Making hard boiled eggs with FRESH eggs

When you buy eggs from a supermarket there is a pretty good chance your eggs have been in that carton for almost a month.  Commercial egg farmers have 30 days once their eggs are packed in a carton to sell them.  If the carton is labeled with a "use by" date that date is 45 days from the when the eggs were packaged. Assuming the eggs were packaged the day they were laid, that is still an egg that has been sitting for a while. The longer the eggs sit the more the membrane beneath the shell separates from the shell, making peeling easier.  The trade off is the longer the eggs sit the less centered the yolk will be because the whites become less dense (also the longer eggs sit the less nutrition they provide). 

Now you want to make a beautiful platter of deviled eggs with nice neat whites and centered yolks... what to do?

It's as easy as stopping by the local farm market and buying some fresh free range eggs from a local farmer and following these steps to perfectly boiling your fresh eggs. (or go one step further and put some happy hens in your backyard, but that is an instructable for another day)

Step 1 What you need

Fresh Eggs
Pot with enough water to cover the eggs
Slotted spoon
Timer
Colander
Bowl of ice water

Comments

[oking]

I cheat. I use a pressure cooker... 5 minutes at 15 lbs and let pressure drop on it's own.

Easy peel eggs every time fresh or old.

[MomLogg]

Thanks for this tute! I seem to have a hit-or-miss track record when boiling eggs fresh from my ladies. I'll try this method and strive for consistency! Also, I, too, give my ladies leftovers. I have one in particular who always seems very disappointed if I don't bring anything vegetable for her.

[dreamberry]

Your way is my new way, because it works. It works, it works, it works! (dances joyously) Thank You Very Much!

[tvoyak]

Ok, I am going to try this and just see how the egg peels! I have always had trouble peeling fresh eggs and I purposely use the older ones for hard boiled eggs. The shells are tough and very difficult to peel..maybe your boiling method is the trick for fresh eggs..I hope!! :)

[PixyMcCrafty]

The eggs I boiled when I made this ible were all less than 12 hours old, and they peeled so easily. It took me awhile to figure out how to do it. For the longest time I was hiding eggs in the back of the fridge for 2 weeks just to make hard boiled eggs.

[tvoyak]

Ah ha! It worked :) Thank you, Thank you! Now I can make super yummy AND presentable deviled eggs ;)

Just out of curiosity, did you have your eggs chilled before you boiled or room temp..mine are just out on the counter so I started at room temp and it worked but if it's even easier when they are chilled I am all for that!

[PixyMcCrafty]

It works fine for both room temp and chilled eggs, old eggs, fresh eggs, whatever you have. :D

[dlabelle]

I love the chicken with cake face picture really cute!

[westfw]

last time I got frustrated trying to peel eggs, I did some experiments. What seemed to work best was to put the (cold) hard-boiled eggs in the freezer for about 15 minutes (until the egg just under the shell began to be slightly frozen.)
I've heard all these tales about starting in cold water, cooling immediately after cooking, using older eggs, but I never got consistent results or had enough eggs to gather proper data; I'm not convinced that any of them are more than "old wives tales."

[PixyMcCrafty]

I get 14-18 eggs out of my chicken coop everyday, I've done plenty of experimenting. I have found eggs over 2 weeks from when they are laid are fine if you start with cool water, bring to a boil then turn off the heat and let sit covered. If the eggs are fresher I got significantly better results using this method, including warm eggs that went directly from the nest box to the boiling water.

I've never tried putting the boiled eggs in the freezer, making them that cold would help pull the membrane away from the shell also, did the partially frozen eggs end up a little rubbery?

[caarntedd]

Any tips for getting the shell off a hot soft boiled egg? I use cold water to stop the cooking process, but I still sometimes have trouble getting the shells off. Cold soft boiled eggs aren't real nice.

Cool instructable, Thanks.

[bree.jay]

Once you've made a crack in the eggshell, you can use the tip of a spoon (I use the handle end) to put behind the eggshell to help pull it off.

[caarntedd]

Thanks, I'll try that.

[PixyMcCrafty]

I never tried peeling hot eggs. I know throwing the cold eggs in the hot water (instead of starting with eggs in cold water) will help separate the membrane and make it easier to peel, and the ice bath just helps.

Maybe try putting your eggs into the boiling bath, reduce the cook time (obviously) and finish with a quick cool wash instead of the ice bath. That should make them easier to peel than the standard method of starting your eggs in cold water and bringing them to a boil.

Good luck :)

[caarntedd]

Yeah, thanks. Your second paragraph is exactly how I do it. Sometimes it works, sometimes not. It may have to do with the age of the eggs. I didn't realise how old they could be until I read your posting.

[lemonie]

Or pickle them?

L

[PixyMcCrafty]

oh. now that looks delicious!

[caarntedd]

+100.

[sunshiine]

Great ible! Thanks for sharing.

[thematthatter]

once commercial eggs are pack in a carton they have 30 Days from the date of pack to be sold.

Unless they use the words "use by" then its 45 days from date the carton was packed.


http://www.fsis.usda.gov/factsheets/focus_on_shell_eggs/#18

[PixyMcCrafty]

Good to know, it could be up to 45 days from when they are packed. Assuming they are packed the same day they are laid that is an egg that has just been sitting around too long.. I will edit to reflect the official USDA numbers, thank you :)

[thematthatter]

I couldn't find how long they sit from the time its layed to it gets to the carton but most plants have resident inspectors so im guessing within the same day or couple days.

They have to be inspected before they can be sold but "Grading is voluntary"