Hard Boiling Eggs

[palowlander]

All my normal recipes for hard boiling eggs and having the shell come off without any trouble seem to not work at all on my farm fresh eggs only store bought. Was wondering if anyone had any tricks to a good farm fresh hard boiled egg that you can get the shell to peel..thanks

 

[N F C]

Fresh eggs don't have as large an air cell in them as the older eggs you find at the store. If you use the Search Forums tool, you'll find a lot of different ideas on how the fresh eggs are cooked/peeled.

For me, I put them in a pot of boiling water, stick the lid on and take off the heat. Let them sit in that water for about 15 minutes then put the eggs in ice water. Once they are cool, I peel the eggs under running tap water.

That's just what works for me, I'm sure there are other ways of doing it.

 

[Chicken Heel]

My wife has used the following method successfully:
1) Bring water to a boil
2) Place egg in spoon
3) Lower spoon/egg very slowly into water and slide egg into water
4) Standard time for whatever preference one desires, soft, medium or hard boiled

 

[IamRainey]

Really fresh eggs won't peel, just like older eggs won't poach well. Them's just the facts!

I put a half dozen aside to age in the fridge. They usually sit there for about 2-3 weeks until we finish the previous batch.

Actually I steam mine (12 minutes, covered, over 1" of boiling water) and use the normal precaution of plunging them in ice water as soon as I take them off the heat. I leave them in the shell until someone wants one. They peel just fine.

When I steam them, I put another half dozen aside for the next batch.

 

[DobieLover]

I put a half dozen aside to age in the fridge. They usually sit there for about 2-3 weeks until we finish the previous batch.

Actually I steam mine (12 minutes, covered, over 1" of boiling water) and use the normal precaution of plunging them in ice water as soon as I take them off the heat. I leave them in the shell until someone wants one. They peel just fine.

When I steam them, I put another half dozen aside for the next batch.

I hard boil a dozen eggs every 6 days. I tried your method and it was an unmitigated disaster! But mine were fresh.

What has worked for me with a little better than 90% success rate is to allow the eggs to come to room temperature or don't refrigerate them at all.

Put about 1/3 c of white vinegar in the water and get it boiling good and hard. I use a pasta ladle to gently lower the eggs into the water. Set the timer to however "done" you want them. Watch the pot and lower the temp slightly when the water really gets ripping again.

When the timer goes off, strain off the eggs then place them in an ice water bath. I actually just drain off the hot water and hose the eggs down with cold water from the faucet to cool the eggs and pot a bit then add more cold tap water and dump a large tumbler of ice on them.

Again, my peeling success rate is a bit over 90%. The vinegar in the water is important as it will soften the shell a bit as the acetic acid attacks the calcium carbonate of the shell during the boiling so it penetrates a bit. I've forgotten the vinegar in the past and paid the price when it came time to peel them.

 

[cbain0432]

All my normal recipes for hard boiling eggs and having the shell come off without any trouble seem to not work at all on my farm fresh eggs only store bought. Was wondering if anyone had any tricks to a good farm fresh hard boiled egg that you can get the shell to peel..thanks

Bring your water to a hard boil first. While that's going on, prep your eggs. I store my eggs pointy side down. I use a corn on the cob poker to put a small hole in the fat bottom of each egg. Once you have a tiny hole in each egg, put in boiling water for exactly 9 minutes. Remove and cool. Perfect every time.

 

[DobieLover]

Bring your water to a hard boil first. While that's going on, prep your eggs. I store my eggs pointy side down. I use a corn on the cob poker to put a small hole in the fat bottom of each egg. Once you have a tiny hole in each egg, put in boiling water for exactly 9 minutes. Remove and cool. Perfect every time.

I like the vent hole idea as I do occasionally get cracked eggs with my method due to the thermal shock. I'm going to try putting in a vent hole before lowering into the water next time. Thanks for the idea.

 

[HennyPenny2019]

Really fresh eggs won't peel, just like older eggs won't poach well. Them's just the facts!

I put a half dozen aside to age in the fridge. They usually sit there for about 2-3 weeks until we finish the previous batch.

Actually I steam mine (12 minutes, covered, over 1" of boiling water) and use the normal precaution of plunging them in ice water as soon as I take them off the heat. I leave them in the shell until someone wants one. They peel just fine.

When I steam them, I put another half dozen aside for the next batch.

BTW ... I love your avatar, do you know the artist?

 

[Beer can]

I've tried many methods didn't have great luck with any, putting hole in air cell, ice shocking, etc nothing seemed to help much for me. Until I tried cutting up a lemon and adding to the water. Eggs peel as easy as store bought, nice. Vinegar didn't seem to help for me but a lemon does.
A couple cut up lemons in a big pot to boil a lot and reuse the water to boil many more still also worked when I was doing a lot of pickled eggs.
Recently I've been using just a good douse of cheap lemon juice that also has been working.

 

[DobieLover]

I've tried many methods didn't have great luck with any, putting hole in air cell, ice shocking, etc nothing seemed to help much for me. Until I tried cutting up a lemon and adding to the water. Eggs peel as easy as store bought, nice. Vinegar didn't seem to help for me but a lemon does.
A couple cut up lemons in a big pot to boil a lot and reuse the water to boil many more still also worked when I was doing a lot of pickled eggs.
Recently I've been using just a good douse of cheap lemon juice that also has been working.

The citric acid in lemon juice is about 5-8% and most white vinegars have an acetic acid concentration of 5%. A volume equivalent of lemon juice is likely to be more acidic than the same amount of vinegar. It doesn't matter. Having an acid in the water of high enough concentration seems to be key. At least for me.
White vinegar is dirt cheap so I'll stick with that!