PSA: Easy-pealing hard boiled eggs . . .

[kenny]

I hate an egg that's hard to peel.
I've tried every trick in the book but thought up this one (perhaps someone else has also thought of it too).

Gently tap the middle (not a tip) of each egg against a hard surface before cooking.
You want a tiny crack.
Don't tap too hard or some of the egg will explode out of the shell during cooking.
You just want the smallest hairline crack possible.

Start by tapping too gently to crack it, and gradually increase the pressure till the sound tells you it's cracked.

Put eggs in pan and cover with cold water.
Bring to boil.
Lower heat and simmer on low for 10 minutes.

After boiling dump the hot water.
Add cold water once or twice and peel the eggs within a minute or two (as soon as they don't burn your fingers), dipping your hands and the egg into the water if needed.

This works consistently and amazingly well.

When cooled I put the peeled eggs in a ziplock bag and they keep in the fridge for a week.

 

[iLander]

This sounds like it takes skill and finesse. I don't have a lot of that to spare.

I just throw them in ice water for ten minutes, slam them down on the counter, and roll them back and forth with my hand. It makes a strangely satisfying "crackle, crunch, crack", noise. Then I just grab it along one of the zillions of little cracks and peel.

No finesse required.

 

[Haven]

I've never heard this one before!

I steam my eggs, instead of boil them, and it works like a charm. Since I started steaming I've never had one issue peeling one egg. I think there's a thread about this somewhere on PS, because I'm sure I've written about it before.

People also bake them to get them hard cooked in the shell too, and they say that works wonders. I don't like turning on my oven if it isn't necessary, so since steaming works so well I've always stuck with that.

 

[kenny]

Thanks for the tips which I'll give a try.

 

[TravelingGal]

I very rarely have a problem with throwing them in a pot covered with cold water and put the heat to med. Start to finish, 17 minutes, run under cold water, then peel.

 

[Skippy123]

I very rarely have a problem with throwing them in a pot covered with cold water and put the heat to med. Start to finish, 17 minutes, run under cold water, then peel.

I have done TGals suggestion and it totally works!

 

[TravelingGal]

I very rarely have a problem with throwing them in a pot covered with cold water and put the heat to med. Start to finish, 17 minutes, run under cold water, then peel.

I have done TGals suggestion and it totally works!

btw, don't cover the pot...I just read what I wrote and it sounded like that's what I meant. Just cover the eggs with water until submersed.

 

[sonnyjane]

Yikes yeah, Kenny's way sounds like a lot of unnecessary work!

I do as the others have said. Start the eggs in the water on the stove cold, then boil for about that long, and shock with cold water. Never have any problems with sticky shells!! Also when I'm shelling them, I crack and roll them on a hard service so that the shell is all cracked up, then I peel them under cold running water over the sink. The shell comes off in one big sheet.

 

[iLander]

Kenny, when I crack the eggs and then boil them, some kind of weird egginess oozes out the crack.

Or does that only happen to me?

 

[texaskj]

The fresher the egg, the harder it is to peel.

 

[JaneSmith]

The fresher the egg, the harder it is to peel.

Yup.
http://www.edinformatics.com/math_science/science_of_cooking/boiled_eggs.htm
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/10/eggs-hard-to-peel/

 

[movie zombie]

yes, i started a thread re steaming eggs some time back because, kenny, like you i could not hard boil an egg and get it to peel w/o losing 1/2 the egg:

https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/eggs.173171/

this is the only way i do it now....and it still works! we're at 1300 ft elevation so i have to cook them a bit longer, usually around 13 minutes or so.

happy peeling, kenny!

 

[Hera]

I recently heard adding baking soda to the water can help with peeling but I don't know if it affects the taste of the eggs. Worth an experiment I think!

 

[kenny]

I add baking soda to the water too.
Not sure whether it helps, but I do it.

 

[kenny]

Yikes yeah, Kenny's way sounds like a lot of unnecessary work!

I do as the others have said. Start the eggs in the water on the stove cold, then boil for about that long, and shock with cold water. Never have any problems with sticky shells!! Also when I'm shelling them, I crack and roll them on a hard service so that the shell is all cracked up, then I peel them under cold running water over the sink. The shell comes off in one big sheet.

Taping an egg against the side of the sink is a lot of work?
Rolling and peeling under running water is a good idea though I'd capture that kind of otherwise-wasted water and throw it out the back door into my garden - opps, more work!

I've always done the cold water shock but that did not always guarantee an easy peal.
Maybe my eggs are too fresh.

 

[movie zombie]

steaming eggs is the only way i can get them to peel perfectly.
and they are "hard boiled" and just as tasty.

 

[amc80]

yes, i started a thread re steaming eggs some time back because, kenny, like you i could not hard boil an egg and get it to peel w/o losing 1/2 the egg:

https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/eggs.173171/

this is the only way i do it now....and it still works! we're at 1300 ft elevation so i have to cook them a bit longer, usually around 13 minutes or so.

happy peeling, kenny!

I'm at 5000 feet and have to cook everything longer as well. I tried steaming eggs and some were perfect, but several still had runny yolks (yuck). I only did the time recommended in the steaming thread, though, since more than one person told me you don't have to increase the time since you're steaming and not boiling. But I'll definitely increase it next time!

 

[OneFifty]

My aunt gave me an egg cooker which I thought would just take up more space in my cabinets, but it actually works great for perfect eggs everytime. Not so when I would boil them myself. I've never had issues peeling the egg either. I do the cold water shock after and then roll the eggs over the counter.

 

[movie zombie]

amc, i did some research online and found that an increase in elevation requires increased time no matter if steaming or boiling.....i also find when cooking that if i'm cooking a pork chop on the stove top that it takes more time, too.......i don't bake so that's a non-issue for me.

i HATE runny egg yolks! once i under did them but lucky for me my hubby likes runny eggs! i also found that when the egg yolk was runny i couldn't peel the egg easily.........

also, i peel them after cooking and store them in glass jars for use during the week.

 

[amc80]

amc, i did some research online and found that an increase in elevation requires increased time no matter if steaming or boiling.....i also find when cooking that if i'm cooking a pork chop on the stove top that it takes more time, too.......i don't bake so that's a non-issue for me.

I'll try it! Yeah, everything takes longer. Rice is the ultimate pain. You're lucky you don't bake, it's always a gamble as to how much liquid to add or how much to increase the time an temp. My grandma lives at 6500ft and baking there is practically impossible. As is breathing

 

[Miscka]

<null>

MZ would you mind sharing the steaming technique? I tried the chow hound link and it wouldn't work (maybe bc I'm mobile). I want to try it, as I ruined a dozen eggs last week attempting the baking method!

 

[movie zombie]

i read through their thread and came up with what worked for me.
the link still works for me....must be like you said 'cause you're mobile.

http://www.kokoscornerblog.com/mycorner/2011/04/easy-peel-hard-boiled-eggs-guaranteed-.html
or
http://tinyurl.com/3fpkqw9

cut and paste from these websites:

April 03, 2011
Easily peel hard boiled eggs, guaranteed
The secret to easily peeling eggs is to steam, not boil the eggs. Yes, you read right, steam those cackleberries. It doesn't matter if they are fresh or older eggs.
I first heard of this from my foodie friend Barb Schaller, here's her experiment in steaming eggs.
I did a little different experiment. I made soft steamed and hard steamed eggs.

Get out your vegetable steamer basket, you are going to love this.
Set the vegetable steamer basket in a saucepan. Add water until it comes just to the bottom of the steamer. Turn on the heat, as the water is coming to a boil, add the eggs. Cover and steam the eggs for 10 minutes over medium high heat. Watch water level so you don't boil your pan dry.
While I was experimenting I thought I'd experiment even further. I cut out a couple of egg cups from a cardboard egg carton and placed eggs in them and put them in the steamer. I was wondering if that would keep the yolks centered.
It didn't and the yolks settled down toward the bottom of the egg leaving very little egg white at that end.


Halfway through the steaming time (5 minutes) I took one egg out to check how steaming them would work for soft cooked eggs.
I ended up with a beautiful soft cooked egg. I mixed some of the yolk in with the egg white, there was very little uncooked white. If you can't stand any runny white, let it go about another minute before removing from the pan.
I finished eating the egg with a spoon and the egg came totally clean from the shell.
I think I need one of those fancy schmancy egg cutters.

After they steamed for 10 minutes, I removed the eggs from the heat. At this point, I took out another egg and cooled it slightly under cold running water and peeled it right away. The shells came off slick as, well...slick. Look no grey around the yolk.
Barb's experiment included leaving the eggs covered in the steamer for an additional 10 minutes after they are taken off the heat. I did that also but discovered that in the interim they started to turn grey around the yolk.
So there ya go, volunteer to bring deviled eggs to the next potluck.
And that's that

////////////////////
repeat: the above is a cut/paste.

 

[Miscka]

<null>

Thank you! I'm excited to try it.

 

[House Cat]

I hate an egg that's hard to peel.
I've tried every trick in the book but thought up this one (perhaps someone else has also thought of it too).

Gently tap the middle (not a tip) of each egg against a hard surface before cooking.
You want a tiny crack.
Don't tap too hard or some of the egg will explode out of the shell during cooking.
You just want the smallest hairline crack possible.

Start by tapping too gently to crack it, and gradually increase the pressure till the sound tells you it's cracked.

Put eggs in pan and cover with cold water.
Bring to boil.
Lower heat and simmer on low for 10 minutes.

After boiling dump the hot water.
Add cold water once or twice and peel the eggs within a minute or two (as soon as they don't burn your fingers), dipping your hands and the egg into the water if needed.

This works consistently and amazingly well.

When cooled I put the peeled eggs in a ziplock bag and they keep in the fridge for a week.

http://www.gardenbetty.com/2012/10/...t-hard-boiled-egg-even-with-a-farm-fresh-egg/

I thought of you when I saw Garden Betty's blog post this morning. Maybe, instead of slightly cracking, you can prick the egg (sounds easier.) But her method is a lot like yours.

 

[ericad]

Fresh eggs are harder to peel. Ever have an egg that just takes off chunks of egg along with the shell? That's a fresh egg! Older eggs peel easily.

This works for me every time, and it's easy (we have our own chickens, so our eggs are as fresh and hard to peel as they get):

For really fresh eggs that are hard to peel, boil them with a tablespoon or two of salt in the water. Fill with cold water, add salt and eggs, bring to a boil, boil for a minute then turn off the stove and cover the pot. Let them sit in the hot water for 15 minutes. Then rinse with cold water and it's easy peeling!