Have you ever tried to boil and peel farm fresh eggs, only to have half of the egg whites come away with the shell? It’s terribly frustrating! So let me show you how to boil fresh eggs that peel easily (no instant pot required)!
Whether you keep your own laying hens or buy fresh eggs from a local farmer, you’ve probably noticed that really fresh eggs don’t peel well.
Not only is the process slow and tedious, but it feels wasteful. Parts of the egg white always come away with the shell. And instead of having a smoothly peeled egg, you have a lumpy egg that’s lost half it’s egg white!
For the longest time, I didn’t know how to deal with this dilemma. I knew from online research that some home cooks have had excellent results processing fresh eggs in their instant pots on the steam mode.
But here’s the problem: I’m not a gadget girl and don’t have an instant pot. And I felt stuck until I recently realized it wasn’t necessarily the instant pot that gave people success but rather, the steaming process.
And you can certainly steam eggs on the stove top without an instant pot!
Things You’ll Need
If you’re a home cook, you already have everything you need to steam boiled eggs! And for this exact tutorial, you’ll need the following items.
- 1 dozen fresh eggs
- stockpot with a lid
- water for the bottom of your stockpot
- a timer
How to steam boiled eggs without an instant pot
Are you ready to learn how to steam eggs without an instant pot? Here’s how it works!
- Choose a stockpot large enough to hold 1 dozen eggs (stacking eggs is ok).
- Gently place 12 eggs in the bottom of your pot.
- Add about 1/2 inch of water.
- Place stockpot on the stove top and cover with a lid.
- Bring the water to a rolling boil.
- Lower heat to a gentle simmer and set your timer according to egg size (see below).
- Small pullet eggs need about 12 minutes.
- Large eggs need approximately 14 minutes.
- Once your timer goes, pour off hot water.
- Run cold water over your eggs to cool, then let them sit in cold water for 10-15 minutes.
- You can refrigerate immediately or (if they’re cool), gently peel.
How to Peel Fresh Hard Boiled Eggs
Here are a few tips that will help you along when it comes to peeling your fresh hard boiled (or in this case, steamed) eggs!
Don’t cut the steaming time short! Soft egg whites never separate from the shell as well as firmly cooked whites.
Do ensure the egg is chilled before you start peeling off the shell!
Don’t smack the eggs on the counter a few timers before trying to peel.
Do rolled the egg around to thoroughly mash and break up the firm shell. It’ll come off much, much better!
And just let me say? If you’re dealing with truly fresh eggs, you may still may lose egg white here and there. But most of them should peel smoothly.
This is one of the best ways to deal with farm fresh boiled eggs.
So now you know. Now you know how to boil fresh eggs that peel easily. And without an instant pot!
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Best Recipes for Farm Fresh Eggs
You can use your farm fresh boiled eggs in many different, tasty recipes! Here are some ideas for you to try.
Fresh Deviled Eggs
Homemade Egg Salad Sandwich
Fermented Boiled Eggs
Potato Salad
Protein Green Salad
Scotch Breakfast Eggs
Fresh Easy-to-Peel Hard Boiled Eggs
Equipment
- 1 dozen fresh eggs
- 1 stockpot with a lid
Materials
- 12 fresh eggs
- 1/2 inch water in bottom of stockpot
Instructions
- Find a stockpot that is large enough to hold 12 eggs.
- Gently set your farm fresh eggs in the pot, stacking if needed.
- Add a bit of water, until you have about 1/2 inch in the bottom of the pot
- Place on stove top and turn heat to high.
- Put the lid on your pot and bring water to a rolling boil.
- Lower heat to a gentle simmer.
- Set your timer according to egg size.
- Small pullet eggs need about 12 minutes.
- Large chicken eggs need approximately 14 minutes.
- Steam until your timer goes.
- Pour off hot water and immediately run cold water over your eggs to rapidly bring down the temperature.
- Once eggs are just warm, let them sit in cold water for 10-15 minutes.
- When they are no longer warm to the touch, you can refrigerate or gently peel.
- To peel, thoroughly crush the egg's shell before attempting to remove it.
- Use as you would any hard boiled egg.
Hi, my name is Autumn and I'm all about whole food cooking, gardening, preserving and nourishing the home in a traditional manner.
Wow! I can’t believe this worked so well! I’ll bet my great-great grandmother knew this, but the information just didn’t get passed down. Especially in the 80s when food “experts” said the cholesterol in eggs was bad for us. I now have five dozen pickled eggs in my fridge, and one dozen fermenting on my counter. Thank you so much Autumn!
Glad to pass the information along! 🙂 Enjoy!
Great tips! It’s really simple if you just follow the steps, right?
Absolutely! 🙂 Its nice to have fresh hard boiled eggs that peel nicely!
Excellent! Thank you so much for sharing this method.
Glad it could be of help! 🙂
I always had this dilemma too 😅🙈
I now tap the bottom of the egg on the counter and use a teaspoon to slip between the egg white and the shell and it works beautifully and very quickly.
I love hearing the different ideas people have for this common problem 😃
Great idea! I’ve broke boiled eggs in half before and removed each half with a spoon, but sometimes I need eggs in whole form for recipes. I just never thought about going in from the large end! Thanks for the tip!