Hard Boiled Eggs.......Help !!!

14 years ago

I just bought some Fresh Free Range Eggs from a Farm, and I was making Potato Salad with them. I boiled the eggs, and tried removing the shell. STUCK !!! I can't peel them. Why is this? I have never see anything like it. I ran them under cold water for a long time. I know the eggs are fresh, because the chickens just laid them. I have had shells stick before, but never like this. Does anyone know any tips on shelling hard boiled eggs? Please Help !!! I have to make a large potaoe salad for tomorrow. Thanks !!! Diana55

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Comments (15)

hawk307
14 years ago
Did you try rolling them on the Counter Top, to break the shell loose ?????
Lou
User
14 years ago
Diana never buy farm fresh eggs to make hard boiled eggs especially if you are making deviled eggs. The shell always sticks to fresh eggs. It is best to use eggs that are at least a week old.

Ann
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Thanks again everyone. I successfully cooked six hard boiled eggs this morning !! I hear the applause. smile. I brought them to a boil and then simmered for 15 min. I will have to experiment a little more with bringing the heat down from the boil. I lowered it immediately to 3 and of course it quit boiling so I had to go back to 9 and bring it down two levels at a time...I will experiment next time to make that easier. Pllog I never heard of steaming until reading about it here (where have I been? not to the cooking forum for a while :-) ) and I definetly want to try that. And, I looked at Henrietta and I must say that I really like that...I have never owned an electric egg cooker but that is sure cute. Might have to spring for one. And, Cheril thanks for letting me know about the Williams Sonoma item. I have seen those before and will keep it in mind. I think once I do this a couple times, I will have the exact schedule...or I will get Henrietta. So cute. Thanks for all the fun reading. You guys are great.
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dlm's method is correct so, my hint is in the peeling. This method always works for me and gets a beautifully peeled, blemish free egg. Lightly crack the egg shell. Peel away just a little bit of the shell from the "hollow" end. Gently insert a teaspoon, bowl side down, in the opening just under the membrane and work the spoon around the egg. Shell pops off leaving the egg smooth and blemish free. Just a note. I've always been told to NEVER boil the eggs. It just makes for tough whits and yolks.
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"----Kenji is always fun to read.---" I agree. Also you learn a lot because he is a MIT graduate. But many times I have found very curious theories and suggestions, tests from him. This is one of them. If you dump cold eggs into boiling water, most of the time you will get burst eggs. Egg shells may be permeable, but the rapid expanding air inside from sudden heat will crack the shells. For instance, if he experimented with a ton of eggs, I would like to find out first: 1. Are all the eggs the same? There are many different breeds of chickens. Are the eggs from old hens or young hens? Do different diets make different eggs? 2. What is sticking to the shells? the membrane or the egg white? or both? When you have more than one variables in an experiment, but test only one, then you have an experiment which will give uninterpretable results. dcarch This post was edited by dcarch on Tue, May 20, 14 at 7:46
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lorijean44
14 years ago
I'm not sure how you can fix it now, but going forward, fresh eggs are generally not the way to go when you want to hard-boil them. I think you have to resign yourself to losing part of your egg when you try to peel these. Sorry!

Lori
diana55
Original Author
14 years ago
Oh that's the problem. These chicken just laid these eggs this morning. I guess the other times I have used farm fresh eggs, I had them in the refrigerator for a few days. I have never had this problem before. I tried to boil another dozen of them, and the same thing. Darn, well I will have to make some deviled eggs sandwiches with them !!! Thanks Ann !!!
User
14 years ago
You are welcome Diana. Why don't you just grate them over the top of your potato salad.

Ann
elphaba_gw
14 years ago
STEAM eggs (fresh or not) and you won't have any problems peeling. I've reported this here before, sorry if I am repeating myself. I've reported this here before and others that tried my suggestion reported great success.

Steam for 20 minutes (altitude could possibly affect how long to steam). I use a saucepan with a little metal steamer basket and about inch and a half of water.

Sorry, I don't have any suggestions after the fact for fixing a problem caused by not steaming but if you have any of those fresh eggs left uncooked, if you steamed them, they would be fine for peeling for your potato salad. Don't need to worry if eggs are very fresh or not.
diana55
Original Author
14 years ago
Great tip Elphaba. I will try that next time. Ann I like to slice the eggs neatly on top of the Salad for decoration, but I can't get anything out of the shell. Mostly Yoke !!! LOL Better luck next time !!! Diana55
coconut_nj
14 years ago
Aw Diana, sorry you had that problem. Sucks to learn lessons like that, eh? The only other trick I've tried is putting some water on them in the pot and shaking them really hard to break the shell up good. Let them sit a bit then try. If you try to start peeling them from the big end where any air would be [but that fresh....] sometimes you can grab ahold of the membrane and get under it somewhat. We use cut up eggs in our potato salad. You could do the yolks and whites seperately. You can usually use a spoon to scoop stubborn whites out of the shells after the yolk is out. You could cut them up then. Good luck.
lisbet
14 years ago
What I do is after cooking for the correct length of time...drain off boiling hot water...shake eggs in pot to crack shells, then let the cold water run on them. It has something to do with the egg shrinking away from the membrane.

Strictly fresh eggs will not peel. Straight from the fridge to the stove contributes to peeling difficulty. It is suggested that you let eggs come to room temp. before boiling.

Here is a link that might be useful: Eggs
jude31
14 years ago
I agree with you, Lisbet...it works for me too.
shaun
14 years ago
Elphaba is right! Steam those suckers and the shells almost jump off of them. Well, at least for my store bought eggs.

I've steamed them the same day I bought them but I've never tried it with fresh eggs right out of the chicken! hahaha! Good Luck !
susytwo
14 years ago
I'm another advocate of steaming. It is by far the most reliable way I've found to make sure that peeling the shell is easy.
annie1992
14 years ago
I've never steamed eggs, so I can't comment on that, but I can tell you that if I want to boil eggs, I use the oldest ones in the fridge.

In fact, I often "mark" a dozen so they can get "old" on purpose, if I know I want to boil eggs, and I use the ones the girls laid yesterday for my omelettes.

I usually boil mine, put them directly under cold water, then roll them around on the counter to crack them all over really well. They peel like a charm, but Grandma taught me to never boil fresh eggs, and so I don't, LOL.

Annie
loves2cook4six
14 years ago
Isn't that what my Salton egg boiler does? It steams the eggs but they still don't peel very well.
hawk307
14 years ago
Remember this Chick ?
I broke an egg open by accident and she came out !!!
I don't know if she can be hardboiled ?
Lou

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Hard Boiled Eggs.......Help !!!

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