why do my hard boiled egg white stick to the shell?

Question

I rescued a load of chickens initially from cages, all the feathers have grown back, they are fed the best food and they free range on my own land which is untouched by pesticides etc so i figured they would be the best eggs, they are fantastic eggs, people go mad for them, my dad steals them! lol. The quality is superb so why when I hard boil them do the whites stick to the shell?? Am I missing something out of their diet? I've tried boiling for a shorter/longer time and nothing works.
Any advice gratefully received!

Answer 1

Actually, the egg whites sticking to the shell is an indication of freshness. The general rule of thumb is the fresher the egg, the greater the chance of the whites sticking to the shell.

Don't know why that is so, but that's the general concensus. You might want to hard cook eggs that have been refrigerated a couple days. Experiment around with "age" of the egg.

Edit... found this on the food network website - which suggest using eggs that are 7 to 10 days old.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/ck_culinary_qa/article/0,,FOOD_9796_1702229,00.html

"First, let's address the issue of eggs sticking to shells. To prevent this, use eggs that are a week to 10 days old. Older eggs have a different pH from new eggs, which researchers say affects peeling. We also find that cooling eggs immediately after cooking in an ice bath makes them easier to peel."

However, I kind of disagree with the ice bath making it easier to peel. When I worked in a diner, we made a lot of egg salad. When eggs wanted to stick, they stuck even when submerged in an ice bath. The main purpose of the ice bath is to eliminate the green ring that can form around the egg yolk.

An additional trick is to crack the cooked, cooled egg on the counter and roll around using your palm. This will crack the shell into small bits. This will make it easier to peel and reduce the amount of egg sticking to the shell, but some egg white will still stick.

Answer 2

Yes, all the people who said that is an indication of freshness are correct. (Which makes you wonder how long the ones at the grocery store have been hanging around if the shells come off easily!!!).

Do you know what an egg coddler is? If you are not using the eggs for deviled eggs, or a recipe where you need the egg whole, use a coddler. They are still boiled, you can serve the egg in the coddler, or you can take the cooked egg out to chop or use it in the recipe. They are fun to use. Here is what they look like and a little about them:

Answer 3

When the boiling time is complete, immediately drain all the boiling water.

Rinse with cold water.

Plunge the hard-boiled eggs in an ICE WATER BATH at least until all the ice has melted.

You want to achieve a complete cool down of the eggs internal temperatures in order to be able peel easily.

Answer 4

You are luckier than the majority of us.....your eggs are FRESH. I discovered this problem years ago when I decided to make pickled eggs for Xmas.... went out to buy eggs and boiled them that night. What a pain the white membranes stuck to the egg white and all my eggs had little marks in them where I'd picked off the membrane.

As the egg looses it's freshness air seeps in through the shell and sits between the egg and the inner and outer membranes, making it difficult to seperate the two membranes...

Hang on have a look at this website:

http://www.exploratorium.edu/cooking/eggs/eggcomposition.html

So you're doing nothing wrong. Happy chickening!!

Answer 5

I have always had success with this procedure when I had chickens and eggs:
Cook your hard boiled eggs as usual...now while they are in the water, crack the larger end of the egg...water will seep into the shell between the membrane and the egg...the shells will come off easy after cooled. Just keep the eggs in the water, refridgerate...until you are ready to peel...Good luck

Answer 6

If you look carefuly at the egg then you will see that there is a very thin layer of skin usualy when that sin is not pulled off then the egg white sticks to the shell,just pull the skin when you crack the egg then sould not stick.It should work.

Answer 7

Put a few tablespoons of vinegar into the water that you boil them in. After you are done boiling them place them immediately in to ice water. Then peel them under running water after a couple of minutes.

Answer 8

I found out that the fresher the egg, the harder is to peel them. It's easier when the eggs are older since they would have absorbed more air through the shell.

Answer 9

Its a sign of them being really fresh. Use your older eggs for hard boiling.

Answer 10

No, you arent doing any thing wrong but a good tip is to soak them for a few minutes in cold water after you have boiled them. That way they won stick.