Can anyone tell me why it is so difficult to take the shell of my hard boiled eggs. The shell seems to stick to the white - is there a deficiency in the hen feed or are the eggs too fresh? My hens are into their second season and have just started laying again after the winter. I would apprecaite any advice you can give.

thanks

That's a super-fresh, healthy egg issue. No problem at all with your chickens or their eggs.

Some things I have heard to do, some of which I have tried:
-Let the eggs sit out overnight at room temp before boiling (this "ages" them a little bit)
-Put the eggs immediately into ice water after boiling
-Peel them as soon as they are cool enough
-Peel them under cold running water

Basically, I save back eggs for boiling and I don't do it until they are at least a week old. I don't peel mine right away because they don't keep as long if you do. I do immerse mine into ice water immediately after boiling and although the peeling is a little slower, I no longer take off half the white when I peel them.

If you're curious about the reason why this happens, a very fresh egg takes up almost all of the room in the shell. An older egg has a larger air space. The fresh egg is so tight in there that it sticks to the shell a bit and is hard to peel.

Susie

Hi Carol, I take my eggs, boil as usual, then put the pan with the hot water and eggs under cold running water. After the water in the pan is as cool as what's coming out of the spigot, I peel.

I set the pan on the counter next to a paper towel, reach into the cool water and pull out the eggs. Then I hit them a few times on the counter to "spiderweb" crack the shell and peel right then. Put the shells on the paper towel and the eggs in a bowl.

Since I started doing it this way, I've had no problems getting perfectly peeled eggs. I don't try to keep my hands dry, just reach in, pull out the wet egg and peel.

Hi Carol,
I set the eggs out to bring them to room temp. Then I bring my water to a boil first and then add the eggs. Once boiled I cool under cold water right in the pan I can peel them easily at any time now or later with no problem.