I have discovered new (old) appliance that I LOVE!!

[Farmfresh]

so why are fresh eggs so dang hard to peel anyway?

When an egg is freshly laid the white of the egg fills up almost the entire shell. After even a few days the egg starts to "dry out" a bit. Some of the moisture in the whites (albumen) begins to evaporate. The air cell at the end of the egg gets larger because as the moisture evaporates a void is left and that fills up with air. As the egg ages it continues to pull away from the shell somewhat.

If you boil a fresh egg it immediately sinks to the bottom of the pan, since it is full and heavy. The shell is hard to remove since it is stuck tight against the egg membranes and the whites of the egg.

If you boil an old egg it will begin to stand on end. (A REALLY old egg will just float entirely! If your egg floats entirely I would not be eating it. Yuck. ) After the egg is boiled it is easy to peel since the shell has naturally separated somewhat from the contents. Eggs a couple of weeks old really peel much better than a fresh one.

 

[SKR8PN]

Thanks for the explanation FarmFresh!

All I knew was that the fresher the egg, the more of a PITA they are to peel!

 

[reinbeau]

The method mentioned in this BYC thread absolutely works every single time, I'll post it here:

OK, I've been trying various methods to hard boil my eggs,peel them, and still end up with something resembling an egg. Some success, but nothing I'd want to use for say deviled eggs.

So last weekend my husband asks if I want a boiled egg. Sure. He hands me the most perfectly peeled egg oblivious to the miracle he has performed. Casually I ask him how he made the eggs.

Get the water boiling first - rapid boil. Add a dash of salt. Gently lower eggs in with a ladle. 14 minutes later drain and put in cold water so they are cool enough to handle. Peel.

I tried it tonight to see if I could duplicate the perfect egg. The eggs practically roll out of the shell. I have almost intact shells. Sooo easy.

Now, do I tell him how amazing he is?

I'm always amazed that people continue to offer other methods in that thread when so many of us have found the method that works so well

 

[freemotion]

I've tried so many methods that I read about on byc that I just didn't believe another one.....but if y'all say it works, it MUST be true!

 

[reinbeau]

It really is true, Free, I've used it several times on eggs that were gathered that day or the day before, and the shells come right off. The hardest part for me is to gently lower them into the boiling water, they seem very prone to break compared with older eggs.

 

[Ldychef2k]

I have an extremely violent way to peel HB eggs. After they have been boiled for however long I manage to boil them, I drain off the hot water, leave the eggs in the pan, and then shake the pan back and forth until the shells are totally shattered. then I immediately plulnge them into ice water and within a minute or two a steam layer develops between the egg and the membrane under the shell and the whole egg slips out in one fell swoop.

Of course, I only use store bought eggs, so I have no clue how this would work on a really fresh out of the chicken egg.

 

[Bettacreek]

I have always boiled the eggs (adding eggs before or after the water boils, depending on how lazy or impatient I'm being), drained, then ran them under cold water and peeled. I never realised that people had issues with peeling eggs until I found BYC...

 

[kcsunshine]

I have an extremely violent way to peel HB eggs. After they have been boiled for however long I manage to boil them, I drain off the hot water, leave the eggs in the pan, and then shake the pan back and forth until the shells are totally shattered. then I immediately plulnge them into ice water and within a minute or two a steam layer develops between the egg and the membrane under the shell and the whole egg slips out in one fell swoop.

Of course, I only use store bought eggs, so I have no clue how this would work on a really fresh out of the chicken egg.

My method also. Two-week old eggs will peel nicely. No need to hold for a month.

 

[deb4o]

Thank-you Thank-you, I was wondering if something was wrong with my eggs, since raising my own, I have had a heck of a time getting boiled ones to shell easily. I have had to "crack" them in two and then use a spoon to dig out the egg. This is gonna make things sooo easy. Yipee-skippy egg salad sandwiches here I come.

 

[reinbeau]

There's an even easier way to make eggs for egg salad. From this thread on BYC:

Crack all the eggs into a BIG bowl. (its going to rise like real bread so give it plenty of room.)

Pop all the yolks with a fork. (don't stir them, unless you want scrambled looking salad, but be sure to POP them at least)

COVER the bowl really well, its going to make a mess. (I use disposable shower caps that I get at the dollar store, they come 8 to a pack, and have these neat little elastics that pull them tight around the bowl. We use these instead of saran wrap on left overs too.)

Now, here is where it gets tricky. Each microwave is different, so you are going to have to experiment. Mine is fairly new, and pretty high powered, so I cook for one minute, then checked it, and gave it a swirl. then I cooked it for 2 minutes, and checked again. (by this time it was pretty hot, but not cooked yet.) So I gave it two more minutes. Voila! Done!

When it comes out, it is one solid mass of white and orange, and I used a knife and fork to chop it up into bite sizes, just like you would boiled eggs, but it was easier cause the eggs weren't sliding around the bowl. chopped it up, added the mayonnaise etc. and served as usual!

It was so easy, I may never boil another egg again! (well, maybe for deviled eggs, but then again,,,,, maybe not!)