Your most hated part of cooking

[garlichead]

That technique for me (which is what I use) only ever results it getting about half, maybe 2/3rds of the leaves off, though, and many of those leaves will still be attached to the little twiggy bit they're on, and the twig usually snaps at the very top, leaving those leaves to be picked.

I'm looking for the method that gets me 100% of the leaves with 0% of any stem or twig, and as of now, the only one I've found is picking the leaves off individually.

Yeah, that's basically how most kitchens do it as well. This job I always assign to the dishwasher, and she's very good at it as well as most other prep jobs and I consider myself lucky. At home it depends how the thyme is going to be used, sometimes it's not necessary to have perfectly intact thyme leaves.

 

[garlichead]

I hate peeling (hard-)boiled eggs. My RA hands don't make the task any easier. For some reason - despite doing all the tricks like keeping the eggs in cold water for several minutes - half of the shell sticks to the inner like glue and a big part of the egg white peels off with the shell. Another annoyance is the thin film or membrane just under the shell. It often doesn't loosen/get off along the shell but sticks to the egg white and forces you to pinch teeny-weeny bits of the membrane and egg white separately with your fingernails. Not nice.
View attachment 79278
Tasty, no beer! Here's a cocktail to put inside your beer helmet:

Thyme of Your Life Cocktail

Older eggs tend to work better and a spoon to slide under the shell works pretty good.

 

[Peloquin]

I hate peeling (hard-)boiled eggs. My RA hands don't make the task any easier. For some reason - despite doing all the tricks like keeping the eggs in cold water for several minutes - half of the shell sticks to the inner like glue and a big part of the egg white peels off with the shell. Another annoyance is the thin film or membrane just under the shell. It often doesn't loosen/get off along the shell but sticks to the egg white and forces you to pinch teeny-weeny bits of the membrane and egg white separately with your fingernails. Not nice.
View attachment 79278
Tasty, no beer! Here's a cocktail to put inside your beer helmet:

Thyme of Your Life Cocktail

Are these new eggs?
When we're had chickens I found the fresh eggs were a right pai n in the bum to peel. Eggs a few days old were always fast easier.

 

[Hemulen]

Are these new eggs?
When we're had chickens I found the fresh eggs were a right pai n in the bum to peel. Eggs a few days old were always fast easier.

Thanks for your comment, Peloquin. Thanks for garlichead, too.

The eggs I cooked/boiled and struggled with today (3-4 min for a runny yolk), were slightly past their official expiration date. They were stored in the fridge, seemed clear when placed in front of a light bulb and smelled and tasted fine. I couldn't peel them nicely - partly because the inner was soft and runny.

My grandmother kept her eggs in room temperature for several weeks without any purchase dates or expiration markings. There were sporadic rotten/blackened ones (when inspected against lightbulbs or clear sunlight before cooking) especially at the countryside in the summer. We didn't have a henhouse or neighbo(u)rs with chichen yards for fresh eggs. Grandmother generally overcooked her hardboiled eggs: they sometimes had a slight odo(u)r and formed greenish rims around their yolks. No one bothered or got sick.

In regard of peeling the shells: old or new, white-shelled or brown, organic or mass produced, stored in the fridge or kept at room temperature, no difference. I've tried tricks like setting the eggs calmly with a spoon into lukewarm or hot water in the cooking pan/pot, piercing tiny holes with a special egg piercing apparatus before boiling, keeping the eggs under running water, in room temp or in a cold place for several minutes after cooking but nothing seems to help. I don't think I overboil eggs (~8-9 min for a set yolk). It's like lottery: sometimes the shells come off easy-peasy, sometimes they don't. I'll try the spoon trick (placing a large spoon carefully inside a cooked egg for peeling) next time I have to peel a dozen or more eggs for a special event.

 

[TastyReuben]

In regard of peeling the shells: old or new, white-shelled or brown, organic or mass produced, stored in the fridge or kept at room temperature, no difference.

Don't feel too badly about it, Jacques Pepin said once that all of that doesn't really matter, it was more about how the chicken was feeling at the time she laid the egg!

 

[garlichead]

It's not just any spoon, it's the one with magical properties which is hard to find but when you do, you'll have it for life. my spoon isn't very thick, which I think is key and is more pointy than most it's size and it's a fairly big spoon. I always start from the thicker end. Crazy stuff I know but so are chickens.

 

[JAS_OH1]

Don't feel too badly about it, Jacques Pepin said once that all of that doesn't really matter, it was more about how the chicken was feeling at the time she laid the egg!

You know about moody chicks, don't you?

 

[JAS_OH1]

In regard of peeling the shells: old or new, white-shelled or brown, organic or mass produced, stored in the fridge or kept at room temperature, no difference. I've tried tricks like setting the eggs calmly with a spoon into lukewarm or hot water in the cooking pan/pot, piercing tiny holes with a special egg piercing apparatus before boiling, keeping the eggs under running water, in room temp or in a cold place for several minutes after cooking but nothing seems to help. I don't think I overboil eggs (~8-9 min for a set yolk). It's like lottery: sometimes the shells come off easy-peasy, sometimes they don't. I'll try the spoon trick (placing a large spoon carefully inside a cooked egg for peeling) next time I have to peel a dozen or more eggs for a special event.

I boil eggs for hubby's snacks several times a week and I frequently have the same issue. He likes his medium these days, and yeah, hard boiled would be easier to peel. After running cool water over them and cooling them down enough to handle, I gently bounce them all the way around the circumference of the egg against the countertop to crack the shell as much as possible, then I put them back in the pan and cover them with ice for at least 30 minutes. When I start to peel them I try to find the end that seems to have the most moisture in it and peel from there. It seems to help most of the time but not always. They look better these days then they used to!

My aunt in Texas got her eggs from a local farmer and kept them on the counter. She said that not washing them until ready to use kept them fresh because of something excreted by the hen when they were laid that coats and protects them. I buy mine from the grocery store and mine go in the refrigerator. I usually buy 2-3 dozen a week. We love our eggs!

 

[murphyscreek]

That technique for me (which is what I use) only ever results it getting about half, maybe 2/3rds of the leaves off, though, and many of those leaves will still be attached to the little twiggy bit they're on, and the twig usually snaps at the very top, leaving those leaves to be picked.

I'm looking for the method that gets me 100% of the leaves with 0% of any stem or twig, and as of now, the only one I've found is picking the leaves off individually.

Yes, I have exactly the same experience. Maybe I'm too fussy with the twig count or something?

 

[TastyReuben]

Yes, I have exactly the same experience. Maybe I'm too fussy with the twig count or something?

I'm just stubborn that way, I imagine everyone else just strips off whatever comes off easily, and if they want more, they just get more and strip those off, but I'm determined to impose my will on those thyme leaves!

 

[karadekoolaid]

That technique for me (which is what I use) only ever results it getting about half, maybe 2/3rds of the leaves off, though, and many of those leaves will still be attached to the little twiggy bit they're on, and the twig usually snaps at the very top, leaving those leaves to be picked.

I'm looking for the method that gets me 100% of the leaves with 0% of any stem or twig, and as of now, the only one I've found is picking the leaves off individually.

Have you tried a pressure hose?

 

[Morning Glory]

Have you tried a pressure hose?

You might have a new marketing idea there - the culinary pressure hose! It would be a scaled down version of the outdoor type. I can see lots of uses.

 

[JAS_OH1]

I'm just stubborn that way, I imagine everyone else just strips off whatever comes off easily, and if they want more, they just get more and strip those off, but I'm determined to impose my will on those thyme leaves!

It just takes patience and thyme.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

It's like lottery: sometimes the shells come off easy-peasy, sometimes they don't. I'll try the spoon trick (placing a large spoon carefully inside a cooked egg for peeling) next time I have to peel a dozen or more eggs for a special event.

My experience having a flock of 20-40 chooks at anyone time is that it is down to the individual chook. Some drink too much water, some don't eat enough stones (stones help them digest what they eat). Sometimes chooks that are just starting to lay show this issue in their eggs, other times it's the much older retired birds. Some of my girls I know we simply can not peel their eggs at all, so I don't even try anymore. Their eggs are for cracking open raw and cooking out of the shell.

It really seems, as you say, to be a lottery.

The teaspoon technique does help but you still won't get it 'perfect'. But it doesn't leave quite such large chunks missing. Older eggs where the air sac is larger also tend to shell better as mentioned above. This is because the membrane has pulled away from the shell as the water content of the white has reduced. Shells are porous as I'm sure you know.

Otherwise all you can do is change your supplier when you know you want hard boiled eggs. We just put up with it and use the teaspoon method simply because we connect a dozen or so eggs everyday so buying them is pointless. I'm just very careful with which eggs we use from which of the chooks. I can identify about 75% if our eggs down to a specific bird. The rest I can only say down to a specific breed.

 

[JAS_OH1]

My experience having a flock of 20-40 chooks at anyone time is that it is down to the individual chook. Some drink too much water, some don't eat enough stones (stones help them digest what they eat). Sometimes chooks that are just starting to lay show this issue in their eggs, other times it's the much older retired birds. Some of my girls I know we simply can not peel their eggs at all, so I don't even try anymore. Their eggs are for cracking open raw and cooking out of the shell.

It really seems, as you say, to be a lottery.

The teaspoon technique does help but you still won't get it 'perfect'. But it doesn't leave quite such large chunks missing. Older eggs where the air sac is larger also tend to shell better as mentioned above. This is because the membrane has pulled away from the shell as the water content of the white has reduced. Shells are porous as I'm sure you know.

Otherwise all you can do is change your supplier when you know you want hard boiled eggs. We just put up with it and use the teaspoon method simply because we connect a dozen or so eggs everyday so buying them is pointless. I'm just very careful with which eggs we use from which of the chooks. I can identify about 75% if our eggs down to a specific bird. The rest I can only say down to a specific breed.

I have found that when they are really, really cold they do peel better, perhaps because the egg, like most tissue or flesh, constricts when cold and pulls away from the shell?

I wish we had a close source of farm fresh eggs so I didn't have to buy them at the grocery store. I admire your hard work and dedication to your chooks. I certainly don't have the time and patience to handle a cat or dog, I can't imagine taking care of all those birds.