Comments on: The glories and the trials of farm-fresh eggs

By: Curbstone Valley Farm

Curbstone Valley Farm — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 21:26:22 +0000

McGee recommends 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda per quart of water, and I’ve pulled eggs straight out from under a chicken, boiled them, and they’ve peeled ok. I do still chill them in an ice bath too. I am going to try your method though. I’d like see which way is easier to peel! This was a fresh double yolker I peeled using the baking soda and ice bath: http://curbstonevalley.com/blog/?p=3847

By: FARMcurious

FARMcurious — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 23:15:54 +0000

Thanks for your comment. I am certainly no one to question Harold McGee – that guy’s a god as far as I’m concerned (and a darn nice guy too!). Do you happen to know the amount of baking soda he recommends per volume of water? I’ve never had much success with it when the eggs are only a day or two old but it’s possible my measurements haven’t been spot on. If your trick’s working though – that’s all that matters!!

By: Curbstone Valley Farm

Curbstone Valley Farm — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 22:36:26 +0000

Actually, baking soda does work, if you do it right. We tried it after reading Harold McGee’s “Science and Lore of the Kitchen”, and blogged about it a while back. The trick is you have to use the right amount of baking soda, to the right volume of water. Increasing the pH while cooking, mimics the pH increase that occurs naturally with aged eggs. I don’t boil eggs (that are destined to peeled) without it. Here we use baking soda and an ice bath, and they come out perfect every time. Someday though, I’ll have to try your trick and compare! Now I’m curious