If you have chickens or purchase fresh farm eggs, you have probably had many failed attempts with peeling boiled eggs. I sure have! Most eggs we buy at the grocery store are older- some even more than a month old. So, because of this, these eggs have more air inside and it is easier to peel the shells off of the eggs once they’re boiled. With fresh eggs, there isn’t a large air pocket inside.

I checked out Jill Winger’s book from the library- “The Prairie Homestead: Simple Recipes for Heritage Cooking in Any Kitchen.” In it, I found this amazing method for steaming eggs! Jill suggests this way of boiling eggs for those who generally cook with fresh eggs. And let me tell you, it works! Here is my rendition of Jill’s recipe.

Place your eggs into a metal colander that fits inside your pot. For me, I can boil about one dozen at a time with the above set up. Fill your pot with only approximately 1″ on water. You don’t want the eggs covered. Bring the pot to a roaring boil. Then, put the lid on and reduce heat. You want the water to continue to boil, but you don’t want your lid to flutter around. Set the timer for 20 minutes.

After this time, remove the eggs from the heat. You can either go ahead and rinse them in cold water or let them sit for a bit. I have done both ways. Once you have rinsed them, you can peel them, or put them into the fridge for later peeling. Either way should work fine. The way I peel them is to whack both ends hard on the countertop and then slightly roll them. You can run under cold water to help break the shell from the egg, but I generally don’t need to. Once the peel is off, rinse and set aside until you have the desired amount of eggs peeled for your recipe.

How do you use your steamed eggs? We love them in many ways!

• an easy protein filled snack
• deviled (or dressed depending on where you’re from), adding mayo/Miracle Whip, S and P, pickle juice, mustard etc.
• egg salad (one of my favorites)
• sliced on a salad
• as a kabob with bacon, cheese, lettuce, etc

I hope this recipe helps you as we near Easter and so many of us boil our eggs for dying and hiding. We no longer dye our eggs because of the artificial dyes and their side effects. But so many people enjoy dying their eggs naturally with onion skins, cabbage, herbs, and flowers. Because our eggs are all colors already, we don’t dye them. I know! A lost family tradition! But alas… we do still enjoy eating them, though! Easter may be a time for boiled eggs, but it comes because Christ has risen! And my family and I have spent this week enjoying our Resurrection Eggs (thanks to my sweet sister for making them!), Sinclair Ferguson podcast episodes, and hymns as we near Good Friday and Easter Sunday. He is risen! He is risen indeed!