My friend has lots of extra eggs from her comets and RIRs so she decided to make pickled eggs, but she cannot get a smooth egg, the lining (????) keeps sticking to the egg, any hints?
Whats the trick to hard boiling eggs?
LoraK, I know the problem and the cure is usually learned quick form those who have chickens for the 1st time .... and are consuming extremely fresh eggs for the first time or in a long while is your 1st clue. They need to get a bit stale ...... set them in the refer for a week and they'll behave just like store bought eggs. Isn't that just hilarious? but its is the cure for getting the eggshell to come off the hardboiled egg nicely. You can also put them in cold water after having boiled them for an hour to help with removing the eggshell.
I have put olive (cooking) oil in with water and start with water from faucet put eggs in pan and then bring to boil and let it boil for about 20 minutes. I have also added white vinager with the oil and that seems to help also. Run cold water over eggs for about 5 minutes and let set until they are cooled down and then should peel easily. I use ice water.
Hope this works...
Marion
I posted a link to a site somewhere. It says not to try hard boiled eggs until the eggs are about 2 weeks old. They are right too! The shells don't seem to come off nice until they are at least that old. When we get too many, we just make egg salad since the egg whites don't have to be pretty for that. LOL Since we keep the eggs in a deep bin in the fridge, it's easy to find the older ones.
The site also said one normally boils eggs for 8 minutes but to boil fresh ones for 10.
Martha says put salt in your water before you boil your eggs and the lining wont stick. My mom used to boil her eggs for 7 minutes then remove the pot from heat, cover with a lid until the eggs and water are cold, then peel. Works every time.
Really? Most sources say to plunge them in cold water or ice right away. I love reading all the different tips! Someone did say on my egg post that they used salt and that helped. We've been using salt.
Everyone, I'd bet a million bucks that if we all did every step as suggested ... the eggshells will almost fall off the eggs in comparison to the hassles we 1st encountered. It took my wife a while to figure it all out (she's very normal). My neighbor (a bachelor) still hasn't quite gotten it.
1) store your fresh eggs in the refrigerator for 2 weeks (seems a bit too long)
2) place eggs in tap water and bring to a boil ... or else the eggshells WILL crack
3) add salt to water before boiling (logical)
4) olive oil as well ! ....... hmmmm? sure can't hurt
5) place eggs in tap water and bring to a boil ... or else the eggshells WILL crack
6) boil an extra 2-3 minutes longer than normal store bought eggs (seems logical)
7) place boiled eggs in ice cold water for about 30 minutes
Sounds perfect! :)
Badseed, My wife (always has the last word) says #1 is NOT really necessary. She says if the others steps; 2-7 are followed .... the freshest of eggs will peel okay. hmmmmmmm. I've heard from my older sis that fresh eggs needed some storage time.
And I insist that you leave them out on the counter or on the fridge for 3 days, the shells are porous and dehydrate a little separating them from the lining, then do any of the other things you want. Fresh eggs just don't peel well!
Here is that link I said I posted on another thread. http://www.goodegg.com/boiledegg.html
We are getting a dozen eggs a day now. I figure that will slack off some as it gets cooler. I'm thinking of getting some custard cups. My kids also want to try the ziploc party omelets I told them about. We are already eating them scrambled, fried and deviled, as well as having given away about 8 dozen over the past couple of weeks. Ahhhhh, eggs!
We are still waiting on our blue eggs though! None yet.
Carol, My wife doesn't read this forum. I tend to believe what you say. My older sis has been eating fresh eggs for 10 years. Plus my wife is 25 yrs younger than my sis .... age has a tendency to add knowledge.
I'm getting around a dozen a day, too. I gave some to a neighbor of my mum, and she said you can tell how fresh they are by how small the yolk is and how small the white is when you fry them. She said as they get older, the proteins spread and the egg looks bigger. Interesting.
Anyone give the chicken who lays the biggest egg of the day a treat? I do just before i eat the egg. As large as some of my eggs get, I call it sympathy!!!!
Here's a picture of some of my eggs. My niece who thinks chocolate milk comes from brown cows wants to see my green chickens!
You seriously have the makings for an Easter basket there! I'm not getting any blues or greens yet! LOL about the green chickens!
I collected one seriously huge egg yesterday! I can't even get my hand around it. I couldn't really find anything to use as a reference. LOL It's nearly as long a slice of American cheese is wide! I wonder if that bird needs stitches. ;)
Badseed, I once got one that big that when opened had another egg "with shell" inside. I've found that if a hen is disturbed when laying they will sometimes "suck it back up" and lay a double yolker later.
Carol
Now that is freaky! Someone did say they can hold onto an egg for a few days which is also weird! I may have to take a picture of this one then crack it just to see. LOL I'd be surprised if it was less than two yolks.
ceeadsalaskazone3, Actually ..... double yolked eggs are a sign that the hen is not perfectly well .... health wise. Usually it is a sign of stress from either parasites or bacterium or both. Hens should be de-wormed every 6 months. Also ...... making them "fast" for a day every 10 days or so will make them kinda normal. Chickens kinda need reminding that they evolved from a wild bird that was once totally self sufficient. I have found that not keeping the feed pan full is a means of allowing them to work for the small bit of extra feed needed daily. A chicken will eat twice as much daily as needed if given unlimited access to feed in a tray. This means you can cut your feed bill in half if you limit the amount of feed in the feed tray.
We have a very tiny kitchen area at work (sink- toaster, coffeepot, microwave...all stacked together). I bought an electric egg cooker/steamer. It perfectly steams hard boiled eggs that peel like a dream ........I'm talking one day old eggs. It's great. The soft boiled eggs don't peel as perfect, but better then boiled at home.
Henrietta chirps when she is done cooking.... I picked her up on ebay. Saw one brand new the other day $9.99. Now I keep fresh eggs at work and just pop them in Henrietta as needed !!
http://www.amazon.com/Henrietta-Egg-Cooker-and-Poacher/dp/B000TCXZE2
Julie
Photo, I agree with the stress, but I've had double yolkers with perfectly healthy hens, but have noticed if I inturrupt a layer (and I've had chickens for 45 some years, and am very familiar with each and every individual one on a daily basis) the odds are greater that she will lay a double yolker so I try to collect eggs after a certain time that I know all or most have done their thing. I baby mine and let them out to run around the yard protected by my wrinklies (Shar Pei) while they eat chickweed (I consider it a crop since I have chickens LOL) and bugs and stuff. We seem to have less parasites or bacterium or worms in Alaska than Outside. Also no ticks or fleas on our dogs. So, what have we learned from this? Maybe different things cause double yolkers I actually expect double yolkers when they are laying at their best.
Carol
Double boil!
Boil them about 10 min. coolthem in ice water... then boil them another 10 min. and cool again.
Always start with cold water, put a little salt in there. Never cook your eggs for more than 8 minutes once it starts boiling, your yolks will be green and rubbery.
To peel: Keep in cold water and take out to peel. Tap all around first....
I usually have pretty nice hard boiled eggs this way. I learned this many years ago from my home economics teacher...I don't even think they teach home ec anymore!
:) Kathy
LOL Kathy, We are talking about day old or two ,,,fresh eggs,,Do you have laying chickens?If I did that as you said,,,I would be lucky to get just the yolk! LOL,,that is funny!
You can not buy an egg in the store that is less than a week old!
Fresh eggs are a different animal!
Yes, I have 170 laying hens and have my own eggs and I'm talking fresh, fresh, fresh eggs :) I haven't eaten store bought eggs in years.
The biggest key is to keep them in cold water while you are peeling. I don't mean peel them in water, but hold the others in water. I use a paper towel to crack them all over and peel. Get to the membrane layer and you got it made.
:) Kathy
This is what I learned many moons ago: For a soft boiled egg, 3 minutes after water starts boiling. For a hard boiled egg, 8 minutes after water starts boiling. I've never had that fail me....;)
This message was edited Dec 31, 2007 11:22 PM
OK then. My bad! I just have had no luck doing that.
Hey all
I boil my eggs then when they are done, I drain all the water out of pan and bounce them in the pan until they are all fractured looking. I then run cold water over them in pan and let them cool. Works like a charm for me.
Geo
Bring your water to a boil first, then WET eggs and add to boiling water. Allow to come to full boil again. remove from heat, cover and sit for 10-12 minutes. Place in cold water and peel.
The egg shell must be wet when put in the boiling water to prevent cracking.
You know, when I was doing my deviled eggs with store bought eggs, I would bring the water to a boil, and then gently put the eggs in the water with a big spoon. I would have several crack, and I just couldn't figure out why. I've never heard of them having to be wet, that's something else I have just learned, lol! Though the last time I did deviled eggs, I used my fresh eggs, and did them the same way, and none cracked...weird.
Brahma, Unless your eggs are room temp, they will crack when cold putting into hot. That's why you need to put them in a pan of cold water. And once the water starts boiling, then you time it as I said above 3 for soft, 8 for hard. For some reason, fresh eggs dry out a lot quicker than store bought, so that's why I recommend you keep the eggs in a pan of cold water while peeling each one. I rinse my eggs after boiled in cold water...just let the water run over it for a little while. (usually I'm getting out my other utensils, etc. while cooling) then I just have my pan of eggs in cold water setting there and start peeling.
Also, I have found that if I hold my eggs for later to peel, then I have big problems.
I read above that you can take the eggs out of the fridge for a few days before boiling them...wont they spoil? I have never quite figured that out. I keep fresh eggs on the counter for several days before putting them away...but then I always think that if they get cold, then warm up again they can spoil. How does that work?
Thats right mcamden. Really our climate isn't condusive to keeping eggs out forever. I'm often told how in France, eggs are sold from the shelf to the customer...but one must remember that most people in other countries shop every day and buy only what they need. I wouldn't leave the eggs out for a few days...especially after having them refrigerated. And I've been selling eggs for close to 20 years.
Very interesting, thanks MistyMeadows.
Kind of a funny sidestory, but I did deviled eggs for Christmas, and one of them ended up being a double yoker. Kinda funny seeing it after you scoop out the yoke, and the white part has two neat little indentations, lol!
It was your luck for the New Year egg ;) We often have double yolk eggs and sometimes triple yolks. Although I can sort of look at the size of the egg and know that one has more than one yolk and I don't use it for deviled eggs :)
That is so funny. We get double and triple yokes quite a bit, and we only have 5 laying hens. I think our hens are all doughters of superwoman! Even in our below freezing temps we are still getting an egg from each of them each day. :)
Hey Misty...I think that I may probably keep my house cold enough to not have to even put my eggs in the fridge! Hahaha...BRRRRRR...
For some reason, ours slowed down quite abit, we've never had this problem in the winter before. I think it is because the weather this year was so weird...the hens don't know which way is up.
Well, if your house is that cold you could probably get away with keeping them out on the countertop...:) You made me shiver just reading your post, ha, ha.
:) Kathy
:) Yeah, I can usually tell size wise, if it's a double, I just decided to try it and see how it looked once cooked, lol! I don't think anyone noticed...once they were filled I don't believe you could see, and if they did, they must not have minded-I made two dozen and they were all gone! lol! Never had a triple yet though.
It's freezing here too...16 degrees now, it was down to -8 the other night. Windchill has been in the -20's brrr!! Not quite as fun doing chores in this stuff. It's supposed to warm up to the 30's this weekend though, woohoo! Our corn stove and furnace are both running-yay, using propane and corn, though we don't really pay for the corn, lol.
Too funny. We have a wood stove in our garage that feeds the house, and an electric furnace. I must say...NEVER do all electric. It is horrible for heat, and it doesnt pull moisture out of the air like gas or wood. Although it is great for the skin...it causing the house to rain with condensation on the windows, and cement walls. As soon as we installed the wood stove...no more condensation. But our doors and windows used to be solid sheets of ice.
BeautifulBrahma, you are much farther north then I am...so I know what kind of weather is going on. We have all been jumping up and down waiting for this weekend to get here. I even put a big heat lamp in for my chickens because they looked so cold. My rooster even came in the house for a bit to warm up.
Too funny :) I can imagine my roo in the house, I don't think my Dobe would appreciate it, lol! Yeah, I had my heat lamps on in the coop, till the bulbs burned out. My hubby hasn't picked any more up, and I'm not sure which ones they are. We've been using those lights that come on stands, that we got at Sears, usually in the automotive department. I'm sure they suck alot of juice though...I want to say he called them 500 watts, and there are two to a set! They came up with that when I first got my chicks in the spring, and had them in the basement...hung from the rafters (cause it's not a finished basement) I've tried not to use them too much, but now that it's colder these past few days, I could, and they are out of commission, lol!
mcamden-Glenwood must be pretty far south then?
I want a wood stove/fireplace so bad; I looove the smell, not to mention all the firewood we have sitting in our grove. Our insurance company had to come out and inspect the corn stove/installation, and apparently will drop us like a hot potato if we have a real wood fireplace....bummer.