I'm FED up with Hard Boiled Egg DISASTERS!

[N F C]

Thanks for your advice everyone! I've been away for a while, sorry for my super late response


Haha thanks!
How do you keep the eggs moved? I've tried rotating them while they're boiling but they always slip right back to how they want to lay. Do you just keep stirring them the whole time like how you cook pudding?

I don't stir them continuously, just a few times during the course of cooking. You need to be using a large enough pot for the eggs to be moved around in the boiling water.

I like your idea of trying a few experiments...keep us posted on what you try and how it works out for you!

 

[rosemarythyme]

When I'm peeling...the whites are falling apart/stuck to the shell and it makes for an ugly deviled egg!

Maybe the eggs I'm using are too fresh?

Aging the eggs helps (more air in egg = easier to peel), and yes I've heard steaming works wonders. Dropping cool/cold eggs into boiling water and then ice bath or rinsing under very cold water afterwards also helps.

I make some pretty ugly deviled eggs (yolks misshapen or off center, big air cell, sometimes the whites are a bit chewed up) but no one's had issues scarfing them down.

 

[21hens-incharge]

My son did an experiment with his electric pressure cooker because a coworker told him it works.

Nine minutes on high...I have no idea how much water and he did use the little rack.

The day old eggs....YES LAID JUST THE DAY BEFORE...peeled beautifully.

 

[DiYMama540]

Oh that's a great idea! I have a pressure cooker on my Christmas list this year! Those things are amazing!!

 

[feathermaid]

Ok I've got another boiled egg dilemma for yall to solve...
When I'm peeling...the whites are falling apart/stuck to the shell and it makes for an ugly deviled egg!
Maybe the eggs I'm using are too fresh?

I've got the same problem!!

Fresh eggs tend to be hard to peel, and that's why I've been leaving some in the fridge for a couple weeks to use for hard boiling. As they get older, moisture escapes through the pores of the egg while air is let in at the same time, making a larger air cell, which makes for easier peeling... generally. But now I'm battling that giant ugly air cell crater and searching for a happy medium. I'm going to try @21hens-incharge suggestion to use fresher eggs to get a less noticeable indentation.

There's tons of threads here how to cook eggs for easier peeling, like adding vinegar or baking soda to the water, steaming them and tons of other tricks. Shocking eggs in ice water is supposed to help release the shell and also prevent the ugly green coating on the yolk (but not if you've overcooked them at too high heat).

These eggs (which were a tiny bit too soft in the center for me) were cooked in a steamer basket in a covered pot for 11 minutes:
They should have been fully hard cooked at that time but I think my new pans don't have a very tight seal for steaming. I'll try 15 min next time.

 

[N F C]

These eggs (which were a tiny bit too soft in the center for me) were cooked in a steamer basket in a covered pot for 11 minutes:
View attachment 1961384 They should have been fully hard cooked at that time but I think my new pans don't have a very tight seal for steaming. I'll try 15 min next time.

I see you're in Oregon, do you know what your altitude is? I learned when we moved to Wyoming (and a much higher altitude) what a difference that makes to my cooking.

At a higher altitude, water boils at a lower temperature and things like hard boiled eggs, rice, pasta, etc. take longer to cook. And don't even get me started on what the altitude does to baked goods!

This is a pretty good article about it:
boiling-points-of-water-1328760

So maybe it's not your pans. And the amount of time that works for one person doesn't necessarily work for someone else in a different location.

 

[Kiki]

I highly recommend these things:

 

[TwoShepherds]

I tried hard-boiling some of my 1-2 week old farm eggs for the first time last night. I steamed them for 12 minutes and put them in the ice bath. I was pleased with how 3 out of the 4 peeled.

I let my fascinated four-year-old help me crack the shell of the fourth egg, and he was kind of rough, which is probably why that one was mangled.

They tasted great, the yolks were off center though. Maybe I should have turned them halfway through cooking, but I was afraid of letting out the steam.

The rapid egg cookers that Kiki posted don't look terribly expensive on Amazon. I had never seen those before. I might have to get one now that we will (hopefully) have an abundance of eggs.

 

[ColtHandorf]

Geez I want to rub the open face of that sandwich all over that yolk to sop it up...

I read that as "Geez I want to rub my face..." and I could not stop laughing. I'm not a fan of runny yolks in fried eggs (because it's messy) and my dad always made really gross runny eggs for breakfast. That's why I preferred mine to be scrambled. I do like a softer boiled egg, especially if I'm making ramen.

I can admit that my girl's eggs are near impossible to peel. They make me miserable when I'm boiling them. The yolks are usually off-center and they peel poorly. My dad used to boil them, crack and peel both ends and then blow them out of the shell. I haven't tried that in ages.

It's much easier to make eggfood for my caged birds. I just blitz the egg, shell and all, in the food processor and add some dry ingredients to absorb some moisture. People aren't a fan of shell in their eggs though. lol

 

[cavemanrich]

People aren't a fan of shell in their eggs though. lol

But they will do it if Doc tells them to. if their diet is in need of extra calcium