Easy-Peel Hard Boiled Fresh Eggs

Okay I lied: this recipe isn’t for hard boiling but for steaming fresh eggs. But the result is the same: hard “boiled” eggs. And no one will know the difference.

So you’ve done it before…you buy a dozen fresh eggs from a small farm with the intent of making deviled eggs that night but you get frustrated because the egg shell will not come off without taking half the egg white with it. And so you make egg salad instead.

That’s because the eggs were too fresh for easy peeling.

But if you steam them, it’s another story.

I first started hard cooking eggs this way back when my husband and I lived in Pittsburgh and we filtered our city water. I didn’t like the idea of using so much filtered water to hard boil eggs because our gravity fed water filter required some work to refill. So, I tried steaming them and never went back!

Anyway, you may need to adjust the below recipe slightly for your own stove top and steamer.

Steaming works great for both farm fresh eggs and those that are weeks old from the grocery store!

And, no, I still don't have any colorful soy-free eggs for sale yet, but will in the spring, when the days get longer and warmer. Yes, please don’t remind me: we’ve been buying eggs since November because our chickens and ducks are freeloaders.

Prep Time: 2 minutes Cook Time: 20 minutes

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 dozen eggs (even fresh from a small farm)

• filtered water

COOKING EQUIPMENT:

• one steamer basket (see photos at bottom) and

• one 2-quart pot or bigger with fitted lid

DIRECTIONS:

1. Add one inch of water below the steamer basket.

2. Put the pot on the lid and bring the water to a boil on the stovetop.

3. Once it’s boiling, remove the pot from heat and carefully add the eggs to the steamer basket, and put pot lid back on.

4. Put pot back on burner and steam eggs for 15 minutes on setting 4 out of 10.

5. Remove pot from heat. Add one egg to a cup of cold water and open it after a minute to make sure it’s done to your liking. If so, let cool in pot with lid off or add all eggs to cold water to quick cool.

Tip 1: Ideally each egg should be approximately the same size so that they cook in the same amount of time.

Tip 2: I always set a timer or else I forget!

Tip : Of course this recipe works for all eggs: tiny quail, fattier duck, and huge goose! They just need more or less time depending on size.

Steamer baskets