Mushy hard boiled eggs

[Exec98]

i have 6 month old White Leghorn hens. I feed them Purina pellet feed. I keep them in a coop and normally let them out for about 30 to 45 minutes each day. Eggs are white, and the shells are seem to me are normal to a little extra thick when i crack open. I remove the eggs each day and place in refrigerator. When I cook the eggs scrambled, they appear normal and taste normal. When I try to boil them, the egg white is mushy. The yoke is solid as I would expect. This has not changed since the hens first began laying. Any suggestions?

 

[Peeps61]

How long do you boil the eggs?

 

[Exec98]

I have boiled them for both 10 and 15 minutes. No difference in the results.

 

[hlhutchinson]

I'm interested in the possible reason too. I would think boiling longer would not matter due to the yoke being cooked, that's the last to cook. I say this because I love 7 min eggs the white is cooked and the yoke is not cooked all the way

 

[FrankHomestead]

That's very odd. I'm hoping someone will chime in soon with an answer, I'm very curious!

 

[FrankHomestead]

Here is what I found. Fascinating!

• Egg whites are 90% water, when they harden, the protein unravels and creates a grid network that does not allow the molecules to slip past each other. If the protein level drops, it might make it harder to set and stay runny.
  
  
• Egg white proteins go through a phase change (become hard) at a lower temperature than the Yolk by a few degrees, that's how you can have soft-boiled eggs.
  
  
• If you crack a fresh egg and it sprawls on the dish (as opposed to hold tall), you're looking at an egg from a chicken that didn't eat many insects/larvae. This may be expected as at this time of the year (northern hemisphere) insects aren't very active.
  

There is a good section in Michael Pollan's Omnivore's Dilemma that gets into more detail. And perhaps better information regarding the off-season feed.

 

[hlhutchinson]

Here is what I found. Fascinating!

• Egg whites are 90% water, when they harden, the protein unravels and creates a grid network that does not allow the molecules to slip past each other. If the protein level drops, it might make it harder to set and stay runny.
  
  
• Egg white proteins go through a phase change (become hard) at a lower temperature than the Yolk by a few degrees, that's how you can have soft-boiled eggs.
  
  
• If you crack a fresh egg and it sprawls on the dish (as opposed to hold tall), you're looking at an egg from a chicken that didn't eat many insects/larvae. This may be expected as at this time of the year (northern hemisphere) insects aren't very active.

There is a good section in Michael Pollan's Omnivore's Dilemma that gets into more detail. And perhaps better information regarding the off-season feed.

Thank you for the info

 

[Peeps61]

Here is what I found. Fascinating!

• Egg whites are 90% water, when they harden, the protein unravels and creates a grid network that does not allow the molecules to slip past each other. If the protein level drops, it might make it harder to set and stay runny.
  
  
• Egg white proteins go through a phase change (become hard) at a lower temperature than the Yolk by a few degrees, that's how you can have soft-boiled eggs.
  
  
• If you crack a fresh egg and it sprawls on the dish (as opposed to hold tall), you're looking at an egg from a chicken that didn't eat many insects/larvae. This may be expected as at this time of the year (northern hemisphere) insects aren't very active.

There is a good section in Michael Pollan's Omnivore's Dilemma that gets into more detail. And perhaps better information regarding the off-season feed.

Great information! Thanks for sharing.

 

[aart]

Here is what I found. Fascinating!

• Egg whites are 90% water, when they harden, the protein unravels and creates a grid network that does not allow the molecules to slip past each other. If the protein level drops, it might make it harder to set and stay runny.
  
  
• Egg white proteins go through a phase change (become hard) at a lower temperature than the Yolk by a few degrees, that's how you can have soft-boiled eggs.
  
  
• If you crack a fresh egg and it sprawls on the dish (as opposed to hold tall), you're looking at an egg from a chicken that didn't eat many insects/larvae. This may be expected as at this time of the year (northern hemisphere) insects aren't very active.

There is a good section in Michael Pollan's Omnivore's Dilemma that gets into more detail. And perhaps better information regarding the off-season feed.

That's interesting, could you provide a link to the website you got it from?
Or maybe you typed it up out of the book mentioned?

 

[FrankHomestead]

That's interesting, could you provide a link to the website you got it from?
Or maybe you typed it up out of the book mentioned?

It was a site, just a sec