A Perfect Boiled Fresh Egg

I can't tell you how thrilled I am to solve this mystery of a perfect boiled egg from our fresh eggs. 

One of our biggest problems since we have had our chickens has been, to figure out how to get a perfect boiled egg. When Papaw would pick the eggs up every day out of the nests, he would take them into the barn, wash them and put them in cartons and put them in refrigerator. We thought putting then in them frig would preserve them and keep them fresh and it does. 

When holidays would roll around and we wanted to make deviled eggs, our eggs would never boil up and peel perfectly. When we would peel them, half of the white would go with the shell. We tried using aged eggs that sat for a few weeks in the refrigerator but that still didn’t help our fresh eggs when it came time to boil them up.

When getting the perfectly peeled boiled egg from the grocery store eggs was possible, it left me with questions. I thought age had to be the answer so, that is why we tried aging our eggs in the refrigerator. Aging them in the fridge never really seemed to be the answer either. We tried them at two weeks, at three weeks and then again at four weeks. They never, ever peeled very well. The fridge must help hold in the moisture. After spending weeks eggperimenting with our egg, it sure left me wondering, how old those supermarket eggs had to be to peel well when I boiled them up.

I always noticed when frying a fresh egg, the moisture content was very high in our fresh eggs. It is easy to see when you crack one of those beauties open on a hot skillet and see a watery substance running out past the whites, when they hit the heat. Letting the eggs sit on the counter, helps to reduce the moisture content. In reducing the moisture content, it allows the membranes to tighten when the egg is boiled. When it comes time to peel the egg, the tightened membrane sticks to the shell and releases the firm egg whites.

In doing reading and learning more about how to store eggs, I learned that refrigeration for fresh farm eggs isn’t really needed, unless you really need to store them for long periods. Back in the old days, eggs would be kept in a basket or bowl on the counter and used as needed. I decided to give keeping my eggs in a bowl on the counter a try.  I have been using eggs from the bowl on the counter as needed for the last few weeks and never have had an egg go bad yet. From what I have read, I will surly know if an egg I crack open is bad just based on the smell.

Tonight, Papaw came in from the gym and wanted some boiled eggs and tuna. I boiled up a few eggs that he brought up from the barn at the end of last week and I placed them in a bowl on the counter. Lo and behold, they boiled up perfectly and they were beautiful. 

I used a heavy bottom sauce pan to boil them up in. I put them in tap water and put them on the stove on medium heat and waited until they came to a rolling boil. I then pulled them off the heat and let them set for 7 minutes. I thought that may be too short of a time but, they turned out perfect and I do mean perfect.  So much for the old saying that, “Fresh eggs are for frying.” I know these eggs may have been a week old on my counter but the ones that come from the stores have to be many weeks old before they make it to market in the fridge to boil up and peel perfectly. 

Our success may seem small to most reading this post but for us, it is a big deal. You have no idea how many eggperiments we have done to achieve the perfect boiled egg here. In knowing what I know now, it sure makes me wonder about how old those store bought eggs really are, that will boil up and peel perfectly. Here’s to a bit of egg salad and deviled eggs come Easter!

Blessings to you all!