First Run of Cornish Cross Meat Birds and Super Excited!

[dpenning]

Important Question:
Having an over abundance of eggs, I decided to make deviled eggs to bring to a family gathering.
I found the hard boiled eggs hard ( read nearly impossible) to shell. The whites and the eggs stayed firmly together, making eggs that look like they came through the war.
Is there a trick to shelling fresh eggs when hard boiled? I have always heard you do not want to hard boil fresh eggs, I think I know why now.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.


Do not suggest adding more vodka/alcohol I tried that last night and the eggs just peeled worse the more I drank.

I don't know if you did this or not but I boil the eggs for 10 minutes then take them off and put them in the sink and dump my entire ice tray in the pan and add cold water. Mine peeled pretty well. Of course since I get so many eggs in the summer when I did this they may have been a week or two old!

 

[duluthralphie]

I don't know if you did this or not but I boil the eggs for 10 minutes then take them off and put them in the sink and dump my entire ice tray in the pan and add cold water. Mine peeled pretty well. Of course since I get so many eggs in the summer when I did this they may have been a week or two old!

Yep, We tried that. We steam our eggs, we get less cracked eggs that way.

I placed them in a little cold water and dumped a ton of ice on them, we have an ice maker so no trays. My eggs were fresh or a day old at most. I never seem to have old eggs anymore.

BTW The reason I made the vodka comment is we have some members of this thread, And I am not pointing at MM, Jessica or Linda on this, whose solution to every and any problem is add vodka......

 

[dpenning]

Yep, We tried that. We steam our eggs, we get less cracked eggs that way.

I placed them in a little cold water and dumped a ton of ice on them, we have an ice maker so no trays. My eggs were fresh or a day old at most. I never seem to have old eggs anymore.

BTW The reason I made the vodka comment is we have some members of this thread, And I am not pointing at MM, Jessica or Linda on this, whose solution to every and any problem is add vodka......

I just ignored that because you said you already tried it. I'm a vodka girl myself. My neurologist said don't drink, if you do drink vodka. A friend who is a cardiologist will only drink vodka. I read that as two out of three docs recommend vodka. Add a little cranberry juice and it is even healthy.

 

[duluthralphie]

I just ignored that because you said you already tried it. I'm a vodka girl myself. My neurologist said don't drink, if you do drink vodka. A friend who is a cardiologist will only drink vodka. I read that as two out of three docs recommend vodka. Add a little cranberry juice and it is even healthy.

OH MAN NOT ANOTHER ONE!!!


I am thinking of opening an online AA at BYC......

 

[duluthralphie]

I had a plan today!

It Failed....

I keep my chicken feed in one of my sheds. I try to keep the chickens out of that shed. It is their favorite shed. The problem is I have a large door I need to enter it through. It is 15 feet tall and nearly 20 feet wide. It is heavy. The door slides on rollers. When I go into the shed or leave the door open the chickens run in. Once they are inside they hide on me so they can stay inside.

I am forced then to leave the door open all day or risk trapping a chicken inside the shed. Today, my white Labrador followed me to the shed. She is a trained bird hunting dog. I figured if I made her sit in the doorway I could avoid closing the door. She sat in the door like she was told. She did good.

I was proud of my plan.

I went to the feed barrels, happy with myself knowing I had finally outsmarted the chickens. I turned to go out and I saw a dozen chickens in the shed and the dog sitting in the doorway. The dog stayed put, what I forgot is the dog never chases the chickens and considers them her friend because they feed her poop. The chickens consider the dog their pet, because they have it trained to eat poop.

The chickens simply walked around the dog as if she was not there! Another day with the shed door open......sigh

 

[1zooman12]

Hey Ralphie,
Your recent stuff is a riot of comedy; love reading your posts! I got around the egg peeling problem 2 ways. For preservation of the whole egg, I boil my eggs in heavily salted water some 7 minutes tops and rapidly chill them after boiling. Submersing them in a large container of ice water seems to make them shrink away from the shells. As for the value of the salt I am not really convinced of the efficacy but since my grandmother told me to do it that way more than 60 years ago, I simply do it! Of course, since the eggs used in deviling are going to be mashed beyond measure anyhow, I take a heavy table knife and split them in two and scoop them out with a small spoon as one does when making soft boileds. Let me know how it comes out, if you like.
I hope that you (and our fellow chicken nuts) had a great Christmas,
Neal

 

[JessicaThistle]

I just ignored that because you said you already tried it. I'm a vodka girl myself. My neurologist said don't drink, if you do drink vodka. A friend who is a cardiologist will only drink vodka. I read that as two out of three docs recommend vodka. Add a little cranberry juice and it is even healthy.

Ah Dawn. I knew you'd be a great fit for this group.

With cranberry juice is the way I like it.

Ralph: I think the main part of your problem is that your eggs are too fresh. My husband loves hard boiled eggs. I hate peeling them even if they do peel easily. I found that store bought eggs that had been in the fridge for a week or so, seemed to boil up and peel like a dream. The one time i tried boiled eggs with my own lovely chicken eggs, I think I only peeled half of them before giving up. The shell stuck so bad that more egg pulled off than shell.

I also add a bit of salt to the water, bring to boiling, cover and remove from heat. I leave the eggs on the stovetop for 10 minutes and then shock with cold water. I don't remember where I learned the idea, but it works great with older eggs.

I'm considering pickling some eggs during the summertime. I think the first thing that I would do is age the eggs after the experience that I had.

 

[LindaB220]

Linda: That sounds like an awesome idea!! Take your expenses into account (including your time) very carefully when pricing it. Another good idea is to check into what CSAs in your area charge for a comparable spread. You may be surprised that people will pay more. You don't want to be charging too little that you are paying them (in a sense) to take those goodies off of your hands. Sorry, I'm a business woman and have to always keep these things in mind.

Mountain Mom: Dixies egg is huge but funny looking. I suppose it took so much out of her to create an egg that big that making it smooth and shiny just didn't happen.

One change in my plans, I've decided to order 30 ISA Brown pullets from Townline. They lay over 300 eggs a year and are the supreme hybrid for layers. Just like the CX's they have 4 different sets of grandparents. Close guarded secret like the CX's. I priced them and they are $.38 more per bird than from Schletch Hatchery. $2.48 plus $26 shipping to La. Let's see, 300 eggs each a year for 30 pullets is NINE THOUSAND eggs or 750 dozen. I'll have to get a after school helper.. ha. That's about 14 or so doz a week.
I activated my account for Azure Standard since they deliver here once a month. High feed bill but worth it. I'll have the babies on it from day one. Fermented of course.

 

[LindaB220]

Yep, We tried that. We steam our eggs, we get less cracked eggs that way.

I placed them in a little cold water and dumped a ton of ice on them, we have an ice maker so no trays. My eggs were fresh or a day old at most. I never seem to have old eggs anymore.

BTW The reason I made the vodka comment is we have some members of this thread, And I am not pointing at MM, Jessica or Linda on this, whose solution to every and any problem is add vodka......

First, off, Ralphie, that's a darn lie!!!! My solution to every problems is not vodka, it's bourbon. Thank you very much.

Blooie has a great way to do eggs. Put an egg in each hole of a muffin pan and bake for 15 or so minutes at 325. Supposed to work like a charm. I didn't get to try it this year, my DD had totally taken over the kitchen and didn't want or need ANY help. Aww, that broke my heart. Not. Tired from everything pertaining to the holidays. It seems that I'll never catch up on my rest. Yesterday I was out nailing clear shower curtains to the coops to winterize them. Still need to get bags of soil to place around to keep water out, but it's pretty set. Yes, I'm walking today, but very, very slowly.

 

[11mini]

Is there a trick to shelling fresh eggs when hard boiled? I have always heard you do not want to hard boil fresh eggs, I think I know why now.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.

At least 10 days old works best for me. Store eggs are older than that before they hit the shelf.
I use the Julia Child method: Start with eggs in cold water about 1" covering the eggs. Bring to boil, cover and remove from heat. Set timer 17 minutes. Remove eggs from hot water place in ice bath for 2 minutes. Dip each egg back in the hot water for 10 seconds. Roll egg on counter to crack shell then peel in a bowl of water or under the faucet.

The dip back in the hot water is supposed to expand the shell enough to peel the membrane away from the egg white.