How do you dye eggs, like with onion skins, but red?

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My Mother-in-law told me how to dye eggs with onion skins, but she would like to know how to dye eggs so that they turn out red, like her grandmother used to make them. She thought perhaps her grandmother added another ingredient when dying with onion skins. (She tried using red onion skins, and the eggs still turned out the same pretty gold and brown marbled colors from regular onion skins.)

The method she used starts with white eggs at room temperature. She washes them with baking soda and water solution. The onion skins are soaked a few minutes to make them pliable. They are then wrapped around each egg and held in place with a piece or sheeting or nylon tied around each egg. The eggs are then put in a kettle large enough so that they are not tightly packed.

To boil them, she starts with cold water, and brings them to a hard boil. They are then removed from the heat, and covered for 28 minutes. This method reduces the green coloration on the yoke of the hard boiled eggs.

-- Jeanne B. from Minnesota (jbilder@clear.lakes.com), March 24, 2002

Answers

Beets?

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), March 24, 2002.

I once dyed eggs by boiling the veg. in water for 30 min. Used tumeric, vinegar, water for yellow, coffee, beets, red cabbage=blue. You need to put vinegar in the dye water, too. I think this came from Martha Stewart.

-- DW (djwallace@sotc.net), March 24, 2002.

I would think beets would give you red, or at least a very pretty pink.

-- Helen Banham (ghbanham@shaw.ca), March 24, 2002.

In the Feb/March 2002 issue of The Herb Companion magazine they have an article on dying eggs using "natural' ingredients. Pink they suggest 2 cups of chopped beets, Blue handful or 2 cups of chopped red cabbage. Their are other ideas...good magazine. Hope this helps. Good Luck !!

-- Helena (windyacs@mpacc.net), March 24, 2002.

We boil our brown eggs with red onion skins and they become a deep mahogony color. We use tumeric for yellow, coffee or tea makes them kind of grey. Try blueberries or elderberries. We didn't add any vinegar.

I think people were naturally coloring eggs before Martha Stewart came along.

-- Charleen in WNY (harperhillfarm@yahoo.com), March 24, 2002.



go buy them at Costco! Honest! I say them already colored and hard boiled!

-- LurkyLu (lurkylu@yahoo.com), March 24, 2002.

beets , just buy or use your home canned beet juice, add to it 1 T vinegar, perfect , or even red cabbage juice

boil the eggs , and use the beet juice/vinegar solution just like commercial egg dye, we did this for the first time this year, turned out great, you can use thyme or spinach for a green color.

carle emorys book has a section on this under poultry, thats the advice i used, i will DEFINATELY be doing again

-- Beth Van Stiphout (willosnake@hotmail.com), March 25, 2002.


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