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Peeling boiled eggs

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clovishound
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Peeling boiled eggs

Post by clovishound » Sat Sep 17, 2022 10:56 am

My wife has developed a taste for egg salad. As a result I have been boiling and peeling a lot of eggs over the last few months. I struggled with hard to peel eggs using the method my wife and I have been using since Ford was president. After doing some internet research and trying out a few of the myriad of methods I found something simple that makes them come out of their shells with ease.

The method described has two aspects. I modified one of them for convenience. The first is to boil the water and gently place the eggs in the boiling water and boil gently for 13 minutes. We had always put them in cold water and brought them both to a boil for a total of 20 minutes. I use a spoon to lower them one by one into the water. The only down side is that a few eggs will have their shells crack from the temperature differential when lowered into the water. Makes the water a little messy if the membrane is broken, but doesn't seem to hurt anything. You could pull and replace them if you aren't comfortable eating an egg whose shell broke when lowered into the water. It doesn't happen that often, but it is more common than starting them in cold water. I also have noticed it happens more often with Egglands Best eggs than the store brand. Not a knock on EB eggs, they just seem to have a slightly more fragile shell.

The second part is to plunge them into ice water when they are done. I just use cold tap water, and it seems to work fine for me. This works even in the summer when the water temp is in the 80s. The recipe also advises to peel them shortly after cooking. I normally do this anyway to avoid having to deal with the ones that aren't going to be used right away. I haven't tried refrigerating them in the shell and peeling them later.

I won't say this works absolutely 100 per cent of the time. I run into the occasional recalcitrant egg that just doesn't like letting go, but even these aren't as bad as the worst ones I encountered using the old method. Also, this is a somewhat rare occurrence. Almost all of them peel very easily.

Some of you may be doing eggs like this already, but thought I'd post it in case you struggle with peeling eggs.
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BrokenolMarine
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Re: Peeling boiled eggs

Post by BrokenolMarine » Sat Sep 17, 2022 11:05 am

Thanks for the tip. I have always started the eggs in the cold water and then timed 10 minutes once the water started boiling. Why not try placing the eggs in a bowl of warm water while you are waiting for the water to boil to reduce the temperature shock and see if this reduces your cracked shells.

We use the cold water post boil method as well, but I rinse them in cold (well water) twice, then fill the pot with tap water and add three or four hand fulls of ice. The first couple hand fulls still melt a bit from the heat of the eggs. I add a couple more and let them sit for about five minutes, then peel.

I found the key is to crack the shells all the way around, then on both ends. I start peeling at the hollow end, which gives you easier access to the membrane. I've found that once you get UNDER that the cracked shells will peel free in large groups. Yes, every now and then you get one that seems to be glued to the shell, and you end up with a pretty rough looking boiled egg. But if you are making egg (or tuna) salad it can still be diced and used. Or, I quarter it and give it to the dog, who always waits at my feet for her treat. Those ugly ones look nasty as deviled eggs. :twisted:
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Re: Peeling boiled eggs

Post by clovishound » Sat Sep 17, 2022 11:31 am

I would think putting them in warm water before the boiling water may negate the mechanism that keeps them easy to peel.

Yes, even the rough looking ones are fine for egg salad, but the frustration and extra time of trying to get the pesky shells off, then cleaning up the small pieces of shell sticking to the egg makes for a very unsatisfactory experience. I am much happier doing it now as they come off extremely quickly and easily.
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Re: Peeling boiled eggs

Post by Shakey Jake » Sat Sep 17, 2022 11:41 am

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Re: Peeling boiled eggs

Post by clovishound » Sat Sep 17, 2022 12:03 pm

Looks interesting, Jake. I fear I would end up with a mess of raw egg all over the place trying to crack the bottoms of them.
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BrokenolMarine
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Re: Peeling boiled eggs

Post by BrokenolMarine » Sat Sep 17, 2022 12:33 pm

clovishound wrote:
Sat Sep 17, 2022 11:31 am
I would think putting them in warm water before the boiling water may negate the mechanism that keeps them easy to peel.
You could be right, but I'll try it next time I make tuna salad and let you know. :D
Btw, we feed the egg shells...
... To the chickens. :D
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Re: Peeling boiled eggs

Post by dave77 » Sat Sep 17, 2022 1:42 pm

clovishound wrote:
Sat Sep 17, 2022 10:56 am
My wife has developed a taste for egg salad. As a result I have been boiling and peeling a lot of eggs over the last few months. I struggled with hard to peel eggs using the method my wife and I have been using since Ford was president. After doing some internet research and trying out a few of the myriad of methods I found something simple that makes them come out of their shells with ease.

The method described has two aspects. I modified one of them for convenience. The first is to boil the water and gently place the eggs in the boiling water and boil gently for 13 minutes. We had always put them in cold water and brought them both to a boil for a total of 20 minutes. I use a spoon to lower them one by one into the water. The only down side is that a few eggs will have their shells crack from the temperature differential when lowered into the water. Makes the water a little messy if the membrane is broken, but doesn't seem to hurt anything. You could pull and replace them if you aren't comfortable eating an egg whose shell broke when lowered into the water. It doesn't happen that often, but it is more common than starting them in cold water. I also have noticed it happens more often with Egglands Best eggs than the store brand. Not a knock on EB eggs, they just seem to have a slightly more fragile shell.

The second part is to plunge them into ice water when they are done. I just use cold tap water, and it seems to work fine for me. This works even in the summer when the water temp is in the 80s. The recipe also advises to peel them shortly after cooking. I normally do this anyway to avoid having to deal with the ones that aren't going to be used right away. I haven't tried refrigerating them in the shell and peeling them later.

I won't say this works absolutely 100 per cent of the time. I run into the occasional recalcitrant egg that just doesn't like letting go, but even these aren't as bad as the worst ones I encountered using the old method. Also, this is a somewhat rare occurrence. Almost all of them peel very easily.

Some of you may be doing eggs like this already, but thought I'd post it in case you struggle with peeling eggs.
I do mine for the same amount of time but use a steamer instead of placing the eggs directly in the hot water. Also seems to help to only leave them in the ice water long enough to stop them cooking and then put them in the fridge.
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clovishound
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Re: Peeling boiled eggs

Post by clovishound » Sat Sep 17, 2022 3:34 pm

BrokenolMarine wrote:
Sat Sep 17, 2022 12:33 pm

Btw, we feed the egg shells...
... To the chickens.
OH THE HUMANITY!!!!!!!!!
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BrokenolMarine
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Re: Peeling boiled eggs

Post by BrokenolMarine » Tue Sep 27, 2022 9:26 pm

Made Tuna Salad the other day and tried your trick and my suggestion in combination and the eggs peeled beautifully. By soaking the half dozen eggs in warm water while I brought the water to boil, none of the shells cracked. I also used tongs to set them on the bottom of the pan in a controlled motion so that they didn't Drop and crack the shell when they rolled off the spoon. I boiled them YOUR 13 minutes at a rolling boil, then drained off the hot water, filled the pot with cold water from the tap and added ice to overflowing. I let them sit about 45 minutes. The water / eggs were ice cold.

They peeled as smooth as silk. cracked both ends then lightly cracked them around the edges. Got under the membrane and was able to peel the shells off and big solid pieces in most cases. Bing Bang Boom, Done. Perfect eggs. All Six. Thanks for your suggestion.
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