Trouble peeling boiled eggs!

[rileysgranny]

My DH loves to take boiled eggs to work in his lunch box. Before we got our chickens, just a few months ago, I was boiling store bought. They were easy to peel. Now, I've been trying different ways to boil my"home grown" eggs, but I haven't found a way to make them easy to peel The shell always sticks and most of the egg is wasted. DH hates it, so I've gone back to store bought.

Here's what I've tried:

Put the eggs in a sauce pan, cover with water, bring water to boil, turn off heat, put on lid, wait 4 minutes, drain hot water, immediately run cold water over the eggs and let them sit for 15 minutes. Refrigerate, send them in DH's lunch. This was on Rachel Ray. Worked with store bought, but not with"home grown".

Then, from cooking show: All of the above, but put 1 tablespoon of salt per egg in the water. Still won't peel properly.

Can anyone tell me what I'm doing wrong? My elderly neighbor says the eggs are TOO FRESH!

 

[toletiquesbysam]

Too fresh of eggs are hard to peel. I saw last night on Dinner Impossible he was trying to remove the shells off quail eggs and was having trouble so he tapped the hardboiled egg all over and then put it back into the boiling water for a few minutes and then pulled it out and tried to remove the shell again. He said that technique would allow some water to get between the shell and the egg and make removing the shell easier.
Don't know if it works but thought I'd offer it since he's a Chef!

 

[ams3651]

i use a couple Tbsp of salt and it usually works well. I let them boil for 5 minutes then drain and add cold water

 

[newnanchic]

I saw a Paula Deen special one time and she uses about 1/4 -1/3 cup of salt to blil about 8-10 eggs so I tried it and it works and I have since passed that along to many people and it works the salt does not change the taste of the eggs at all but they peel SOOOOO easy .

 

[CoyoteMagic]

OH OH OH!! I've become the master of boiled eggs!!

Somebody on here had posted how to do it, I tried, It's worked like a charm!!

Bring a pot of water to boil. Poke a hole in the bottom of your eggs (push pins are great for this) Once the water starts to boil drop the eggs in 1 at a time with the hole end going in last. IT will start to blow bubble out the hole or little bits of white will come out (both are fine) Let them boil until done. Remove from heat and let set in the water for 10 min. Then drain the hot water, put in cold and crack your shells just a tad. Allow the eggs to cool. Shell will peel like a banana!!!! Even ones laid that day!!

 

[Chicabee19]

Bring a pot of water to boil. Poke a hole in the bottom of your eggs (push pins are great for this) Once the water starts to boil drop the eggs in 1 at a time with the hole end going in last. IT will start to blow bubble out the hole or little bits of white will come out (both are fine) Let them boil until done. Remove from heat and let set in the water for 10 min. Then drain the hot water, put in cold and crack your shells just a tad. Allow the eggs to cool. Shell will peel like a banana!!!! Even ones laid that day!!

This is true .... when I was growing up we had a little 'machine' for want of a better term. You would put the fat end of the egg in the hallow area and push down. A tiny sharp point would pop up and poke a very small hole in the shell.

Here's a cool on I found online:

http://www.xk9.com/woof/?p=203​

 

[Harley's girl]

if you leave them set out of the fridge for a few days before they are much easier to peel!

 

[baldie]

I noticed this too, but I thought it was just me. I guess it is not. I am going to try some of your ideas next time!!!

 

[rileysgranny]

I'll try some of these ideas this weekend.

Chickabee19 - thanks for the link. That egg poker is pretty nifty. I'd never heard of such a thing.

I didn't know you could boil and egg with a hole it. I figured all the contents would leak right on out.

 

[schmije]

I thought I read something about putting vinegar in the water to help them peel better. Did I dream that up? I'm sure it would help to let the eggs sit out for a day or two before you boil them. I haven't tried either of these methods, though.