Fresh eggs can't be hard boiled?

[Seatrout00]

I found two videos on this subject - I will post them here.

--- Jerry Hanson cracks me up.

These seemed pretty solid.

 

[MeepBeep]

The FINAL word on the subject is to find someone who you know can cook well, who has the same perfectly boiled and peeled eggs that you want in their salads and soups and so on, and ask them. Asking the internet is a bad idea, unless there is proof on the website involved.

Back to the OP you can in fact hard boil fresh eggs but they are incredibly hard to peel vs older ones as the egg white on fresh eggs is more firmly attached to the shell, this is science based not hearsay... As the egg matures and the egg white starts to lose water and thre are air exchanges between the inside of the egg and outside of the egg things happen... One of the big factors in regards to peeling during this air/water exchange process is that the egg white loses acidity (gives off some of it's CO2) going from a PH just under 8 as laid to just above 9 after it ages for awhile... The egg white also shrinks as it loses water both of these factor cause the egg white to pull away from and release it's grip on the shell and thus makes for easier peeling after it's cooked... As many have found it seems the sweet age for easier to peel hard boiled eggs starts at about the 10 days old mark... Edited by Staff

 

[attimus]

You can boil fresh eggs just fine. Just add plenty of salt to the water and crack the shells a bit after shocking them with ice water after the allotted time. I recently injured my good hand and was peeling my eggs one handed with a simple roll technique to crack the whole shell. You just have to peel them all after you cook them. Storing them with shell on for any duration of time in the fridge will only make peeling harder.
15 yrs cooking for a living. Just saying....

Attimus

 

[GodofPecking]

You can boil fresh eggs just fine. Just add plenty of salt to the water and crack the shells a bit after shocking them with ice water after the allotted time. I recently injured my good hand and was peeling my eggs one handed with a simple roll technique to crack the whole shell. You just have to peel them all after you cook them. Storing them with shell on for any duration of time in the fridge will only make peeling harder.
15 yrs cooking for a living. Just saying....

Attimus

+1 this is a good summary of the videos and research I've done myself. I do hope your hand heals, if you don't have your health, you have nothing. I sometimes think I should upload a video to youtube to show how to use one hand to crack three eggs into a bowl properly. There is only a stupid one there which ends with all three eggs and their shells smashed into the bowl, unless someone has uploaded a proper one more recently.

The FINAL word on the subject is to find someone who you know can cook well, who has the same perfectly boiled and peeled eggs that you want in their salads and soups and so on, and ask them. Asking the internet is a bad idea, unless there is proof on the website involved.

I've gone back and added italics, bold and underlined the original word which gives the second sentence it's conditional nature. I hope this helps one or two people, and I'll try to reiterate such things in future.

 

[GodofPecking]

I found two videos on this subject - I will post them here.

--- Jerry Hanson cracks me up.

These seemed pretty solid.

I think that first one is excellent, and hits the spot. It has all of the things that you should do including the salt and cold water. The cracking is unusual and I'd worry if it changes the shape of the final result, however the results spoke for themselves. Nice find. Oh and I like Jerry's sense of humor and timing.


Edited by Staff

 

[Seatrout00]

What would your estimate be for "plenty of salt"? I'm also hearing that salt in the boiling water helps keep the eggs from cracking too, which is helpful.

 

[Seatrout00]

Now that I've actually researched poaching (read up on some cooking websites) I'm thinking too messy for me, but I appreciate the suggestion.

We eat most of our eggs scrambled, so I am not too fussed about the boiling bit - I do boil eggs to make egg salad sandwiches and Easter eggs, and don't mind the research to make sure I get the eggs just right - waiting until they are 10 days old seems very reasonable - as well as boiling them with some of the methods you all have suggested as well as some of the methods I've found on Youtube - thank you all for your responses.

 

[GodofPecking]

I avoid measuring in my kitchen and go by 'feel' or instinct instead. It saves time and washing up. Start with about a spoon's worth, any spoon, and if it works fine you can reduce the amount until it no longer works on successive meals. Once you know the minimum for a given saucepan and amount of water, you just throw in at least that much. I don't really use a spool though, I just turn the salt container over the pot for a second or two. For me, the salt costs nothing and I can hope some of the iodine gets into the eggs, so I haven't really looked for the minimum myself. I just 'throw some in' real fast from the salt container and it works every time for me, no cracked eggs. I haven't looked into the economy angle for it yet.

 

[TwoCrows]

I did some editing and deleting in this thread.

Please people, there is no need to argue about cooking eggs! Discuss it and be done with it. Do not attack each other.

Thank you for your cooperation.

-BYC Staff

 

[TwoCrows]

Please read my previous post here folks.