Did you know that there are different ways to dye Easter eggs quickly, easily – and without bringing a whole new colour scheme to your kitchen?
Everyone is familiar with the inherent mess that is associated with dyes. But there’s an easy way to get around that if you think strategically when you choose the vessel for this magical transformation.
If you have a mess of little helpers around helping you with the process, dealing with pots of boiling water is not a great choice. But why not get your slow cooker out of hibernation and use it to perform your magic?
Not only does it offer a safer alternative, but there’s another major advantage to using this small cooker: it allows you to use slow cooker liners so that the inside of your cooking pot does not absorb the dyes! When you are done with one color, just throw away the liner and start with a fresh one for the next color.
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Kool Aid Dyeing
Sure, you can use commercial Easter egg dyes, but did you know that you can use packets of Kool Aid to dye your eggs? Think strategically, and you can mix your own custom colors. Instead of buying all flavors, just get basic yellow, red and blue, and then mix your own for all sorts of beautiful in between tones. From blue green to blue violet, red violet to red orange, yellow orange to yellow green and everything in between.
Just make sure you start from the lightest tone and proceed to darker by gradually adding the new color. That’s where having more than one crock pot is really helpful. Let’s get started!
First line your slow cooler and add enough water to cover your hard-boiled eggs. Then turn your slow cooker on High and let the water heat up for about two hours. Add enough Kool Aid mixture to get a rich color. Dip your eggs carefully into the slow cooker. Since citric acid is included in the mixture, you won’t have to add vinegar.
If you want to get fancy, simply follow Kraft’s directions for Tie-Dyed Easter eggs.
Using Natural Dyes in Your Slow Cooker
If you want to go organic, various foods like onion skin and red cabbage can add some fun to the process and help you achieve more subtle, natural colors. Using crock pot liners, cook up the dye stock in your slow cooker, then carefully ladle it into glass jars and dip your eggs in to dye them.
For each color, fill your crock pot about half full with water. Add plenty of the plant material suggested below and allow it to cook on high for 3 to 4 hours until your dye liquid is fairly dark.
Here are some ideas for making the dyes:
.Several big handfuls of dry onion skins (remember to save them ahead of time)
.1 small head of red cabbage, sliced
.6 beets, quartered
.1 to 2 cups of coffee grounds
.8 to 10 tea bags or more for deeper colors
Once you’ve allowed the dye to cook, carefully ladle some of the liquid in jars and allow your hard- boiled eggs to sit in the mixture for several minutes: the longer, the more intense the color. You’ll end up with pretty soft shades of yellow, purple, red, brown, and green – all lovely earthy, subtle tones.
Job done with no discolored slow cooker insert, no mess on your hands, and plenty of eggs for an easter hunt!
Once the Easter hunt is over, you’re left with a good supply of hard-boiled eggs for healthy Easter appetizers. Just have your other ingredients ready, and you’ll have these done in no time – just follow our easter egg snacks recipe here.
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