I didn’t know this until we got chickens, but farm fresh eggs are VERY VERY hard to peel! We have tried everything from extra salt in the water, to vinegar….nothing but trouble. Think itty bitty teeny tiny flakes of shell coming off bit by painful bit. It was AWFUL!

*Note: did you know the reason its so easy to peel store bought eggs, is because they are typically already 6 months old? Google it, I am not kidding! They dip it some kind of preservative to make it last longer.

I finally found the answer from Dale’s brother who is a great chef:

The key is to pre-crack the uncooked eggs! Who knew?! (still do salt too, I think it helps)

Take a spoon and just thump it once in the middle, to break that outer shell. The inside lining keeps the egg in tact, but allows water to seep through, making the shell easier to break off later.

You’ll be able to tell later, which ones were perfect and which ones were thumped too much!

Perfect

Too much

You’ll get better at it as you go! 🙂

You can’t see the size here, but these are very small pullet eggs. Our kids love to eat these little eggs for breakfast, hard boiled and rolled in kosher salt. They are perfectly bite size for Dale, too! And I am not joking, one bite and they are gone! He LOVES when I have a dish of these ready in the fridge. 🙂

Speaking of Breakfast, look what we came up with in a bind, when we remembered it was our turn for Sunday school breakfast.

Canadian Bacon Egg Cups

Ingredients:

Canadian Bacon

Eggs

Cheese

Chopped Veggies

Salt and Pepper and Garlic powder

Take a full sized muffin pan, and place Canadian Bacon circles inside each hole. Dig around in the veggie drawer and see what needs to be used up quickly, we had green onions in ours, slice or chop accordingly. Crack a 8 or more eggs into a bowl and whisk with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Pour a little egg into each Canadian Bacon cup, filling just below the top. Sprinkle on your veggie of choice and top with cheese. If you like baked eggs, you could crack the egg directly into each cup and THEN season and top. Bake at 375* for 17 minutes.

Enjoy!

Everyone in my family LOVES Egg salad, served on Ritz or wheat bread, with squares of cheese and raw veggies. I love that when we are busy playing, or this week…at Vacation Bible school….lunch is already waiting in the fridge for us.

I know everyone has their favorite egg salad recipe, but I am pretty proud of this one. It’s the only one my mom, Grandma and Aunt use, I added a “Tonya Twist” to it, naturally, but it’s a keeper for sure! We took it on a field trip, and several teachers asked for the recipe, proclaiming it as DELICIOUS! I told them I’d put it up on the blog so they could print it.

Dilled Egg Salad Sandwiches

12 whole Eggs, Hardboiled
½ cups Miracle Whip
2 teaspoons Lemon Juice
2 Tablespoons Sweet Relish
1 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce
2 teaspoons Very Finely Chopped Onion
1 Tablespoon Yellow Mustard
Generous Dash Of Salt, Pepper And Garlic Powder
1 Tablespoon High Quality Dill Weed, I Like Pampered Chef’s Best

Boil, cool and peel eggs. Give them a rough chop and place in a medium sized bowl. Add remaining ingredients, adding more miracle whip or mustard or seasonings per your taste. I always have to taste and add a bit more of this or that.
Refrigerate until serving time. Serve on wheat bread or Ritz crackers with cheese cubes for a delicious, easy lunch!

16 thoughts on “Easy Recipes using Eggs, plus some tips for peeling!”

EGGS-elent post! How fun to have little eggs for the little ones. Fresh eggs definitely are tough to peel. I always crack my eggs before peeling…so glad you learned that little trick. *-* The egg salad looks great too. Love the idea of using a canadian bacon base for your egg cups – MMMMM!

4littlefergusons

June 7, 2012 at 12:55 pm

Wait, cracked before peeling or cracked before Boiling?

Reply
- Marsha Joy Baker
  
  June 7, 2012 at 3:58 pm
  
  Well I’ll be, Tonya – guess I was reading in a hurry and didn’t realize you said to crack BEFORE boiling? That’s a new one on me. I just always roll mine – to crack the shell – around in the pan when I put cold water on them to cool. What is it they say about teaching old dogs new tricks? =) I’ll have to try it – thanks for sharing…and for asking. =)

I never thought to add dill to egg salad. I’ve got some fresh dill growing this summer so I’m going to have to try this!

Thanks for the egg tip!! I’ve always struggled with that too. The only thing I could come up with was to use older eggs for deviled eggs. Not fresh ones.
🙂

You are so resourceful! I am VERY proud!!! And am SUPER hungry for egg salad now! It will go on next week’s menu for sure! Thanks for the info and yummy recipes!

Sounds Yummy!

It is easier to use eggs that are a bit older, 4 or 5 days. They will still be good, but so much easier to peel. I also find that cracking and peeling under running water helps too–with the older eggs. I’ve never had good luck making hard cooked eggs with eggs just brought home from the store. 🙂

I also forgot to mention that when I’m chopping eggs for egg salad, I use my pastry blender – works like a charm. *-*

Thanks for the hint. Every time that Logan wants eggs or I want to make some tuna salad, its always new eggs!

I don’t have chickens but I buy eggs from a friend or I was until a hail storm frightened them and they stopped laying. 😦 But I learned that the old way that my mother used to boil eggs works the best for me. I think she got fresh eggs too.
Bring water to a rolling boil. Slowly lower room temperature eggs into the water. Boil for 10 minutes. Dump water, shake the pan around to encourage some breakage and then add cold water and some ice cubes for faster cooling. This method has been working the best for me. But I have not tried cracking before boiling. I do get an occasional burst egg with my method, but not too much. My husband LOVES a bowl of hard boiled eggs too. I just need some fresh eggs now! We are hating the store bought ones.

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