• About Us
  • On the Farm
  • In the Kitchen
  • Our Place
  • Farmhouse Renovations
  • In the Garden
  • Family

Back to Our Boots

Building a Life with Room to Breathe

April 15, 2019

Easter Egg Dye From the Kitchen

backtoourboots.com

I have experimented with using food ingredients to create more natural Easter egg dye for the past few years. After trying several different food-based dyes, I have found sticking to three primary color dyes created with red cabbage, beets, and turmeric, and then mixing them to create secondary colors works best.

Red Cabbage = Blue

Turmeric = Yellow

Beats = Pink

Hardboiled Eggs

For perfect hardboiled eggs start with your eggs in cold water. As soon as it begins to boil set the timer for 12 minutes. They are always perfect!

Basic Recipe

As a basic formula boil roughly:

One cup chopped Cabbage,

One cup chopped Beets, and

Two tablespoons Turmeric, Per

Quart of Water.

Once the water begins to boil, turn down and simmer for 30 minutes. Strain the solids out of the liquid. Add one tablespoon white vinegar per quart of strained dye. Completely submerge your eggs in the dye until the desired color is reached. I recommend overnight or for several hours in the refrigerator.

There are many other suggestions out there for food sourced dyes. I for one can only handle three pots of boiling liquid at a time in my life! So I stick with primary colors and then mix the resulting dye together to make orange, purple, and green.

It is much more of an experiment than an exact science. My eggs have a lot of variety and inconsistencies in the coloring.

backtoourboots.com

backtourboots.com

Dying Brown Eggs

My chickens lay brown eggs, so I dyed them. The color turned out very different on the brown eggs, but I think they are beautiful. These brown eggs dyed in very rich earth tones, and not all the Easter pastels of traditional Easter eggs. So I picked up some white eggs and gave them a try. In the same jars of dye, the eggs came out very different. The difference I noticed was the strength of the shell. I boiled and dyed 13 brown eggs, not a single one cracked when boiling them. Of the first store-bought dozen I dyed, four cracked before I got them boiled, and two more cracked by the time I took them out of the dye. Only half survived! The second dozen store-bought white eggs yielded similar results. While these findings are not at all scientific, I did notice my eggs have much harder shells, even to the touch.  I think this is at least in part because my chickens are free range.

Using This Method with Kids

While I love using more natural products with my little ones. This project is probably better suited for very patient or older children. My girls were really interested in the process and the resulting beautiful colors, but they were less thrilled with waiting overnight for the finished product.

If you are looking for something a little different, I have tried this method with beautiful results.

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)

Related

Filed Under: In The Kitchen Tagged With: DYI, Holidays, homegrown Posted by Sadie Leave a Comment

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

About Us

This blog is the story of how my family made the decision to put on our boots and build the life we had always dreamed of living. Read More…

  • Instagram

Subscribe

Recent Posts

  • Our Decision to Homeschool
  • The Secret Sauce
  • Buying Beef Directly from Producers
  • Icelandic Chickens: The Perfect Homesteader’s Chicken
  • Calving Systems: How We Manage Calving Season

Recent Comments

  • Courtney on Calving Systems: How We Manage Calving Season
  • Sadie on Calving Systems: How We Manage Calving Season
  • sikis izle on Calving Systems: How We Manage Calving Season
  • Sadie on Kitchen Renovation: Before and After
  • Janice Hebert on Kitchen Renovation: Before and After

Archives

  • April 2021
  • February 2021
  • October 2020
  • May 2020
  • February 2020
  • December 2019
  • October 2019
  • August 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • November 2018
  • September 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017

Categories

  • Family
  • Farmhouse Renovations
  • In The Farmhouse
  • In the Garden
  • In The Kitchen
  • On the Farm
  • Our Place
  • Uncategorized

Copyright © 2023 · Theme Design by BD Web Studio · Powered by Genesis

Copyright © 2023 · Paige Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

 

Loading Comments...