Why cant i peel an egg?

[Dougdilman]

Breakfast was a tragedy! My fresh eggs wouldnt peel hard boiled

is it because they are 2 days fresh? ive heard that but is it true?

 

[Dougdilman]

What a waste of pure gold!

 

[Eric_W]

The fresher they are , the harder they are to peel. If I plan on hard boiling I put some aside to age a few weeks .

 

[BirdsBeesTrees]

I have the same problem with really fresh eggs. I try to rotate the eggs so I know where my oldest ones are, so I can boil them. I even let mine sit in cold water for until they cool, and they still do that.

 

[FortCluck]

Put vinegar in the water before you boil it.

And when the eggs are done being boiled take them out and put them in an ice bath. Then peel

 

[Dougdilman]

Good help ! Thank you all

is a sharpie safe for eggs? how long is a fresh laid egg unwashed good for?

 

[NuggetTheChicken]

Good help ! Thank you all

is a sharpie safe for eggs? how long is a fresh laid egg unwashed good for?

I think sharpie is safe, when in doubt use the pencil. They stay good unwashed for a 2 weeks room temp and one month in the fridge

 

[BloomBunny]

Put vinegar in the water before you boil it.

And when the eggs are done being boiled take them out and put them in an ice bath. Then peel

Yes! vinegar will usually do the trick, even when they are fresh.

 

[Dougdilman]

Thanks all!

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Breakfast was a tragedy! My fresh eggs wouldnt peel hard boiled

is it because they are 2 days fresh? ive heard that but is it true?

Hi there, hope you are enjoying BYC!

Yes, it's true. But never deal with hard to peel boiled eggs again... even without aging them or adding anything wasteful (or extra) to the water!

I am speaking tried and true not hear say....

Shock them in, shock them out... it's that simple.

While it's true eggs are okay at room temp for a period of time... they diminish in quality rapidly... whites get thinner, yolk pops easier, etc. Unwashed eggs will actually last 6 months in the fridge AND still be better than store bought! Again, experience and not hear say. Believe it or not store bought eggs can be fairly old.. a couple months and even be sent back to the factory for re-grading and when to old for the market get sent for use as liquid eggs and other more industrial uses like cake mixes, etc. Yes, store eggs are washed but they are usually coated with a thin layer of mineral oil to help extend shelf life in the similar manner to leaving the bloom... that is reducing air exchange.

So to reiterate... Get your water boiling, put your eggs in (room or fridge temp doesn't matter). When done boiling, dip or run eggs in ice cold water. Get 99% perfectly peeled eggs!

My tap water from our well is cold enough to achieve this... but some folks may need to use ice water in a bowl.

I use pencil to date my fridge eggs, but Shapie is completely safe as far as I can tell. I mark ALL of my hatching eggs with it (pencil rubs off under a hen). After a couple years of hatching I haven't seen any negative impact from using a sharpie... though I no longer use red as it can look blood on the shell when a chick pips through it.

There are other threads with this same topic... I saw many are having great success steaming eggs in a vegetable steamer or those specific egg cookers. Single use appliances don't fly in my house. Links in case you wish to review the conversations...
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/egg-cookers.1210034/#post-19243557
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/finally-and-egg-questons.1316704/#post-21462912
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/tips-for-boiling-fresh-eggs.1331712/
Folks reported great results using their pressure cookers as well.

FWIW... feed the wasted peeled "gold" back to your chickens (before it has time to get moldy or anything)... nothing wasted! (and NO it does NOT cause egg eaters.)

What interesting about the suggested vinegar (which I did try in the past) is... yes, acidity penetrates or dissolves/weakens calcium... but in my over thinking brain... it has zero effect on the internal membrane which IS the part causing the problem of hard to peel eggs, according to my current experience.

Let us know which method you try and how it goes, show us a beautifully peeled boiled egg!