Hard boiled eggs?

[heatherkh]

Interesting about steaming them - I might have to give that a try just to change things up!

Quote:
If you read the first part of this, it says to be sure the eggs are at around a week old first. I've tried all the things listed in this thread with fresh eggs, and no matter which I use they are still hard to peel. I've been adding salt to the boil water and plunging them into cold water after since I learned to cook, I didn't realize people did it any other way LOL.

Yep, you're right. It does say that. But as I said in my post, I rarely have eggs over a week old in my house and still have great results with this method about 95% of the time.

Also - some have said they boil their eggs upwards of 15 minutes. In my experience, that only overcooks them, and you end up with green edged yolks with a bit of a sulfur smell. Think of how quickly an egg cooks all the way through outside of it's shell. I realize part of that is due to the egg being able to spread out, but 15 minutes at a full boil or even an active simmer is way too long for HBEs.

Achickenwrangler - I've read that the vinegar actually keeps the whites from spreading out if the eggs do crack (same reason vinegar in the water is recommended when poaching eggs), rather than to keep the shell intact. Perhaps it serves both purposes! You're grandma's explanation of why the ice bath works makes sense to me.

 

[mdguffey]

i have large brown eggs and i have tried everything but letting them sit for 3 weeks to age, nothing seems to work, wonder if it is the brown egg??

 

[galanie]

Only difference in the browns and the whites is the pigment. I just make sure they're around 2 weeks old. I have some I keep for myself that I let get older, and the rest are sold fresh. Even that "old" they're still great and if I want to boil some I'll know I can peel them.

 

[terryg]

Steam the eggs to make them easier to peel. You're not going to be able to easily peel an freshly laid egg, but steaming will let you peel 3-day old eggs easily. There's science behind i! I've written about this technique here:
http://www.hencam.com/henblog/2011/03/steamed-eggs/
BTW, each egg is unique to the chicken that laid it, and it does seem that some hens lay eggs that are easier to peel. It has to do with the membrane between the shell and the whites.

 

[DOnSoCalOC]

STEAM THEM!
http://www.foodnetwork.com/videos/hard-cooked-heaven/44247.html

EXCELLENT!!!
I am going to try this TODAY.
I love Alton Brown, he is such a kick in the pants.

My grandfather taught us to always poke a hole in the bottom of the egg, with a needle/push pin/tack, before hard boiling. This makes the egg come out like the shape of the shell without the "flat" surface on the bottom.

Peace.

 

[mdguffey]

i will try my rice steamer next time and see how it works

 

[DOnSoCalOC]

Ok, so I did the steamer method with 6 eggs that were a few days old and 1 egg that was fresh. The fresh egg DID NOT peel well at all, the rest came out absolutely perfect!

Thank you for the excellent information!

 

[terryg]

Pricking the egg with a pin before cooking was a technique used when eggs were stored in water glass (a preservative.) The water glass coated the egg shell, so that air could not escape from the pores. If you tried to boil a water-glass egg, it exploded! So, the pin prick allowed for regular cooking. The "flat' surface on the bottom of the egg occurs when eggs are stored for a long time, and the air pocket at the tip expands - again, something you'd see if the eggs were stored in water glass. Many cooking techniques are holdovers from other times, and we've now lost their original reasons!

 

[The Old Whittler]

STEAM THEM!
http://www.foodnetwork.com/videos/hard-cooked-heaven/44247.html

I tried this this morning. I followed his advice to the T and had a bit of a problem. He says after bringing the water to a boil, turn the heat down to low, put your eggs in, cover the pan and steam for 12 minutes. After the 12 minutes put them in ice water for five minutes then take them out and peal them. I did exactly how he said and my eggs weren't done. The white was somewhat done but the yokes weren't and they pealed terrible with the white sticking to the shell really bad. The low on my stove must be lower than his.

I tried a second batch. This time bringing the water to a boil then reducing the heat to about where I usually fry eggs in a skillet and steamed them in a covered pan for 12 minutes. When the 12 minutes was up I put them in ice water for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes in ice water I took them out and started pealing them. This time they pealed great. You need to have enough heat to where you can see steam coming out of the lid. Worked for me!!!

 

[RaeRae2]

You absolutely have to make sure they are around 2 weeks old. If they are fresh, they will not peel for anything. Even though I rarely ever eat an egg, I am the deviled egg queen and get commissioned for deviled eggs at every holiday event. I found out the hard way that fresh eggs absolutely will not peel. Use eggs a couple weeks old and then immediately immerse them in ice water and keep the ice water iced and very cold until the eggs are completely cool, and they practically peel themselves.