how to get eggs to peel cleanly?

[Oregon Blues]

I'll have to try steaming.

If you put a dollop of white vinegar into the water, it seems to weaken the shell and loosen it. It does not flavor the egg.

 

[zzGypsy]

round we go about how to get them to peel... we each have our own method we swear by

so I looked up the science of hard boiling peelable eggs.

here's what I found:

The science behind why salting the water helps with peeling is osmosis. The water outside the egg wants to be at the same salinity (salt content) as the water inside the shell. So the process of osmosis pulls some of the water inside the egg through the shell. The volume of water inside the egg will decrease slightly and the egg will pull away from the shell.

this is the same reason older eggs peel better - some of water inside the egg has evaporated out through the shell so the volume inside is decreased, pulling the membrane away from the shell.

here's another reason older eggs are easier to peel, from http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/food-science/food-science-why-are-hardboiled-eggs-so-difficult-to-peel-107488

Harold McGee in On Food and Cooking explains that the white albumen in a fresh eggs has a low relatively low (ie, acidic) pH level. When cooked, these fresh egg whites bond more strongly to the inner shell membrane than it does to itself. As an egg sits in refrigeration for several days, the pH of the white albumen increases and the hard cooked eggs become much easier to peel.

If you get a sudden craving for egg salad and only have fresh eggs in the fridge, McGee suggests adding a half teaspoon of baking soda to the water to raise its pH and also cooking the eggs slightly longer to give the whites time to set firmly. The only downside is that this can make the eggs taste more sulfuric.

vinegar would lower the pH... plus it disolves the shell if there's enough of it, making it thinner and therefore more likely to break while peeling... and it's counter to the recomended "raise the pH" method.

from this: http://www.seriouseats.com/2009/10/the-food-lab-science-of-how-to-cook-perfect-boiled-eggs.html

pH of the Water
It's true that over time, acidic liquid can dissolve the shell of an egg, and that alkaline liquid can both make the egg easier to peel, as well as boost that "rotten egg" aroma, but in the short period that an egg spends boiling, pH has little to nothing to do with how the egg cooks. Just use plain tap water; don't bother with vinegar or baking soda

this site has a great breakdown on exactly what happens to an egg while you cook it, and how the white and yolk cook differently.

they also bear out my pet method (starting them in cold water, not hot, and bringing them to a simmer, then putting on a lid and taking them off the heat) gives a more tender less rubbery white... this has to do with heat transfer through the egg, and changes to the white and yolk at different temperatures. the higher the temp of the white, the more rubbery the whites will be.

the heat takes time to transfer from the shell to the center of the yolk to cook it. if you cook it for longer, at lower temps, the whites will be cooler when the yolk reaches a cooked temp. if you cook it faster at a higher temp, by the time the yolk is cooked, the white is at a much higher temperature, and therefore more rubbery.

another site says this about the science - making it more an issue of oxygen and carbon dioxide than of moisture: http://www.scienceofcooking.com/boiled_eggs.htm

In fresh eggs the albumen sticks to the inner shell membrane more strongly than it sticks to itself because of the more acidic environment of the egg. The white of a freshly laid egg has a pH between 7.6 and 7.9 and an opalescent (cloudy) appearance due to the presence of carbon dioxide. After the protective coat is washed off the egg shell the egg becomes porous and begins to absorb air and loose some carbon dioxide contained in the albumen. This reduces the acidity of the egg which causes (after several days in the refrigerator) the pH to increase to around 9.2. At higher pH the inner membrane does not stick as much to the albumen so the shell peels off easier. In addition, as the egg gets older it will shrink and the air space between the egg shell and the membrane will get larger. Research shows that the reduced acidity helps with peeling.

everything I could find said shocking the eggs after boiling (putting them in icewater until they cool) is important to peelability, but there were several different reasons given as to why.​

 

[mikeschick]

Lots of salt in the water... like 1/2 c. (in addition to transferring to ice water as soon as they are done boiling.)

 

[kenjofarms]

I gave up on the aged eggs and bought the contraptions called Eggies. Not as pretty as a nice clean fresh peeled egg, but they DO work!

 

[seminolewind]

Eggies? I like them!

 

[chickenhead1]

I read a similar post about peeling fresh eggs yesterday and tried this last night:

enough water in pan to completely cover the eggs. While water is boiling add about a tablespoon of table salt. when water is boiling slip eggs into water with a ladle, spoon, tongs, anything to easily slip the egg in the water. Boil for appropriate amount of time for your altitude. When finished boiling drain hot water and put eggs in ICE COLD water until cold. peel as normal.

I was late getting home last night so I only did 3 eggs. One egg cracked as soon as it hit the water, but all three eggs peeled perfectly! And these were eggs gathered that morning!

Hope this helps

 

[auto5man]

Quote:
X2. I used this method (placing eggs in already boiling water, set timer for 15 minutes, then a plunge in ice water, peel about 5 minutes later) twice this week with PERFECT results, easiest eggs I think I've ever peeled took about 10 seconds per egg. The only difference is I didn't use any salt or vinegar, just plain boiling water.

 

[Judy]

Most everything I've read says the ice bath right after cooking is the key, that and letting them completely cool in ice (not just cool) water.

I also like cooking them a little more gently, as with bringing them just to a boil, covering and removing from the heat, then letting them sit about 20 minutes. But that is for texture, not ease of peeling.