled eggs for an event and all I had were fresh eggs. (we live a long way from the closest supermarket)

I believe it was the Martha Stewart site that offered this technique:

start with room temp eggs
boil (bring to boil (I do this gently if the pan is crowded), turn off, remove from heat, let stand 12 minutes)
move to big bowl of iced water and refrigerate 12 hours.

(My mom always taught me to put salt in the boiling water, too; that way if one cracks, the salt keeps the white from running everywhere and it just congeals on the outside of the shell)

I changed the iced water several times to keep them really really cold, I kept them in fridge all day, and prepared them that night.

They weren't GREAT to peel, but I got 22 beautiful eggs for deviling. My experience before this was a mess....the shell always took big chunks of white with it.

I peeled them under a tiny stream of cool water and worked at getting the membrane started, you know the one on regular eggs that you grab and the whole shell comes off in practically one piece?

When I've made deviled eggs since, I either buy store bought (we have a wonderful egg producer here in Niwot Colorado and they sell their pastured chicken eggs at the grocers. $6. but at least maybe the chickies have a decent life) OR I age the fresh eggs a week or two. That seems to help immensely. But aging fresh eggs is hard around here....we eat a LOT of eggs.

Hope this helps!

 

[alejaredden]

Yes, that is a problem. We love our eggs. I have never had better fried eggs in my life! The yolks are golden almost orange and so sweet and good. Our girls eat better than us I think they are happy and spoiled. I have created 4 little monsters I do believe.

 

[alejaredden]

This is our friendly Buff, before she started laying. Yolkley is the best little girl. She is a monster now, and it is very difficult to get a picture of all of them at one time.

 

[yawningreyhound]

Ah, she's beautiful! There was a Buff Orpington (I THINK; i'm new at this!) in the flock I cared for this past fall. She was just the prettiest bird with that blonde cloak.

We had put the chickens away and the man and I had counted, me inside, him out in the enclosed run.

The people for whom I was chicken sitting came home for a visit the next morning and said "Did you lose a bird? There's a party of feathers on the hill."

And I said, No, I don't think so and ran up the mountain to their house.

I counted them (which was hard as they were already out rangin') and sure enough. 28. not 29.

I looked at the feather pile and that was not there the day before.

I ran back to the birds and sure enough, it was the buff who bought it.

It was the first time I'd lost a chicken. It was devastating. Especially since it was just a miscount problem. Especially since they weren't my birds. If I had gone back up there in half an hour, she probably would've been lingering around the coop door, which is where the fox most likely grabbed her. Or the bear. The fox takes them away, right? And the bear eats them in situ?

The people were wonderful about it; they've been free-ranging for 7 years and had gotten over the wildlife grabbing a bird. The woman said The way I figure it, the birds have a great life. And if they die feeding some wildlife, it's not the worse that could happen to them.

I didn't feel better for weeks. And believe me, we counted 2 and 3 times after that!!!! Then I lost two more the day I cleaned the coop right before the people were coming back to stay. One of mine, one of theirs. In broad daylight. With me up there sweeping and wheelbarrowing and talking to the chickens and the chihuahuas running about, and the talk radio I blasted in hopes of dissuading visiting predators...

Ouch, my heart hurts all over again.

My neighbor said "If the fox never got any birds, we'd never have room to get new stock cuz I ain't eating any of them!"

Still. It's so hard.

 

[alejaredden]

Ah, she's beautiful!  There was a Buff Orpington (I THINK; i'm new at this!) in the flock I cared for this past fall.  She was just the prettiest bird with that blonde cloak.

We had put the chickens away and the man and I had counted, me inside, him out in the enclosed run.  

The people for whom I was chicken sitting came home for a visit the next morning and said "Did you lose a bird?  There's a party of feathers on the hill."

And I said, No, I don't think so and ran up the mountain to their house.

I counted them (which was hard as they were already out rangin') and sure enough.  28.  not 29.

I looked at the feather pile and that was not there the day before.

I ran back to the birds and sure enough, it was the buff who bought it.

It was the first time I'd lost a chicken.  It was devastating.  Especially since it was just a miscount problem.  Especially since they weren't my birds.  If I had gone back up there in half an hour, she probably would've been lingering around the coop door, which is where the fox most likely grabbed her.  Or the bear.  The fox takes them away, right?  And the bear eats them in situ?

The people were wonderful about it; they've been free-ranging for 7 years and had gotten over the wildlife grabbing a bird.  The woman said The way I figure it, the birds have a great life.  And if they die feeding some wildlife, it's not the worse that could happen to them.

I didn't feel better for weeks.  And believe me, we counted 2 and 3 times after that!!!!  Then I lost two more the day I cleaned the coop right before the people were coming back to stay.  One of mine, one of theirs.  In broad daylight.  With me up there sweeping and wheelbarrowing and talking to the chickens and the chihuahuas running about, and the talk radio I blasted in hopes of dissuading visiting predators...

Ouch, my heart hurts all over again.  

My neighbor said "If the fox never got any birds, we'd never have room to get new stock cuz I ain't eating any of them!"

Still.  It's so hard.

Wow that is quite the story! Ugh I would be sick if I saw any of my girls in a pile of feathers. I hope all is well now with you.

 

[wyoDreamer]

There are alot of ways that people make their perfect peeled egg. Here is a thread about boiling your home grown eggs: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/24428/i-cant-seem-to-peel-my-hard-boiled-eggs-page-8-solution/160 If you don't like that one, there are probably about a dozen more.
I do the bring the water to a boil, add room temp eggs, cook until done, drain, shake pan to crack, and put into ice water until cool. Peel and enjoy.
I use an egg-perfect egg timer. you put it in the pan when you add the eggs and it changes color as it heats up and tells you how done the eggs are. It works great.