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How To Hard Cook Fresh Eggs So They’re Easy To Peel (HINT: Don’t Boil Them!)

How To Hard Cook Fresh Eggs So They're Easy To Peel (HINT: Don't Boil Them!)

If you’ve ever tried to hard cook then peel farm fresh eggs, you know how difficult and frustrating it can be.

The egg white sticks stubbornly to the shell and rips off in big chunks, ruining the look of your beautiful eggs. 

I’m here to tell you, this is a common issue for chicken keepers, and there is a very simple solution! 

All you need to do is change the way you’re cooking the eggs.

The Secret To Hard Cooking Eggs

How To Hard Cook Fresh Eggs So They're Easy To Peel (HINT: Don't Boil Them!)

Instead of boiling the eggs, it’s time to try steaming them!

Steaming farm fresh eggs and getting them directly into an ice bath afterward is the big secret to how to make easy to peel farm fresh eggs.

What you need:

Step 1:

Put a steamer basket in a pot, fill with water until the water barely pushes through the holes of the basket. Place the pot on the stove top and set it to high.

Pot with steamer basket

Step 2:

While the water heats up, scrub the eggs thoroughly under cool running water. Be sure to remove all dirt and poop particles so they don’t contaminate the eggs

Freshly cleaned farm fresh eggs

Step 3: 

Once the water is boiling, carefully set the eggs inside the steamer basket and cover tightly with the lid.

Don’t crowd the eggs, one layer of eggs is ideal. Turn the heat down to medium high and set a timer for 13 minutes.

Eggs placed in steamer basket ready to steam

Step 4:

While the eggs steam, prepare an ice bath.

Fill a large ceramic bowl with ice, 24 ice cubes works well, and fill the bowl with cold water.

Step 5: 

When the timer goes off, pull each egg out of the steamer basket with tongs and put straight into the ice bath.

Let the eggs cool completely in the ice water, this usually takes about half an hour, then dry them and put them in the fridge.

Cooked eggs cooling in ice basket

Peeling The Hard Boiled Eggs

To get that perfectly peeled hard boiled egg, here are some easy tips.

Gently crack the egg on the countertop, while turning it, to get as many small cracks in the shell as possible. Many cracks in the shell will make it easier to get the shell apart while you peel.

Make sure to get under the egg membrane while you peel. The membrane likes to stick firmly to the outer shell, but if you can get underneath the membrane, it will peel much easier.

Hold the egg under cool running water while you peel, this will help to remove tiny bits of the shell, and the cold water will work its way under the shell membrane while you peel, making it an easier job for you.

Rinsing the hard boiled egg under running water makes peeling the shell easier.

Save the shells!

Now that you’ve peeled the shell off, it’s important you don’t simply discard it.

Eggshells are packed with calcium so you should consider eating them!

Have a read of our article revealing why you should eat your eggshells and how to do it – and if that’s a bit weird for you, there are 14 more brilliant ways to use your eggshells that doesn’t involve putting them anywhere near your mouth!

How To Hard Cook Fresh Eggs So They're Easy To Peel (HINT: Don't Boil Them!)

How To Hard Cook Fresh Eggs So They're Easy To Peel (HINT: Don't Boil Them!)

Yield: Unlimited
Prep Time: 1 minute
Active Time: 13 minutes
Additional Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 44 minutes
Difficulty: Easy
Estimated Cost: Free

If you’ve ever tried to hard boil then peel farm fresh eggs, you know how frustrating it can be. This is a common issue but with a very simple solution!

Materials

  • Fresh eggs
  • Pot with tight fitting lid
  • Steamer basket
  • Bowl
  • Ice

Instructions

    1. Put a steamer basket in a pot, fill with water until the water barely pushes through the holes of the basket. Place the pot on the stove top and set it to high.
    2. Scrub the eggs clean under running water.
    3. Once the water is boiling, set the eggs in the steamer basket and cover tightly with the lid.
    4. Turn the heat to medium and cook for 13 minutes.
    5. Once the time is up, carefully remove the eggs with tongs and place in a bowl of icy water.
    6. Allow to cool for 30 minutes.
    7. Once cool, remove from the icy bowl and gently crack the egg on the countertop - rolling it around to form as many tiny crack as possible.
    8. Hold the egg under cool running water while carefully peeling the shell and membrane off.

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How To Hard Cook Fresh Eggs So They're Easy To Peel (HINT: Don't Boil Them!)

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Meredith Skyer

Meredith Skyer is a writer, artist, and homesteader residing in Western New York with her husband and menagerie of farm critters.

She has spent the last 12 years learning and implementing a myriad of homesteading skills, specializing in growing food and animal husbandry. Her biggest passion is working in conjunction with the natural world to harvest healthy, organic food from her own backyard.

Meredith is a freelance writer and founder of Backyard Chicken Project, a place for crazy chicken people to gather, learn, and share in their love of chickens. She also contributes articles to Mother Earth News Online, From Scratch Magazine, and Grit.

Meredith works from her woodland homestead where she spends her days writing, creating animal-inspired art, and chasing after her flock of chickens.

You can visit her at www.backyardchickenproject.com
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