hardboiled quail eggs - dissolving shells?

[DiSA1]

I hard boil quail eggs often. I soak the eggs in white vinegar for at least 12 hours and then simply remove the remaining membrane. This does NOT pickle the egg. It simply dissolves the shell for much easier peeling. It really works.

 

[Da Falconer]

The shell of an egg (typically a chicken egg) is made up of primarily calcium carbonate. If you soak this egg shell in vinegar (which is about 4% acetic acid), you start a chemical reaction that dissolves the calcium carbonate shell. The acetic acid reacts with the calcium carbonate in the egg shell and releases carbon dioxide gas that you see as bubbles on the shell.
CaCO3 (s) + 2 HC2H3O2 (aq) → Ca(C2H3O2)2 (aq) + H2O (l) + CO2 (g)
The egg insides remain intact and are held together by the two fragile membranes just inside the shell.

 

[birdmandan]

Falconer is right. Soaking for as little as 3 hours can dissolve a batch of eggs. The strong membrane prevents the egg from pickling and absorbing the vinegar. Peeling fresh boiled quail eggs is a tedious task and my attempts usually results in mostly destroyed eggs. This is a much easier method. The membrane can easily be removed after soaking by pinching the air sac at the big end of the egg.

 

[jvls1942]

so if you would put vinegar into the cooking water while the eggs are cooking, would this dissolve the shell ?

 

[igorsMistress]

so if you would put vinegar into the cooking water while the eggs are cooking, would this dissolve the shell ?

Not likely, better to soak after cooking.