Kool-Aid Easter Eggs Tutorial--OH YEAH!

Hey Chattanoogans!  Tune in to Good Morning Chattanooga on News Channel 9 Easter morning to see me do the tutorial in person!  I will post the online video of the tutorial as soon as I get it.  

Why use Kool-Aid to dye Easter eggs?  It's cheaper (5 packets for $1), easier (no tablets or added ingredients)  and smells much better than the traditional dye kits (the citric acid in Kool-Aid dyes the eggs so no smelly vinegar!).

To get started you'll need:

eggs (you always need more than you think!)
Kool-Aid packets
water
cups
tongs
paper towels and newspaper

I prefer to use hard boiled eggs, especially if you are doing this with kids.  Here's the best way to boil eggs:

1. Leave the eggs out for about half an hour.  Cold eggs straight out of the fridge are more likely to crack.
2. Put all the eggs in a pot and cover with cold water.  (You can add 1 teaspoon of vinegar per egg to prevent cracking.)
3. Heat pot until boiling.  Let the eggs boil for 1 minute.
4. Turn the heat off and let the eggs cool about 20 minutes.

Make sure the eggs have cooled down before you dye them.  Sharp changes in temperature will shock the eggs and make them break.  You can rinse warm eggs in lukewarm water to prepare them for the dye bath.

While the eggs are cooling, prep your dye.

1. Dump each packet of Kool-Aid into separate cups.
2. Fill each cup with 1/3 cup of lukewarm water.

I used the following flavors:

Cherry: RED
Orange: ORANGE
Peach Mango: YELLOW

Green Apple: GREEN

Mixed Berry: BLUE

Sharkleberry Fin: PINK

Note: Do NOT use grape to make purple.  It makes the eggs gray!

It's dunking time!

1. Using tongs, carefully set one egg per cup in the dye.  If the egg is not completely submerged, add more water until it's covered.

2. The dye will fizz.  That's the citric acid reacting with the egg.

3. These eggs dye fast so keep an eye on them!  Most of mine reached peak color at or before 5 minutes.

Because this concentrated Kool-Aid is so acidic, you will see some mottling on the eggs.  If you leave an egg in too long, the top layer of the egg will emulsify, looking something like this:

You can gently rub off this layer and put the egg back in to start over.

4. Using tongs, carefully pull out each egg and let it rest in the egg carton.

Despite the fruity dye, the eggs will taste normal if you want to eat them later (eat within a week of boiling them!).  

And you're done!

HAPPY EASTER!  (OH YEAH!)