If you keep a flock of chickens you know that peeling fresh eggs is just a disaster waiting to happen.

Fresh eggs – hard-boiled – have shells with no intention of letting go, and most of the white goes with the shell into the compost.

You pretty much end up with yolk with a scrap of white clinging off one side.

Yum.

But when my friend Heather mentioned on Facebook that she was having success with a technique I hadn't tried, I paid attention.

And it works!

Every. Darn. Time.

For real. The worst looking peeled eggs I've produced with this technique are far superior to the best I peeled with every other method I tried. And I tried them all – baking soda, pin hole, aging, vinegar… the works.

Want my secret?

I know you do. You'll want to hug me it's so easy.

 

Here it is:

Don't boil your eggs.

Steam them.

 

It's that simple!

Here is my method.

 

Perfectly Peelable Farm Fresh Hard-Boiled Eggs

1. Put a pot on the stove with just enough water to stay below your steamer basket. Load the basket with eggs, but don't go nuts. You want just a single layer in the bottom of the basket.

2. Cover and bring to a boil.

3. Reduce to a simmer, keep covered, and simmer for 10 minutes. (Set a timer if you, like me, tend to wander off. As a bonus though these are far more forgiving than boiled eggs. Even overcooked they are great and not rubbery or green in the yolk.)

4. Turn off the heat and allow your eggs to sit covered for an additional 5 minutes, then cool under cold running water.

5. Peel, and dance around ecstatic over how impossibly easy that was.

 

A note on egg temperature: I keep my unwashed eggs on the counter, not in the fridge. (Yes. Always.) If you are working with cold eggs experiment with leaving them covered for 10 minutes instead of 5. Shorten the steaming time for soft-boiled eggs! (We haven't done this yet, mainly because I'm so happy to peel these babies.)

A note on egg size: the batch pictured above are wee little (adorable) bantam eggs. I steamed them for 6-7 minutes. Duck eggs get around 12. Play around until you find the perfect equation for your eggs!

Well then. There you have it. You're welcome. (And thank you Heather!)

 

While we're at it, would you like a recipe for our favorite hard-boiled egg snack?

Addictive, yummy, and pretty much free if you have a coop full of layers in the back yard.

You bet. Here goes.

Sam's Sesame Tamari Hard-Boiled Eggs

We love these.

You will, too.

Especially if you would rather not bring a salt shaker on your next picnic. (Which we always did or wished we did until our friend Sam introduced us to his version of these. Yum. Thanks Sam.)

Feel free to fiddle with quantities. It's quite forgiving as long as you don't add gads of tamari.

 

Ingredients

6 hard boiled eggs

1 Tb tamari, soy sauce, or coconut aminos

1 tsp toasted sesame oil

pinch of dried dulse flakes and kelp powder (optional)

2 tsp toasted sesame seeds (optional)

 

Process

Peel eggs as described above, marveling all the while at how darn easy this is.

Place eggs in a mason jar or other container with a leak-proof lid.

Pour/sprinkle remaining ingredients over eggs.

Tightly lid jar and gently rotate to coat all eggs well.

Eat immediately or better yet, continue to rotate jar occasionally/whenever you remember for 30 minutes to 2 hours to allow deeper flavor.

Fantastic with wasabi.

Store the jar on it's side in the fridge to spread the goodness around on more eggs.

 

Enjoy!