Best way to peel a hard-boiled egg?

TonyB0588 · August 2016

arditarose wrote: »

Never thought about it. Never thought it was difficult. I tap it on the edge of the counter, peel it in a few seconds, and eat it in a few seconds. I don't boil it any special way either.

Good for you. I always get a difficult one just when I'm in a hurry.

arditarose · August 2016

TonyB0588 wrote: »

arditarose wrote: »

Never thought about it. Never thought it was difficult. I tap it on the edge of the counter, peel it in a few seconds, and eat it in a few seconds. I don't boil it any special way either.

Good for you. I always get a difficult one just when I'm in a hurry.

I must be very talented.

Strawblackcat · August 2016

You have to use old eggs. As eggs age, a little of the water in them evaporates through the shell, which makes the inner membrane that separates the edible portion of the egg away from the shell pull away from the shell, which makes it easier to peel. Fresh eggs are better for frying, scrambling, or baking, but old eggs are better for boiling.

OneWayOnlyCycles · August 2016

Start with fresh eggs. Check the date. Bring to a boil and set a timer for 10 mins. Then take them off of the burner and let them cool totally. Don't put them in cold water. When cool, roll them back and forth on a counter until all of the shell is broken up in little pieces. Now the whole shell will literally fall off when you start to peel!

smirk15 · August 2016

I just learned a fun trick for this! Once they are cooked pour out the hot water and add about an inch of cold water back into the pot. Then put the lid backon, hold it in tight, and shake the pot so the eggs hit each other and the sides of the pot. More side to side shaking than up and down. Do this for a minute and then open the pot and all the shells are cracked and slide right off. The water in the pot acts like a buffer so the eggs don't get completely destroyed. It works really well when you have a bunch you want to peel.

Bmoremama · August 2016

Steam the eggs, don't boil them. Bring an inch of water to a rolling boil, put a steamer pot on top with your eggs in it, cover, steam for 12 minutes. Remove steamer pot, put into cold water. Shells slide right off.

Wynterbourne · August 2016

Strawblackcat wrote: »

You have to use old eggs. As eggs age, a little of the water in them evaporates through the shell, which makes the inner membrane that separates the edible portion of the egg away from the shell pull away from the shell, which makes it easier to peel. Fresh eggs are better for frying, scrambling, or baking, but old eggs are better for boiling.

^^^This

85Cardinals · August 2016

Break the rounder end a little (there's a little pocket of air there), then roll the egg on the counter under your hand to break up the middle shell around that. Then be patient and tenacious peeling, always trying to reach the shiny smooth egg under the shell and membrane. Once you hit the shiny, you have to keep it going. Ideally the broken shell will come off in one huge piece! And always work with warm eggs. Submerge cold eggs in warm water, this makes it so much easier. Trying to peel cold eggs is like torture.

Works equally well on all eggs, both old and new!

pebble4321 · August 2016

Older eggs are definitely easier.
My other handy hint is to use a teaspoon - crack the shell then slide the teaspoon between the egg and the shell to get the shell off.

MiamiSeoul · August 2016

JenHuedy wrote: »

I've tried them all. Baking soda, vinegar, steaming, baking, boiling water, cold water, ice baths, rolling, pin holes... all of them worked - some of the time. Older eggs worked most of the time. The only thing that works 100% of the time for me is using a pressure cooker.

http://altonbrown.com/pressure-cooker-eggs-recipe/

Vinegar works for me!

TonyB0588 · August 2016

jemhh wrote: »

I eat a lot of soft boiled eggs and rarely have trouble peeling them. What I do:

- bring water to boil and then put eggs in
- once they are done boiling (7 minutes for my purposes) I take them out of the water and run them under cold water for 5-10 seconds
- Peel immediately. (Yes this means that you are peeling a very hot egg. You will get used to it. Or maybe you already have mom/grandma hands that are impervious to heat and it won't bother you at all. Who knows.) To do this, tap the fatter end of the egg on the counter. This is the air bubble end. Start peeling, being careful to peel off the membrane that lines the shell.

That's it. That's what I do 3-4 mornings a week. I mess up maybe one egg per week.

Read this last night. this morning is the first time in my life that I've ever cracked the fatter end of the egg to peel it. Wonderful idea!! Thanks a lot.

TonyB0588 · August 2016

robininfl wrote: »

I can help! We struggled with this for years, no kidding. Best boiled eggs ever, and peel like a dream:

Boil the water on the stove first.

Add the cold eggs to the boiling water, return to a boil then reduce heat, simmer ten minutes.

Immediately plunge eggs into ice water (we drain them and them fill the pot with ice then water). Let them sit in the cold water for ten minutes or so to cool off.

They will peel easily, much better than starting them in cold water.

@robininfl Tested this, and it works.

Didn't leave mine to cool 10 minutes though. Wanted a warm egg to eat for breakfast.

CrabNebula · August 2016

Using eggs that were more than two weeks old is the only consistent thing that has worked for me. I don't even bother anymore boiling fresher eggs.

Need2Exerc1se · August 2016

JenHuedy wrote: »

I've tried them all. Baking soda, vinegar, steaming, baking, boiling water, cold water, ice baths, rolling, pin holes... all of them worked - some of the time. Older eggs worked most of the time. The only thing that works 100% of the time for me is using a pressure cooker.

http://altonbrown.com/pressure-cooker-eggs-recipe/

That's the only method I've seen on here that I haven't tried. I wouldn't want to fool with the pressure cooker just to cook eggs for breakfast but I may try this the next time I'm making a big batch of deviled eggs.

sfcrocker · August 2016

Use older eggs for sure.

I second this. I remember reading that very fresh eggs have an extra membrane that makes them tough to peel when hard boiled, but eggs that are 1-2 weeks old don't have this so they peel more easily.

I peel them underwater in a pot which seems to help

srecupid · August 2016

I crack it on the side of the garbage and just peel it.

extra_medium · August 2016

pressure cook them rather than boil. They peel when you look at them funny.

mrmeza123 · August 2016

Grab a jar with a lid and keep it filled with 2 ounces of cold tap water. Put two eggs inside with lid on. Shake for about 20 seconds. Open and take them out.