My egg shells are so hard I cannot peel eggs, help please

[Maryallison77]

Not sure why my eggs are sooooo hard. I boiled my eggs the other day and went to peel them and had a huge mess! The shells just wouldn't come off. I even added salt to the water like someone suggested.

What can I do?????

 

[Roosterboy]

Fresh eggs are harder to peel.
From what i understand it is not how hard they are

 

[bluey]

Maybe you're hardboiling freshly laid eggs? From what I understand, it can take up to a week or more before the inner membrane of an egg pulls away from the shell. Until that happens, it makes peeling hardboiled eggs difficult.

Maybe someone with a little more knowledge can elaborate.

 

[freemotion]

Ha, I discovered this for the first time when I boiled two dozen for devilled eggs for a cookout the next day.....I ended up sending the hubby to the store for yukky old eggs, which worked just fine! Yes, too fresh, won't peel. So now I mark a carton with the date and big letters that say, "Save for boiling!!! Don't use!"

I just read that you can peel fresh eggs if you put them from the boiling water into water with ice in it and flash cool them. Haven't tried it yet, though, since I now keep some older eggs. Two to four weeks works well, the older, the better. I also save those with stains that won't come off easily.

 

[setter4]

I've tried every suggestion on this list and from a half dozen people and the bottom line is that fresh eggs just usually won't peel! Save some for a week or 2 for boiling.

 

[Maryallison77]

Thank you so much! I do tend to use all the eggs soon as I get them. I will save some for boiling now. I will tell dh and his mom too. Everyone kept telling me to use salt and it wasn't working....

 

[rubyv67]

I heard a little vinegar in the water can help.

 

[Maryallison77]

Thanks Ruby, I could try that too

 

[grandads]

steam your eggs for 20 min. then put in ice water.

 

[aiwetir]

this was just asked here
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=24428

and i think salt water was the solution, but i didn't read that closely

cheers