Farm Fresh Eggs

Yes, you can use farm fresh brown eggs for Easter.

Brown eggs dye just as beautifully as store bought white ones. The hue is slightly earthier, and the flecks and natural color variations among them make the finished craft a glorious feast for the eyes.

Our home experiments have revealed that both the commercial Easter egg dyes and the natural dyes made with household ingredients such as red wine, cranberries, blueberries, turmeric, paprika or beets will work with brown eggs. In fact, we’ve come to prefer the rich tones of the brown eggs for these projects and eating them after is much more enjoyable as compared to the flavorless yolks of store bought eggs.

Recommended: Check out Jackie's Deviled Eggs and Homemade Mayonnaise recipes!

The trick is to know how to boil a fresh pasture-raised egg properly, so that it will peel without falling apart and taste delicious, bursting with the flavor of a bright-yellow, creamy yolk, surrounded by a soft and yielding egg white.

I have spent a lot of time trying out methods and here is what we found works best.

How To Hard Boil Fresh Farm Eggs

1. Carefully place 1 dozen eggs in pot and cover with 1 inch of water.
2. Put the lid on the pot, and bring to a full boil, then lower the heat and simmer for one minute.
3. Turn off the heat and allow the eggs to rest for 8-10 minutes for gas and induction cooktops, and 4-5 minutes for electric cooktops.
4. Drain off the water, then crack each egg and hold it under cold running water.
5. Put them in a bowl of cold water for five minutes, then drain them off.
6. Refrigerate them for 12-24 hours before peeling. This added chill time makes all the difference when peeling your eggs the next day.