Another way to peel a hard-boiled egg
In my continual quest to solve the Problem of How to Peel the Hard-Boiled Egg (see this and this), today I discovered this video (embedding disabled; you’ll have to use the link), which purports to show you how to peel five eggs at a time by putting them in a container with water, covering it, and shaking. Magic! The peel is pictured as coming off easily and mostly in one piece.
Does it work? Having a yen for deviled eggs today, I was determined to find out. It couldn’t be any worse than my usual experience, which is that, despite following all the myriad instructions—cold water, age of eggs, amount of time to sit after cooking—I still have incredible difficulty with the membrane sticking to the egg and mucking up the beauty of the peeled white, so that I often end up with a pock-marked, misshapen, and sorry mess.
So, how did the new method work? Not quite as in the video, but not bad. Out of five eggs, two went just about as smoothly as in the film; the shell came off pretty much in one fell swoop, membrane and all. Huzzah! A third one was close to that, although a bit more difficult. The remaining two were pretty much the same old same old: sticky membrane, laborious peeling, and a final product that won’t win any beauty prizes.
But they all taste good. I contend, however, that the ones with the smooth whites actually taste a bit better than the others.
I’m not eggxactly going to look at the vid, but IMO eggs boiled before their useby date peel poorly.
The reason your two eggs did not peel is because they were fresh. It takes about two weeks for the shell and membrane to separate from the egg itself. We have had chickens for years, when I want to hard boil eggs, I put them back for about three weeks, then just use the regular old fashioned cooking method and they peel like a charm. There is no trick or special technique.
Stacey:
No, they weren’t fresh.
First of all, the five eggs were all from the same carton. And second of all, that carton has been in my refrigerator for at least two weeks, and I’m sure the eggs in it were not straight from the hen the day I bought them at the store, either.
Why there was such a differential I really don’t know. Mysterious.
What usually works for me to cover the boiled eggs in cold water and then let them cool down just enough to handle easily, and then gently crack them all over on the countertop that’s covered with a tea towel. If I let them cool down more than than that, I can have problems.
What works for me is to drop the eggs into boiling water, count to ten, and turn off the burner. I am not reliable on time, so turning off the burner is essential. After whatever, I peel the eggs under cold running water. Now and then the membrane is a problem, but it is uncommon.
I put eggs in a pot of cold water–just barely enough water to cover the eggs. The eggs must be in a single layer on the bottom. Put them on the stove and bring to a boil. Put the lid on the pot, leave the pot on the burner and let it cool down. This only works for an electric stove. After about a half hour or so, run the eggs under cold water. This usual gives me really peelable eggs. But not always. I peel them by cracking them gently on the counter, then rolling them all around. Out of a dozen, I can get as many as all, and usually as few as nine.
I don’t even need to look. Saw, and attempted, the same myself. Mind you, for my own reasons, I have started boiling a dozen and an half to two eggs a week. Sometimes more when I am pickling them. I think my record was five and an half dozen. Well, then peeling them. I have found no trick that really works.
The only thing I have found for sure, is that overcooking them is not a good thing with regards to peeling. Bad. Mad. I’ll just be more careful next time. It’s the first batch I really messed up on, so… it’s going to happen. If I learn a trick, I’ll pass it on though. If you promise to at least post any trick you find here.
Fascinating. I’m going to try that method. Do you like horseradish in your deviled eggs? Mmmmmm!
I can usually (not always) peel them if the moment they’re boiled enough, I plunge them under the faucet and flood them with running cold water for at least a couple of minutes.
snopercod Says:
June 20th, 2015 at 6:31 pm
“Fascinating. I’m going to try that method. Do you like horseradish in your deviled eggs? Mmmmmm!”
I like horseradish in anything! Do you have a recipe?
HA! I had the same quest. Then I found out that method — in the pot and shaking — from a comment left by a fireman who cooked for the firehouse.
I was so happy. It takes a little time to develop your own technique. But take heart — it does work. And I think it is so fun.
I added a little up and down action to my shaking side by side. Someone said like old time popcorn popping. Anyway, you’ll get the hang of it. Congrats. And enjoy.
Judge Jeanine Pirro vs. Ann Coulter Debate Is Hillary Clinton Is Stupid
http://commoncts.blogspot.com/2015/06/judge-jeanine-pirro-vs-ann-coulter.html
Doom — maybe my method works pretty well becuase you don’t over cook them. Though bulk boiling can be problematic since you need a single layer of eggs in the pot.
I always put a splash of white vinegar in the water when I boil eggs. I also like soft boiled eggs. Put eggs in a pan and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil, then cover and turn off the heat. Let stand covered for 10-11 minutes (depending on how runny you like your boiled eggs; longer for hard boiled, naturally). After the time has elapsed, dump the water and cover with cold water for about a minute, then dump that water, too. Then peel. The yolks will be a brighter yellow with no hint of that green ring around the yolk thanks to the vinegar. I’ve also never had a problem peeling the eggs. The best way to peel the eggs is to crack them on a flat surface, rolling the egg around the equator as you tap the shell to crack. After a little work starting the shell removal at the equator, the end halves pretty much come off intact.
As for horseradish in deviled eggs: No. Just no. Now non-pareil capers on the other hand, . . .
When it comes to eggs in general, I find most people overcook them, whether fried, scrambled, omelets, whatever. I call eggs the most abused food in the kitchen. Too much heat. Lower the heat and cook them slower to have a softer, more delicate yet delicious egg (IMnotsoHO). Also, never salt eggs before cooking. That makes them tougher, too.
great… you fount out what old people made useless and ignored knew for 100 years…
duh…
want to guess what else was lost by feminism disconnecting women from grandparents and mother in the kitchen and what boys cant do as they never got to be with dad?
on another note as to peeling eggs metaphorically.
the daily news has four pages they title “americas sickness” covering the actions of the young man in the church.
two pages later on page 8 is an almost full page spread written by three journolists who detail a spanish auto shop owner hog tied and beatn for money… two masked assailants… and the whole article does not ask what did they look like, what were they wearing, etc… in the who what where when how, asking who is not allowed.
want to know why there is four pages for the white kid that kills blacks, but not a damn thing as to the blacks tying up people, beating them, robbing them…
what would make someone take action themselves when the police ignor it, the press does not report it, etc?
ie. you can see the daily news manufacturing the race hate and then exploiting it in terms of political goals… those church people were not killed by a young kid, they were killed by the press that hid the crimes and played games till a nutty kid went nuts.. which is the whole point… unless the press manufactures this by nudging the nuts, where would they get the manufactured excuse to press for laws that sworn not to make?
the united states is so much like the soviet union in head games is horribly sad… and the worst part is that you cant blame the actual people causing it, which is the press, and how they cover things and no longer report news, but report what party mentality yhou whould have, whether based i reality or fabricated by omission lies..
no wonder we have record numbers of citizens giving up their citizenship… of course, learning how to peel eggs the way they did before post modern liberal feminism made pre made garbage meals a necessity… well thats more important…
you would be surprised what we as a society lost when we were modified by feminism to be more like caged animals with no past, no future, and no skills like the people who were free had…
its very very sad
its like wathing a hamster raised in a cage find out what hamsters outside the cage used to know…
next discovery…
that there is such a thing called a sewing needle.
that its possible to bake a cake, and you dont need to have a permit from the city council and professional training.
oh.. and forget changing lightbulbs, fixing the car, etc… cause the boys disonnected from the dads… dont nkow how to do muh of anything..
we have been made helpless by feminism…
the go to it and do it attitude is gone cause we dont even know enough to not to try to hug the polar bear…
Many things are lost and rediscovered over the generations. Medieval swordmanship was just one thing the West lost and recovered, only recently though.
People become good at what they do, what they specialize in.
Some eggs tend to have the membrane that sticks very close to the hard white. So perhaps the trick is finding out how to get eggs with the looser mechanic.
RickZ: “When it comes to eggs in general, I find most people overcook them, whether fried, scrambled, omelets, whatever.”
I blame that on fear of Salmonella and disease from undercooked meat in general.
I agree that there is a substantial difference in flavor and texture between eggs cooked right and overcooked eggs.
Everyone is being so nice, maybe too nice. They need to come out and say,the reason you had trouble peeling the eggs was your impatience to get to the DEVILED EGGS! I share your impatience, as I am a fiend for the things. I’ve said before that there were two guys in a former congregation of ours who could eat all of every plate brought on Easter, until my son grew up and hit his stride. It’s familial, of course. We are possible related, somewhere in the great Back There. If the SHTF, you’ll see us standing by the on ramp with a sign, “Will Work for Deviled Eggs.” I do not put in horseradish, which I surely do like, in other contexts. Just a bit of mustard, mayo and paprika, salt and black pepper. Being largely Irish, we would ordinarily be less conservative with the pepper, just not in the deviled eggs. When you finally make it to Texas, the first thing we’ll serve at your welcome dinner will be deviled eggs. I hope you also like potato salad, since we have to do something with the eggs that failed the peeling test.
For horseradish deviled eggs, I just add ~1 or 2 Tbsp. of horseradish to the traditional recipe. Also a little dill weed. You just want to give them a little twang.
For the eggs I cook, the fluffy soft yellow ones are good. When the whites become crisp, that’s bad, so I have to cook it all using water to distribute the heat and prevent the whites from over burning.
RickZ’s suggestion of white vinegar usually works for me as well. We started putting baking soda in the water and the eggs seem to peel better. One more thing for you to try I guess.