Question About Eggs

[ChickensLove]

Hello Everyone!!

I was wondering if anyone knows why the white part of the egg tends to stick to the shell when they are hard boiled? Doesn't seem to happen to store bought eggs, which I never like to buy anymore. Is there a secret to keep the whites from sticking? Thank you so much and be good to your chickens!!

 

[N F C]

Hi and welcome!

The eggs you buy in the store are older than the ones you get from your own flock. As eggs get older, the air cell gets larger making it easier to get the shell off hard boiled eggs.

I'm going to move your post to the appropriate forum and you can get more feedback from other members.

Nice to have you here!

 

[SueZ 24]

I'm not sure if this is it, but I know that older eggs work better for hard boiling which might be the reason because store eggs are usually much older than fresh ones.
Hope that helped

 

[WindingRoad]

Hello Everyone!! View attachment 1653247 I was wondering if anyone knows why the white part of the egg tends to stick to the shell when they are hard boiled? Doesn't seem to happen to store bought eggs, which I never like to buy anymore. Is there a secret to keep the whites from sticking? Thank you so much and be good to your chickens!! View attachment 1653246

I put my fresh eggs ( that's why they "stick") in a pan get them boiling then turn them off and let them sit for 13 minutes. Pour off the hot water and rinse them many times with cold until they are cold. They will peel nicely then. Crack them on the large end to start.

 

[Karen523]

I always steam fresh eggs rather than boiling them. I never have a problem removing the eggshells this way.

 

[ChickensLove]

Oh my goodness Karen, thank you sooo much!!! Great idea, and I never thought about that! Can you please relay how long you steam the eggs to make them like hard boiled? Thanks again for an amazing suggestion!!!

 

[Silkies for life]

A tip we just started using was adding lemon juice to the water when we boil the eggs... It worked great!!

 

[ChickensLove]

A tip we just started using was adding lemon juice to the water when we boil the eggs... It worked great!!

Well my goodness, thank you so much!! So far, I have had two great suggestions and am anxious to try them out, yahoo!!

 

[Karen523]

Oh my goodness Karen, thank you sooo much!!! Great idea, and I never thought about that! Can you please relay how long you steam the eggs to make them like hard boiled? Thanks again for an amazing suggestion!!!

You're welcome The steaming time just depends on how well done you want them. The length of time needed is the same as when you boil them. Egg shells are porous so steaming them allows oxygen to get into the shell to separate the membrane from the shell. That membrane is what makes it hard to peal fresh boiled eggs. When the eggs are fresh, the membrane sticks to both the egg and the shell. This is also the reason that older eggs are easier to peel. The older (store bought) eggs have sat around long enough to allow oxygen to pass through the porous shell and loosen the membrane.

 

[Acre4Me]

A friend swears by this method (store bought eggs): bring to boil, turn off heat, let sit for 10-12 min, then remove to ice water. I’ve done this with moderate success.

I have better success with boil, then chill in cold water, then roll the shell around to crack it all over, and peel under a small stream of water or in a bowl of water -I think the water gets between the membrane and white while peeling.

However, fresh eggs have less of an air pocket, and are generally harder to peel.

If you are going to peel and make pickled eggs, then to get perfect eggs, you put the boiled eggs, with the shell still intact straight into a bowl of vinegar. Let sit several hours, then the shell peels off in soft ribbons bc the vinegar has made the shells soft. We used to have quail. I would boil and peel about 110 quail eggs to make 4 pints of pickled egg. This soak method was by far the best and easiest way to peel 100+ eggs!