http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x6792387Oh my.
The crooked tale primitive:
The Straight Story (1000+ posts) Fri Oct-16-09 01:42 PM
Original message
Why Eggs Could Be Getting Harder to Peel
Consider the farm-fresh egg, the pristine symbol of the simple days of pre-industrial farming.
People love them, but there’s a problem: They seem to be getting harder to peel. And though I’ve messily discovered this on my own, there’s some science to back this idea up.
Here in food-crazed San Francisco, fresh eggs are everywhere. After purchasing some of these just-collected treasures for hard boiling, I found it nearly impossible to peel off their shells without pockmarking them. My once-beautiful eggs ended up with more craters than the moon.
It couldn’t be my fault, I told myself. I’d been hard-boiling eggs for decades, most intensively during a six-month egg salad kick in ninth grade. I got my technique down and everything.
What happened, then?
As an egg ages, it loses some carbon dioxide through tiny pores in the shell, making the egg white more basic. At the same time, it loses moisture, which increases the size of the “air cell†at the bottom of the shell, between the inner and outer membranes. The dynamics of this process are, in the words of a University of California, Davis agriculture publication, “not completely understood,†but the combination of these changes makes an old egg a lot easier to peel than a one that is fresh out of the bird.
“The best guarantee of easy peeling is to use old eggs!†wrote Harold McGee, in his monster 800 page tome, On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen. “Difficult peeling is characteristic of fresh eggs with a relatively low albumen pH, which somehow causes the albumen to adhere to the inner shell membrane more strongly than it coheres to itself.â€
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/10/eggs-hard-to-...
I dunno why this is in General Discussion instead of in the cooking and baking forum, unless the crooked tale primitive is an attention whore.
ejpoeta (1000+ posts) Fri Oct-16-09 01:45 PM
Response to Original message
1. i knew that it was easier if you hard boiled eggs that aren't as fresh.
i try to avoid hard boiling fresh eggs. though we still have troubles with the pock marks sometimes... but peel them when they are still warm and it's a bit easier. kids will eat them no matter.
tridim (1000+ posts) Fri Oct-16-09 01:49 PM
Response to Original message
2. Yea, I've noticed you now have to peel the inner membrane from the white..
after cracking the shell or else your hard/soft boiled eggs will fall apart. Start peeling at the air space.
I have about a 90% success rate after some practice.
INdemo (1000+ posts) Fri Oct-16-09 01:52 PM
Response to Original message
3. No...you just didn't boil them long enough,
Especially farm fresh eggs are difficult to peel... if you want a soft boiled egg then yes you will have problems..
Lars39 (1000+ posts) Fri Oct-16-09 01:56 PM
Response to Original message
4. I plunge mine into ice water to cool them off quickly.
I haven't been having any problems with them.
theoldman (1000+ posts) Fri Oct-16-09 02:02 PM
Response to Reply #4
8. Please note my response below.
Cool water is good enough on a hot egg.
theoldman (1000+ posts) Fri Oct-16-09 02:00 PM
Response to Original message
5. My wife has another answer to this problem.
She said that you have to cool the egg slightly after boiling them. The cool shell can then be peeled off the hot egg. Now all of us should boil an egg to verify her theory.
FlaGranny (1000+ posts) Fri Oct-16-09 02:05 PM
Response to Reply #5
10. I do that too. An egg seems to peel easier when still hot. Running water over them as you peel seems to help quite a bit too but wastes a lot of water. A cold egg out of the fridge is a lot harder to peel than a warm one.
Matariki (1000+ posts) Fri Oct-16-09 02:19 PM
Response to Reply #5
19. The secret to hard boiled eggs
Bring the water to a boil with eggs in the pot. When the water starts boiling, turn off the heat and cover. Let sit for 15 - 20 minutes. Remove eggs and run under cold water.
Should be easy to peel and the whites not tough and over-cooked. I have seen it said to use eggs 3-5 days old.
kestrel91316 (1000+ posts) Fri Oct-16-09 02:01 PM
Response to Original message
7. This is basically true. I habitually keep eggs in the fridge a couple of weeks, lol, before using them. When I do this, they always peel nicely.
Gramie said it was because they were pullet eggs (from young hens) but I think this is disproven. Besides, there are NO OLD HENS ANYMORE - they get "retired" after one season.
Oh geezuz. franksolich has kept eggs--from the grocery store, not directly from farmers--in the refrigerator for as long as nearly a year, and has never noticed any deterioration in quality.
theoldman (1000+ posts) Fri Oct-16-09 02:05 PM
Response to Reply #7
12. I thought a pullet was a virgin hen too young to lay eggs.
This is getting so complicated.
pansypoo53219 (1000+ posts) Fri Oct-16-09 02:30 PM
Response to Reply #7
20. pullet eggs are tiny.
i just don't eat eggs. no problems peeling.
The Straight Story (1000+ posts) Fri Oct-16-09 02:06 PM
Response to Reply #11
14. Made some deviled eggs the other day and had that problem
Thought maybe dad cooked them too long or something, mom's were rarely hard to peel.
jus_the_facts (1000+ posts) Fri Oct-16-09 02:14 PM
Response to Reply #14
18. Yep .... I thought maybe they should have been peeled while they were still hot...
...that the membrane would come off easier then...it's a tedious task to peel them perfectly and lately it's been impossible to do so!
Neecy (1000+ posts) Fri Oct-16-09 02:06 PM
Response to Original message
13. I've given up on boiling them
The people who live behind me have chickens - she sells me fresh eggs over the fence for a buck a dozen.
They're terrific in every way except boiling. I've tried the plunge into cold water, refrigerating, simmering instead of boiling, etc etc. They're impossible to peel.
So, when I need hard boiled eggs for a salad, I just buy a dozen eggs from the grocery store. Much less trouble.
Matariki (1000+ posts) Fri Oct-16-09 02:10 PM
Response to Original message
16. "Here in food-crazed San Francisco, fresh eggs are everywhere."
That's just a weird sentence. 'food-crazed' San Francisco? Fresh eggs everywhere like that's a symptom of 'crazed'? Weird.
other than that, interesting facts in the article.
Paper Roses (177 posts) Fri Oct-16-09 02:11 PM
Response to Original message
17. One of the things I can do is boil an egg. To peel easily, quickly place your cooked eggs in cold water for a couple of minutes. If the water heats up, change it. Not only will the eggs be easier to peel, this will keep the edges of the yolks from turning that unattractive greenish color.
Ms. Toad (1000+ posts) Fri Oct-16-09 02:33 PM
Response to Original message
21. I've known this for 40+ years.
Sad that we are so far removed from the land that it is new news to so many.
Hmmm. The spinster frog primitive must not hang around Skins's island much.
The primitives are so far removed from reality that it's frightening we allow them outdoors.
Jane Austin (1000+ posts) Fri Oct-16-09 02:43 PM
Response to Original message
23. Looks like I was watching when my Mother boiled eggs.
Another thing she did was put salt in the water you boil them in to keep the shells from cracking and having some of the whites ooze out.
MissB (1000+ posts) Fri Oct-16-09 02:58 PM
Response to Original message
24. Yep, summertime means chunked eggs around here
Our hens produce so many eggs that I'm usually begging folks to take them off my hands. Fresh eggs are all we have.
Most of my flock has molted, so they look like plucked hens. No eggs right now- just the icky pale one from the store that create beautiful hard boiled eggs.
postulater (1000+ posts) Fri Oct-16-09 03:15 PM
Response to Original message
26. If you want the yolks exactly centered in the white
just stir the eggs gently while they cook.
Perfect every time.
ellenfl (1000+ posts) Fri Oct-16-09 04:39 PM
Response to Original message
27. i punch a hole in the big end of the egg with a straight pin to keep them from cracking. i always thought that made them easier to peel, as well.
