Peeling a hard boiled egg

[Muse]

I used to have pretty good success at this. Nowadays, all to often, it seems like it isn't worth the effort. The #%!^& shell doesn't come off easily. The egg white sometimes partially sticks to the shell. The membrane very frequently doesn't want to separate from the shell. Little pieces of shell stick to the egg white and my hand. Eek! Once I have the shell off I usually have to rinse the egg and my hands to get rid of little pieces of shell. Sometimes it goes well, but most times not so well.

I've searched online for ideas but still have problems. Online they seemed overly concerned with not having the yolk turn green. I couldn't care less about that because, well for one thing, I'm total "green blind." I don't GAF about the color of the hardened egg yolk.

1. How do they do they produce peeled HBE's commercially? You go to a restaurant or sandwich bar and they have peeled hard boiled eggs by the dozens. Surely they don't have some person peeling them.

2. Are they not making chickens like they used to? IOW, maybe genetically or nutritionally?

3. Are chickens not laying eggs the way they used to?

Do you have this problem? If not, what's your secret for getting that HBE out of the shell quickly and painlessly? If I don't figure it out, I'm going to stop trying.

Here's what I've been doing to boil the eggs in the first place:

1. Put refrigerated eggs (preferably ones that I bought at least 2 weeks previously) in cold water in a pot, cover and bring to a boil.

2. Reduce heat so water is boiling slowly (a "simmer").

3. After 10 minutes remove the eggs to cold water to cool quickly.

4. When cool, refrigerate the HBE's.

 

[iamwiz82]

That's a sign your eggs are fresh. Eggs are coming to the supermarket quicker than the used to. Old eggs are easier to peel.

You can put a bit of baking soda in the water when you boil them, but it will impart some flavor too.

 

[PottedMeat]

no idea commercially

i just crack it, hold it under a trickle of water and peel.

there are a bunch of youtube videos where people crack holes in the ends and blow the egg out that seem to work.

 

[MayorOfAmerica]

You could always try what this dude did, unless serving to other people because that would be gross

http://youtu.be/5lGR-Os-s3k

 

[endlessmike]

Try putting salt in the water.

Also once the water comes to a boil, cover the pot, take it off the heat and let it sit for 15 +/- minutes instead of continuing to simmer.

 

[SP33Demon]

My egg cooker never seems to have an issue unless I take the egg out too soon (and it's soft).

 

[mizzou]

yeah, usually I won't hard boil eggs until they get a little "old", they peel easier. but I think they taste better if you boil them before they expire

Typically what ends up happening is I'm like, "Shit, I have 10 eggs left and they expire soon" so I end up boiling them all.

 

[Muse]

no idea commercially

i just crack it, hold it under a trickle of water and peel.

there are a bunch of youtube videos where people crack holes in the ends and blow the egg out that seem to work.

Yeah, I've seen some of those and I tried it with mixed success. I have problems with the technique. I don't know about other people but when I blow up a balloon the old fashion way I feel pain (in muscles?) just below me ears at the back of my jaws. I felt the same thing when trying to blow air between a HBE and its shell.

 

[waggy]

yeah, usually I won't hard boil eggs until they get a little "old", they peel easier. but I think they taste better if you boil them before they expire

Typically what ends up happening is I'm like, "Shit, I have 10 eggs left and they expire soon" so I end up boiling them all.

yeah thats what I do.

we get eggs fresh from a friend. they have about 40 chickens so they always have a bunch.

so when a dozen or so gets old we boil them. the kids love them as a snack

 

[Muse]

yeah, usually I won't hard boil eggs until they get a little "old", they peel easier. but I think they taste better if you boil them before they expire

Typically what ends up happening is I'm like, "Shit, I have 10 eggs left and they expire soon" so I end up boiling them all.

My experience has been that eggs left in my ~40 F refrigerator seem OK after they expire. Even a couple of months. Only on very rare occasions have I found an old egg in my refrigerator to have gone bad.

I've seen admonitions that you should HB eggs that aren't too fresh, at least 2 weeks since buying. Do they want you to keep them refrigerated or at room temperature to age for this?

 

[chitwood]

That's a sign your eggs are fresh. Eggs are coming to the supermarket quicker than the used to. Old eggs are easier to peel.

You can put a bit of baking soda in the water when you boil them, but it will impart some flavor too.

+1 for the baking soda, I've heard it works well

 

[brainhulk]

salt in the water

roll the egg back and forth over a hard surface while applying gentle pressure with your palm. this should produce a nice linear crack around the circumference of the egg that makes it easy to peel off.

 

[Vdubchaos]

Try putting salt in the water.

Also once the water comes to a boil, cover the pot, take it off the heat and let it sit for 15 +/- minutes instead of continuing to simmer.

This

Just put Salt in the water, it makes peeling easy.

Also don't forget to shock the eggs once done boiling.

If you peel them right away it's MUCH better than after you refrigerate them.

 

[sixone]

Try putting salt in the water.

Also once the water comes to a boil, cover the pot, take it off the heat and let it sit for 15 +/- minutes instead of continuing to simmer.

That's what I do, but for 25 minutes instead of 15.

 

[Thebobo]

baby eaters!

 

[Kelvrick]

Use a spoon. Crack the shell all around the egg. Then peel off the wider end where there should be a little air pocket. Then insert a spoon and you should be able to slide it all around the egg.

Google peel egg spoon on YouTube if you want a video.

 

[cliftonite]

You could always try what this dude did, unless serving to other people because that would be gross

http://youtu.be/5lGR-Os-s3k

This method works great but the key is to run the egg under water after you peel the top and bottom and then blow on it.

 

[tcsenter]

Funny, I had the same problem last night! The shell seemed so brittle and stuck to the egg white, when I got a nail under the edge of a nice piece it would just chip off over and over. Normally, I have like one in five or six eggs that is difficult to peel but it was the opposite last night! The eggs are a week old, too.

But I didn't let them sit in water to cool as long as I usually do. They were still really warm when I started to peel them.

 

[KeithP]

You can buy them at Trader Joes peeled and ready to go.
http://www.thekitchn.com/look-hard-boiled-peeled-eggs-a-81780

-KeithP

 

[bigi]

Try putting salt in the water.

Also once the water comes to a boil, cover the pot, take it off the heat and let it sit for 15 +/- minutes instead of continuing to simmer.

+1 for salt in waer.

Also, shake the whole pot with eggs when done cooking and water has been drained. This will crack the eggs evenly on most of the surface.

Once done, peel under tap water - should be a breeze to do.

 

[Drako]

baby eaters!

They would have to be fertilized eggs for that to happen

 

[Howard]

I am told that blowtorching the shells makes them easier to peel.

 

[Drako]

I am told that blowtorching the shells makes them easier to peel.

Or just soak them in vinegar and the shell disappears .

 

[BladeVenom]

I try to only hard boil eggs that have been in the refrigerator awhile. Otherwise, they are much harder to peel.

 

[DrPizza]

All the techniques listed have virtually zero effect.

If the eggs are fresh, you can't peel them. The older they get, the easier it is to peel them. Period.





If anyone wants to bet that their method works, I'll put up as much money as you want, and you can come to my house for the bet. I'll go out to the barn and get the egg within minutes of the chicken laying it. Or any time that day. You are not going to be able to peel it easily.

Also, fresh eggs from the chicken do not need to be stored in the refrigerator. They're good for weeks if left at room temperature - provided you don't wash them first. Once you wash them, or so I'm told, you should refrigerate them. I've got a basket of eggs on my counter that are roughly 2 1/2 to 3 months old. (They're for next week's physics experiments. :twisted: )