Peeling Hard Boiled Eggs

Chickens are specifically bred to produce eggs with thin shells. The idea is to make peeling easier and save waste in large commercial egg farms.

I don't see the need for placing the boiled eggs in cold water, unless you plan to pop them directly into your mouth...
 
IK04 said:
Chickens are specifically bred to produce eggs with thin shells. The idea is to make peeling easier and save waste in large commercial egg farms.

I don't see the need for placing the boiled eggs in cold water, unless you plan to pop them directly into your mouth...
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Some of us like good food so we grow/raise our own so our eggs are more robust :p

Also, some of us like to pop them directly into our mouths with a dash of salt therefor the ice bath is a good idea regardless of egg source :cornut:
 
IK04 said:
... I don't see the need for placing the boiled eggs in cold water, unless you plan to pop them directly into your mouth...
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Just inside the shell, there is a thick membrane. It is particularly noticeable at the blunt end. Inside this membrane is the white and yoke which never touch the shell. The shell is permeable to air and so is the membrane. This is how the embryo gets its oxygen and releases its CO2.

This is my speculation:
The white is a mixture of water (90%) and protein (10%). When you shock cool the egg, the white contracts more than the membrane and may squeeze out a bit of water between white and membrane. This is what makes the egg easier to peel. Without the shock cooling, the membrane and white cool at the same rate, remain in contact much longer, and raise the odds of sticking. Also, I believe the shock cooling squeezes more water from the white than slow cooling.
 
Peeling has always been a pain in the ass. I've tried salted water, I've tried vinegar in the water, I've tried the water in the jar and shake it around. I've tried breaking it at the small end, the big end, around the equator. I've tried dropping in boil water, bring up to temp with the water, starting with cold water, starting with warm water. Pretty much everything. Still lose chunks of the egg with the shell when peeling.

Well, we found a trick this weekend that I didn't believe would work. But we tried it, and it actually worked. Before putting the egg in the water, take the back of a spoon and lightly and repeatedly tap the egg until you hear a loud a definitive snap. I go around the equator, and then go the other direction until I get it. Some eggs take a couple taps, others more. Supposedly that detaches the membrane from the shell. Now boil your eggs. Peeling should be much easier.

We've only tried it once, but it worked 100x better than the last 20 times we boiled eggs.
 
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:vomit::vomit::vomit:
 
Lately I've been on a carnivore diet so eating a lot of eggs. I've ben trying the old "poke a small hole in the wide end of the egg" trick. Basically tap the wide end with a pointy knife with the goal of getting just a pinhole more or less. Sometimes I end up with a larger crack but mostly that's ok too.... cover them with water, bring to boil then start and 8 minute timer, turn down the heat to simmer, then ice bath.

The air pocket vents out while the cold water is warming. I'm not exactly sure what's going on in there but I recon two things.... and maybe I'm wrong on all counts....
1) with the air escaping the egg has more room to retract away from the shell on the inside
and b) a little water gets in, but I'm not sure how that might really help at all...better conduction of heat maybe?...maybe no help at all?

Still get little bits of egg come off with the shell every now and then but not nearly as much as I used to with any other method I've tried...and its mostly just because I'm usually rushing it....
 
I've settled on the hot start method. Bring water to boil, put eggs in, turn down to simmer, 13 minutes, ice bath. Give it a couple cracks and the shell practically jumps off with no pieces of egg stuck to it.
 
Brad W said:
They're ok in a pinch but I found those things (not that brand necessarily, just packaged peeled eggs in general) to have a funny taste. Probably a preservative I guess....
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You have actually eaten those.??

ewwww....

I saw them in a store once and thought they might have been barfalisious.....
 
yes, a couple of times.... for the first try I had much trepidation
 
EdFred said:
...Well, we found a trick this weekend that I didn't believe would work. But we tried it, and it actually worked. Before putting the egg in the water, take the back of a spoon and lightly and repeatedly tap the egg until you hear a loud a definitive snap. I go around the equator, and then go the other direction until I get it. Some eggs take a couple taps, others more. Supposedly that detaches the membrane from the shell. Now boil your eggs. Peeling should be much easier.
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Are you cracking the shell?
 
EdFred said:
No. You give it light taps and you will hear a definitively louder and different pitched "snap". Shells stay completely intact.
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so are you holding the egg in your hand when you tap it? laying 'loose' on the counter?

I did some "not science" this morning. Boiled four eggs, all from the same carton....2 I pierced the shell and the other 2 I tapped with a spoon all over. Never did hear a different louder snap. After I started I realized that my hand holding the egg is probably dampening or muffling the sound if there is one....
Anyway, i peeled one of each group. They both peeled very easily....with the pierced one maybe edging ahead for a photo-finish win
 
Brad W said:
so are you holding the egg in your hand when you tap it? laying 'loose' on the counter?

I did some "not science" this morning. Boiled four eggs, all from the same carton....2 I pierced the shell and the other 2 I tapped with a spoon all over. Never did hear a different louder snap. After I started I realized that my hand holding the egg is probably dampening or muffling the sound if there is one....
Anyway, i peeled one of each group. They both peeled very easily....with the pierced one maybe edging ahead for a photo-finish win
Click to expand...

Hold it with my fingers. Some people say tapping it on the ends works better. I basically tapped around the equator and then longitudinally until I got the snap sound. Sometimes it was 2 taps, and sometimes it took like 10 or so. I didn't want to tap too hard.
 
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