How to Get Perfect Fresh Hard Boiled Eggs

When we first started raising our own chickens, my husband and I was excited about fresh eggs, even more, hard-boiled eggs. We love eating these for a snack, throwing in a salad, and deviled eggs.

We gathered up our eggs from outside and placed them in a pan to boil. Fifteen minutes later, we put the eggs in a water bath. After 10 minutes, we anxiously started peeling our eggs.

It was a disaster. Tiny little eggshells and big chunks of the actual egg were coming off with every dig and pull.

We thought it was something we did. But maybe we didn’t boil these fresh eggs long enough? Do farm fresh eggs need to boil longer?

We turned to Pinterest and tried different methods.

None of them worked until the last one we tried.

 

The Only Method That Works to peel Our Fresh Hard Boiled Eggs Every Time

The only method that has worked for us is a combination of a few things. Using our double boiler has been the most successful for us. Steaming the eggs gives the best results of an easy-peel hard-boiled egg.  Also, putting our fresh eggs in the fridge FIRST for a few days has made a big difference.

*Update: Now that I have a Ninja Foodi, I pressure cook the eggs. This is my favorite method and is so easy. All you do is add a 1/4 cup of warm water to your Ninja Foodi. Put it in your lower rack and add 6-12 eggs. My eggs are always room temperature, so I don’t pressure cook as long.

I’ll add six to twelve eggs and set the pressure to high for three minutes. If your eggs are refrigerated, I would add an extra minute.( 4 total) Pressure-cooking your eggs is the way to go, my friend! If you don’t have a pressure cooker, read on for how we did it for years before.

I remember my mom, who makes the best-deviled eggs globally, telling me you want older eggs. She would say to leave the eggs in the fridge for a few days before boiling.

Can I tell you if you follow us here on the blog or our Vlog, you will see life isn’t perfectly polished? I love seeing a good staged image, but I’m also tired of setting up a life where everything is perfect. As you can see, I didn’t clean my fridge today because I only do it once a month, and today wasn’t the day to do it. There are way too many other things going on.

I  wanted to point that out to you, nothing is ever perfect, and if you have kids, animals, blog, or whatever and you think, “Am I the only one that struggles with….” Know right now you are not. It’s just not as many people want to open up about the struggles. I struggle to believe myself. So that’s where unspeakable joy has to come in.

Back to the eggs now 🙂

Older eggs at the grocery store take on a whole new meaning to me now that we are raising our own chickens.  Did you know that eggs in the store can be up to 45 days old? Here’s an interesting article where a Facebook post went viral about old eggs at the store.

The truth is those older eggs peeled so easily and beautifully every time.

Now with the following steps, we can peel our fresh hard-boiled eggs, and they are usually only a week old at the most.

Related:

Fun Tips to Sell Eggs From Your Home
How to Raise Chickens Like a Champ
If Your Hen is Doing This She’s Gonna Lay an Egg

WHAT YOU NEED:

• Double Boiler
• Bowl
• Ice
• Water

 

STEPS:

• Fill your bottom pan halfway with water. Bring the water to a boil.
• Place your eggs in the second pan and place on top of your boiling water.
• Boil the eggs for 15 minutes.
• Remove from the heat and place in an ice bath. ( Your bowl filled with ice and water)
• Let the eggs rest for 10-20 minutes.
• Bring your eggs out and start peeling!

There is how we get our fresh eggs to peel perfectly each time. If you find you are still struggling, you can try adding vinegar to the water. The steaming and keeping the eggs in the fridge for a few days have been the magic trick here.

We started a vlog! Don’t miss out on the journey of building our barn and starting our farm here. 

What tips do you have for boiling fresh farm eggs?