hardboiled egg question

[tatersgirl913]

How old should "fresh" eggs be in order to peel them with ease? I have eggs that are 2 weeks old and still looked like something out of a horror movie. I wanted to make fresh deviled eggs for my son's birthday party in 2 weeks but I fear I won't have eggs that are old enought :-(

 

[Carolyn]

It doesn't matter how old they are. Add a little salt to your water and bring it to a boil. When it is boiling gentley lower your eggs into the water and make sure the water is deep enough to cover the eggs (you can use a spoon to lower them). Return to a boil, cover and lower to simmer. Cook 12 min for small/med, 15 min for large +. Immediately drain them in sink, flush with cold water then place them in cold water with ice added. As soon as they are cool enough to handle peel them. This also ends the greenish color on the yolks.

You will find other ways mentioned on here to do it and the first doz times I read you should drop eggs into boiling water I said "no way". I was wrong. This has never failed for me and I have boiled and peeled eggs that were fresh from the hen.

The reason this is not a problem with store eggs is they are several weeks vs months old and the membrane has already started to dry and loosen from the shell. I have never had perfect success peeling my own eggs no matter how old they are (6wks) unless I at least added salt to the water.

Enjoy and I hope he has a happy birthday!

 

[Carolyn]

I see there is a thread on this subject a few lines below this one in the E, C & other F Recipes.....it has 125 replies. Try mine with a couple of eggs first and see if it works for you. I use about 1 tsp of salt and it may not be necessary but it works for me so I haven't quit using it.

 

[Billyj]

I had the same problem with my eggs. What I do is before I boil them, I stick a pin in the big end of the egg (the air sac end). Kinda like you do when you want to blow them out. I boil them as usual, and put them in an ice cold bath immediately when they are done. Peel them as soon as they are cool enought o handle. Some still will not be useable for develed eggs, but for the most part this works just fine. You can also go to a kitchen supply store and purchase an egg picker sort of thing that pokes the hole for you, but i just use a thimb tack and it works fine.

 

[tatersgirl913]

Carolyn
thanks! I never actually took the time to see if there was another thread. I was just so frustrated I shall try your method and see how things work out.

thanks for taking the time to respond.

 

[tatersgirl913]

Thanks BillyJ
something else to try!

 

[Carolyn]

How did your eggs turn out?

 

[Saltysteele]

3 weeks or so old, is what we strive for.

it also depends on the chickens, as to whether the eggs will peel clean or not when cooked fresh. my large foul eggs peel like poo, but my banty's eggs peel easy and clean fresh

 

[parkerdeano]

Almost 4 weeks for the best results in my opinion.

 

[Nicole01]

I recently boiled 2 day fresh eggs in salt water to test it out. It worked fabulous and peeled perfectly! Once they were done cooking, I immediately cooled in ice water before peeling.