Old fashioned Red Easter Eggs Russian style?

Question

My Russian grandmother used to always have dark red colored hard-boiled eggs on the table for Easter. This was about 75 years ago. My mother once told me that my grandmother used onion peels to get the red color. Does anyone know how she did it? Thank you!

Answer 1

The orange peel or vinegar is for the acid that would "roughen" up the shell surface and back then they used Beet Juice for the color

Answer 2

I make homemade dyes for Easter eggs. When I want red (hard to get a true red) I boil the peels of about 3 lbs of red onions, a head of red cabbage and the slices of about 2-3 beets. Add a couple of tablespoons of white vinegar and a couple of pinches of salt. Bring this to a boil and then lower the heat & let it simmer for a while (usually 30-45 minutes.)

I put all of this in a pan with my eggs. I bring the whole thing to a boil and then shut off the water & put a lid on the pan. I let the eggs sit in there until they are done (hard boiled) and have a nice red color.