Mushy hard boiled eggs

[FrankHomestead]

https://cooking.stackexchange.com/questions/33403/why-wont-my-boiled-egg-whites-harden

 

[aart]

https://cooking.stackexchange.com/questions/33403/why-wont-my-boiled-egg-whites-harden

Thanks, odd thread of comments....didn't really see any conclusion, feedback from original poster.

And not sure I buy this, sounds more like a freshness/grading test.
If you look up grading eggs they measure the height of the thicker albumen.
"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."

<scratchinghead>

 

[FrankHomestead]

Thanks, odd thread of comments....didn't really see any conclusion, feedback from original poster.

And not sure I buy this, sounds more like a freshness/grading test.
If you look up grading eggs they measure the height of the thicker albumen.
"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."

<scratchinghead>

Yea some of it did sound a little off. I also found another byc thread asking about "mooshy" boiled egg whites, that seemed to draw no conclusion, though I didn't finish reading it because I was cooking dinner. if you search for it, spell it "mooshy" not mushy lol

 

[Exec98]

A lot of interesting info, but I am was looking for more specific ideas that would help. Apparently this is not uncommon, and it does appear that the eggs have to much water which could make them mooshy. Surely someone out there has had this problem and found a way to correct.

 

[FrankHomestead]

OK I see 2 possibilities.
1. old egg
2. frozen egg.
How fresh was the egg? Any chance the egg was in a super cold spot in the fridge, where it may have froze? you wouldn't have been able to tell unless you cracked it open while raw.

Makes me want to do an experiment on boiling frozen eggs

 

[aart]

Yea some of it did sound a little off. I also found another byc thread asking about "mooshy" boiled egg whites, that seemed to draw no conclusion, though I didn't finish reading it because I was cooking dinner. if you search for it, spell it "mooshy" not mushy lol

Tried suggested search:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/search/5742011/?q=mooshy+boiled+egg+whites&o=relevance

Sometimes there is just not a viable and finite answer.

 

[Exec98]

OK I see 2 possibilities.
1. old egg
2. frozen egg.
How fresh was the egg? Any chance the egg was in a super cold spot in the fridge, where it may have froze? you wouldn't have been able to tell unless you cracked it open while raw.

Makes me want to do an experiment on boiling frozen eggs

Eggs are fresh. 1or 2 days old. Shells are nice and thick. Hens are 6 months old. When scrambled the eggs are delicious. Only problem is boiling them. The white is mooshy like it has too much water in it. Hens eat Purina pellet food. Get fresh water ever day or so.

 

[chickiemom3]

I have had this issue occasionally with my eggs. I have noticed that it tends to happen when I hand out too many "extras" in the pen (carrots, watermelons, etc). I typically feed Feather Fixer at 18% protein. My husband brought home Layer pellets a few days ago when we ran out of food (I think 16% protein?). I have since had a couple of eggs with softer whites. My suggestion would be to switch to a higher protein content food and see if that helps the problem. Or you could add treats with a high protein content like BOSS or scrambled eggs. The eggs are really gross when the whites are like this; we typically just feed them back to the girls.
Disclaimer: I have no reference materials to link to to back myself up, only observation.