Hard-Boiled Eggs in the Instant Pot
Every wonder why sometimes your hard-boiled eggs peel really well and sometimes they don’t? Freshness. A too fresh egg won’t peel nicely. As all our eggs are farm-fresh, this can be a problem.
Solution? Instant Pot.
Hard-Boiled Eggs in the Instant Pot
I set the rack on the bottom of the pot to keep the eggs raised up a bit. I add about a cup of water and set the IP to 3 minutes, put the eggs in, put the lid on and hit start.
As soon as it reaches pressure I set a timer for five minutes and stay in the kitchen. The IP will hit pressure and cook for 3 minutes. Two minutes after the cooking ends, my other timer will go off, cueing me to release the steam and remove the eggs.
I plunge them into cold water and let the water run until all the heat is dissipated.
Into the fridge most of them go — I always need to test one or two — and they peel beautifully and are cooked just right — not runny, and no green rings around the yolk.

I saw this on PostSecret today, and wanted so much to contact the person who sent it in. Clearly, he or she imagines that the word “Fertile” on the label indicates that there is a developing chick inside — see the little picture he or she drew in the yolk?
This is the fun part of curating an Olive Egger Flock: selecting the prettiest eggs to hatch and then selecting the prettiest grow-outs to keep for next year’s flock refresh. Right now I have an Olive Egger Rooster and a Welsummer Rooster (dark brown eggs with spots) covering Bright Blue Egger Hens and Olive Egger Hens.
Every wonder why sometimes your hard-boiled eggs peel really well and sometimes they don’t? Freshness. A too fresh egg won’t peel nicely. As all our eggs are fresh, this can be a problem sometimes. Solution? Instant Pot.
Toasty Eggshells coming right up!
Eggshells provide the perfect calcium supplement for our hens. As we use eggs, we toss the shells onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper which we keep in the oven. When we preheat the oven for baking, the eggshells toast to a lovely brown. Once smashed to smithereens, they are mixed in with the table scraps and served to our layers. Easy and thrifty.
Skelter! It’s just fun to say.