Peeling eggs

Thread Starter

someonesdad

Joined Jul 7, 2009
1,583
We have chickens that give us eggs. When we hardboil them, they are a real pain to peel because the shells stick to the whites and you have to peel little chunks a few mm in size off at a time.

My wife says this happens because the eggs are fresh.

Do any of you know how to treat or process the eggs so that it is easier to get the shells off after they've been hardboiled?
 

beenthere

Joined Apr 20, 2004
15,819
The older they are, the easier they peel. It's also a good idea to let then cool completely in water, and to peel them under a stream of water to help loosen the membrane under the shell.
 

retched

Joined Dec 5, 2009
5,207
stick them in the freezer for a few minutes and the whites will shrink a bit. That will allow them to come off easier
 

sbombs

Joined Feb 26, 2010
33
Mom says put some vinegar in the pot when you boil them to soften the shells. I've often suspected this to be an old wive's tale but vinegar is cheap so what the heck. retched's advice makes more sense to me. Make sure you don't do this:
 

Thread Starter

someonesdad

Joined Jul 7, 2009
1,583
We let the eggs cool and I learned about peeling them underwater when I was a kid; those are two good pieces of advice.

But they don't work on hardboiled fresh eggs. I'll give the freezer and vinegar methods a try. I was hoping to hear from someone who grew up on a farm and had to deal with this problem a lot and knew a simple, foolproof method... :p

We've got 11 hens laying and have eggs coming out of our ears. Fortunately, my wife will make a huge batch of pickled eggs that'll last us a long time.
 

Wendy

Joined Mar 24, 2008
23,415
Assuming the tank is sealed it doesn't take much. It is a function of the surface area of the tank, 15 pounds per square inch.
 

retched

Joined Dec 5, 2009
5,207
I figured the pump would fail, or even the hose, before that happened.

In the lower left-hand corner, you can see a guy running for his life. Is very fast and small.
 

Wendy

Joined Mar 24, 2008
23,415
15 PSI isn't that much. With that tank it is just a matter of volume of air. The vacuum pump doesn't have the volume of surface area exposed. You figure the difference between a low end pump and a high end pump is only a few PSI and the quantity of air pumped.

We have a plasma asher at work with a glass door that is just over 3' X 3', I figure there over 2 tons of pressure on that really thick glass.
 

loosewire

Joined Apr 25, 2008
1,686
Help with the chickens,take mesh wire cages with baby chicks
and a lot newpaper to catch dropping. You can start as many
chicks as you have room in basement or barn. When the weather
warms turn e'm out if you have control of space.The layer hens
stack e'm up using that new paper again and start collecting eggs.
The wire mesh protect e'm,if you keep e'm clean you are ok.
A warm basement with furness work real good. Bring home the bacon
and pork chops,take 50 gallon drum fill with water and light a fire to it.
Do what you have to do,tie the hind legs and dip in the hot water.
Take sharp instrument and shave the hair off.Then gut it,start at the
thoart and slit right down the middle,don't let the guts get into the hot water.
then some one needs to know how to cut meat the right way.I don't if the
game warden would let you do this in the woods any more,a wild hog ,deer or your
favorite cut of meat.Any comments about hunting season,remember the air plane
spots your truck and sends the ground dogs to sniff out your buried meat.
Raiff would do this to a big fish,there no big fish here any more. Bacon and eggs
fried with potatoes over open fire,makes you think of thingmaker new life.
He a wanted man for the census,to buy insurance by law,take his one medical test,
a new copy of the new bill of rights.$100.00 per asperin dose.
 
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sbombs

Joined Feb 26, 2010
33
I agree. And what in the WORLD happened to that train car? That must have been one 'ell of a vacuum.
As I understand it, the tank was steam cleaned inside, and then all of the valves were shut. Next the steam condensed back in to water, since water is a LOT more dense than steam there became, as you say, one 'ell of a vacuum in there. The mention of putting hot things in the freezer is what made me think of this, though it is only wishful thinking on my part that eggs would implode.

Bill is correct that 15 pounds per square inch is a lot of force integrated over the surface area of the tank.
 

retched

Joined Dec 5, 2009
5,207
Oh, I completely agree. 15psi over 10,000 inches is a great force. What I was thinking when I first saw the picture: It was a supply car filling an underground tank, like a fuel delivery, using a transfer pump. Jeez..

As for the vinegar on shells thing, I made "rubber" eggs in junior high school bu sitting an egg in vinegar for a few days. The acidic vinegar eats the calcium out of the shell leaving just the membrane, white, and yolk. You can actually drop it from a foot or so, and it will bounce.

So, It may help to use some in the water whilst boiling.

Or have you seen the infomercial lately with the "egg opener"?
 
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