Peeling brown eggs compared to white eggs

Is it just me or is it so much harder peeling boiled brown eggs compared to white eggs? Why is this!?
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Replies

  • annacole94
    annacole94 Posts: 997 Member
    Perhaps they're fresher? There's no difference, other than what kind of chicken lays them.
  • ritzvin
    ritzvin Posts: 2,860 Member
    The biggest difference by far with ease of peeling the regular supermarket white eggs is age (the longer they sit in the fridge, the easier they are to peel). Perhaps the brown eggs you get are a lot fresher.
  • JodehFoster
    JodehFoster Posts: 419 Member
    edited March 2017
    I've noticed some brown eggs have a thicker membrane...the shell cracks just fine, but that inner layer can be a pain in the butt to break through.

    What the chickens are fed makes a bit of difference too. Feeding them old egg shells & crushed sea shells helps strengthen/thicken the eggs they lay
  • kkrober25
    kkrober25 Posts: 16 Member
    Try steaming your eggs for about 12 minutes instead of boiling. It makes peeling a lot easier.
  • Kerriecandothis
    Kerriecandothis Posts: 10 Member
    Put the boiled egg in a glass and hold a cloth over the top. Shake it so the egg shell smashes and goes all crumbly. Then peel it under running water, normally comes off in one for me.
  • Rusty740
    Rusty740 Posts: 749 Member
    A friend of mine has a bunch of chickens and gets eggs all the time. He was describing this exact problem a few weeks back to someone. The relative ease of peeling is related to the eggs' age. The older and egg is the more fluid builds up on the little membrane under the shell and the harder the shell gets, the easier it is to peel. He said it takes about a month to get an easy peeling egg. The fresh one don't peel well.
  • curtishissam
    curtishissam Posts: 14 Member
    Instead of boiling eggs, steam them. Steam for 11 to 12 minutes and immediately submerge in an ice bath. Works like a champ... fresh eggs, not so fresh, brown, white, etc. I eat a couple of boiled, er steamed, eggs almost every day and since I've been steaming them the peels come right off without a fight.
  • vikinglander
    vikinglander Posts: 1,547 Member
    edited March 2017
    All I know...

    http://allrecipes.com/recipe/213737/kens-perfect-hard-boiled-egg-and-i-mean-perfect/

    Every time.

    Of course, it could just be you...I know it's usually me, too, and frankly, I'm sick of it!
  • winejunky143
    winejunky143 Posts: 153 Member
    edited March 2017
    So the real difference is that white eggs are actually bleached. They are more chemically treated than brown eggs to achieve the super white color. The nutritional value is basically exactly the same between the white and brown eggs. One is just a bit more treated than the other. All store bought eggs are much easier to peel however the white eggs are significantly easier since they have less calcium in the shell due to treatment. Store bought eggs have a long journey before they reach the store and eventually your home also contributing to the ease of peeling store bought vs farm fresh. I grew up with white, brown and green egg laying hens and all colors are equally as difficult to peel when boiled if fresh out from under the hen.
  • mrsjoyw
    mrsjoyw Posts: 80 Member
    Interesting! I find them harder to peel as well, I just started buying the free range, vegetarian fed, omega 6, only drink purified water from the artisan springs flowing from the butterfly and unicorn pastures fed chickens LOL! Seriously I have noticed that they are harder to peel and they are harder to crack too. I can whack the standard white, grocery store egg with no problem but the pricier brown eggs need a hammer!
  • MelanieCN77
    MelanieCN77 Posts: 4,047 Member
    I'm sure eggs you buy in a supermarket are cleaned and dressed up to be perfect but I really do not believe they are bleached. Egg shells are actually a little porous, anything they are treated with can and will enter the egg. Washing them is the reason they need to be refrigerated as it does remove a protective layer from the shell. Fresh from the coop they can stay out on the counter for a long time. However shoppers are so used to perfect looking product they would never sell with bits of poop and feather stuck to them.

    The difficulty in peeling is due to egg age as someone already said and the color of the egg is just down to the chicken that laid it. I keep chickens.
  • NurseKristi81
    NurseKristi81 Posts: 90 Member
    Steam in 50% water and 50% vinegar in a steamer. I raise chickens and only eat brown eggs and they peel super easy like this!
  • 7lenny7
    7lenny7 Posts: 3,498 Member
    Instead of boiling eggs, steam them. Steam for 11 to 12 minutes and immediately submerge in an ice bath. Works like a champ... fresh eggs, not so fresh, brown, white, etc. I eat a couple of boiled, er steamed, eggs almost every day and since I've been steaming them the peels come right off without a fight.

    This is what I do as well, though I usually use jumbo eggs steamed for 16 minutes. Large eggs I steam for 13. Shells always come off easy even if I steam them the day I buy them.
  • 7lenny7
    7lenny7 Posts: 3,498 Member
    Steam in 50% water and 50% vinegar in a steamer. I raise chickens and only eat brown eggs and they peel super easy like this!

    What does the vinegar do that water doesn't? Try steaming with just water and see if you notice a difference.
  • BeChill73
    BeChill73 Posts: 75 Member
    We eat our eggs (brown and white) wihin 2 days of them being laid and sometimes they are hard to peel but it's not that common. Doesn't seem to matter how I cook them, cool them, or store them. Seems to be more related to individual chicken's diet at the time.
  • 7lenny7
    7lenny7 Posts: 3,498 Member
    Washing them is the reason they need to be refrigerated as it does remove a protective layer from the shell. Fresh from the coop they can stay out on the counter for a long time.

    That sounds like an old wives tale. I frequently leave store bought eggs on the counter will no problem. When we go camping I take a couple dozen and they survive the heat just fine.
  • BeChill73
    BeChill73 Posts: 75 Member
    edited March 2017
    7lenny7 wrote: »
    Washing them is the reason they need to be refrigerated as it does remove a protective layer from the shell. Fresh from the coop they can stay out on the counter for a long time.

    That sounds like an old wives tale. I frequently leave store bought eggs on the counter will no problem. When we go camping I take a couple dozen and they survive the heat just fine.

    Not an old wives tale. A day on the bench at room temp is roughly equivalent to a week in the fridge, so fridge will keep them fresh longer but benchtop is fine if you use them up within a few weeks. It does depend on your clinate though, and if you are using fresh laid or store bought eggs. Store bought are often a few weeks old before you buy them.

    The bloom should never be washed according to the CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation)

    "Under no circumstances should eggs for in-shell storage be washed as this removes the surface bloom and makes the eggs more susceptible to attack by microbes."

    https://www.csiro.au/en/Research/Health/Food-safety/Egg-quality
  • 7lenny7
    7lenny7 Posts: 3,498 Member
    edited March 2017
    BeChill73 wrote: »
    7lenny7 wrote: »
    Washing them is the reason they need to be refrigerated as it does remove a protective layer from the shell. Fresh from the coop they can stay out on the counter for a long time.

    That sounds like an old wives tale. I frequently leave store bought eggs on the counter will no problem. When we go camping I take a couple dozen and they survive the heat just fine.

    Not an old wives tale. A day on the bench at room temp is roughly equivalent to a week in the fridge, so fridge will keep them fresh longer but benchtop is fine if you use them up within a few weeks. It does depend on your clinate though, and if you are using fresh laid or store bought eggs. Store bought are often a few weeks old before you buy them.

    The bloom should never be washed according to the CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation)

    "Under no circumstances should eggs for in-shell storage be washed as this removes the surface bloom and makes the eggs more susceptible to attack by microbes."

    https://www.csiro.au/en/Research/Health/Food-safety/Egg-quality

    @BeChill73 that's an interesting link (and I learned a new word..."gluggy").

    I was considering a shorter time frame...up to two weeks...since eggs (usually store-bought) rarely last that long at our house. That falls within the time frame for high quality eggs which that site talks about. From my perspective, two weeks out of the fridge is a long time, but it's not according to the site. So I see that it's not an old wives tale, but the time frame does make a big difference.
  • cmtigger
    cmtigger Posts: 1,450 Member
    7lenny7 wrote: »
    Washing them is the reason they need to be refrigerated as it does remove a protective layer from the shell. Fresh from the coop they can stay out on the counter for a long time.

    That sounds like an old wives tale. I frequently leave store bought eggs on the counter will no problem. When we go camping I take a couple dozen and they survive the heat just fine.

    Not an old wive's tale. They can still handle being left out for a while after washing, but it opens the pores on the egg and they don't stay fresh as long as unwashed eggs.
  • cmtigger
    cmtigger Posts: 1,450 Member
    BeChill73 wrote: »
    7lenny7 wrote: »
    Washing them is the reason they need to be refrigerated as it does remove a protective layer from the shell. Fresh from the coop they can stay out on the counter for a long time.

    That sounds like an old wives tale. I frequently leave store bought eggs on the counter will no problem. When we go camping I take a couple dozen and they survive the heat just fine.

    Not an old wives tale. A day on the bench at room temp is roughly equivalent to a week in the fridge, so fridge will keep them fresh longer but benchtop is fine if you use them up within a few weeks. It does depend on your clinate though, and if you are using fresh laid or store bought eggs. Store bought are often a few weeks old before you buy them.

    The bloom should never be washed according to the CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation)

    "Under no circumstances should eggs for in-shell storage be washed as this removes the surface bloom and makes the eggs more susceptible to attack by microbes."

    https://www.csiro.au/en/Research/Health/Food-safety/Egg-quality

    Different countries, different laws. The US requires that eggs sold in stores must be washed.
  • perkymommy
    perkymommy Posts: 1,642 Member
    edited March 2017
    Is it just me or is it so much harder peeling boiled brown eggs compared to white eggs? Why is this!?

    I've always had a harder time peeling the brown eggs too. The peel wants to stick real bad. Drives me crazy anytime I've ever prepared deviled eggs for family meals cause the egg white will fall apart
  • JenHuedy
    JenHuedy Posts: 611 Member
    I used every trick in the book: vinegar, steaming, cold water, hot water, ice baths, old eggs, you name it. They all worked - sometimes. The only somewhat reliable way was old eggs, but who wants to plan ahead several weeks and maintain a special inventory just for hard cooked eggs.

    Then I got a pressure cooker and I'll never go back. 2 minutes on the steamer rack with a cup of water and they practically fall out of the shell every single time.
  • cross2bear
    cross2bear Posts: 1,106 Member
    The egg bleaching thing relates to an urban myth that has been debunked on the snopes website.
  • 3rdof7sisters
    3rdof7sisters Posts: 486 Member
    Seriously, it is the freshness of the egg itself, not the color of the egg. The fresher the egg, the harder it is to peel.
    Try putting the eggs in cold water. Bring the water to a boil. Turn off the heat, cover and let the eggs sit for 10 minutes. Drain the eggs. Then put in ice water until cool. They are usually easier to peel.
  • ritzvin
    ritzvin Posts: 2,860 Member
    JenHuedy wrote: »
    I used every trick in the book: vinegar, steaming, cold water, hot water, ice baths, old eggs, you name it. They all worked - sometimes. The only somewhat reliable way was old eggs, but who wants to plan ahead several weeks and maintain a special inventory just for hard cooked eggs.

    Then I got a pressure cooker and I'll never go back. 2 minutes on the steamer rack with a cup of water and they practically fall out of the shell every single time.

    bwahaha- that's exactly what I do (the old eggs thing)...I always make sure I have lots of eggs in the fridge so I have lots of old eggs 10+ days old for hard boiling. I'll have to try steaming them.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    They are identical.

    I hate peeling all eggs.
  • perkymommy
    perkymommy Posts: 1,642 Member
    Seriously, it is the freshness of the egg itself, not the color of the egg. The fresher the egg, the harder it is to peel.
    Try putting the eggs in cold water. Bring the water to a boil. Turn off the heat, cover and let the eggs sit for 10 minutes. Drain the eggs. Then put in ice water until cool. They are usually easier to peel.

    I've done this with the cold water and it still doesn't help.
  • 7lenny7
    7lenny7 Posts: 3,498 Member
    Putting the eggs in cold water, then bringing to a boil, is actually one of the worst ways to make hardboiled eggs according to Cooks Illustrated.

    They tried 5 different methods, tested fresh & old eggs, and reported their findings here:

    https://www.cooksillustrated.com/articles/168-easy-peel-hard-cooked-eggs

    Short version - age of the egg doesn't matter that much and the best methods are steaming or boiling (putting the cold eggs in the steam or boiling water), with pressure cooking practically tied for best. Worst methods are cold-water start boiling and baking. In all cases they ended with a 5 minute ice bath.

    They also show a nifty way to peel.

    I prefer steaming because I can take an entire dozen eggs put them in my steaming basket and put them in the pot of boiling water, then taken them all out at once and put the eggs in an ice bath.