What's the best way to remove the shell of hard boiled eggs?

Shaun

Shaun

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We had family over at Christmas and instead of cooking set meals we spread out a number of different bits for people to pick at, including a simple egg salad that my wife likes to make; bed of iceberg lettuce, sliced cucumber, chopped cherry tomatoes, smattering of mayonnaise, and then add some sliced hard-boiled egg over the top. NOM! :)

But whenever I peel the hard-boiled eggs I always end up taking out small chunks of the egg in the process.

So what's the best technique for removing the shell of a boiled egg?
 
Tap it on the worksurface so it's cracked all over, then peel off using your fingernails - if you have any :whistling:

Do you bite yours?
 
What works for me is cracking the shell with the aid of a spoon and then start peeling under the sink faucet so the running water helps me remove it.

Might be other techniques though.
 
Alex H said:
Do you bite yours?
Click to expand...

lol ... you might think so to look at them. :)

No, I think the problem may be my big fat lumpy fingers - when I try to scrape / pinch the membrane under the shell to "pull" the rest of the shell off, I tend to grab a bit more than I want to.

I just wondered if there were some sort of "magic" to skinning one that left most of the egg intact. :p:
 
I find the best way to peel hard boiled eggs effortlessly is to do it when there's only Tony and I eating them - then they come out perfect! It's only when we have company I have problems.

I also crack the egg then roll it along the working surface first - it does help. Something else I do is boil more eggs than we need, then chop up any damaged ones and make egg mayonnaise for sandwiches or to spread on crackers on the buffet table. It will keep for several days in the fridge, but very often, I find that because I've cooked extra eggs, they all peel perfectly. Such is life!
 
After boiling, I don't let it cool down before I take the shells off. I knock it lightly in the sink to crack. Then I simply start removing it gently and carefully so that the egg doesn't break. As it's too hot, I put it under the running water every few seconds so that my hands don't burn. It usually works out pretty well!
 
I swear by an ice water bath before cracking. It just does wonders when I peel. Then I peel under running water when it is too hard to peel on its own. Just learned that trick last week.
 
I've tried a variety of methods, such as putting baking soda in the water, and rolling the egg on the counter to crack the shells, but nothing really seemed to work for me.

The last thing I tried, which worked really well, is to pressure cook the eggs for a few minutes. It's not necessarily more convenient nor is it faster, but it does something to the egg to help it peel much easier. 6 minutes at high pressure is all you need, but you could go less for a soft boiled egg. Oh, and place them on a rack in your pressure cooker - not at the bottom of the pot in the water. The only catch I found was to let the eggs cool first before trying to peel them - so the whites will firm up a bit. When they are just out of the pressure cooker and still hot, they are a little soft and will break more easily.

That sounds like a great idea to use a spoon under the eggs shells, I will definitely give that a try too.
 
Well, do not try Eggies. Those things don't work or, at least, we couldn't get them to work. The deviled eggs made from them looked far worse than the regular hard boiled ones we made.

I saw a trick once on Food Network that I tried and it worked perfectly. It's too bad I don't recall what that is. :eek:

I, normally, just roll them around on the counter until they crack nice and pick the shells off with my finger nails.
 
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If the eggs are too fresh they are going to be difficult to peel. I think how you make them makes a difference too. I always put them in cold water, turn my stove up to high and as soon as it starts to boil wait about 10 seconds then turn off the burner and put the lid on the eggs. I'll leave them for about 30 min. to an hr, then when they are cool enough put in the fridge. When either I or my kids want a hardboiled egg we roll around a little on counter and then easily peel off. Part of the trick I've taught my kids is that when you start peeling you want to gently push with your finger that thin membrane right under the shell and then the whole shell will almost just fall right off. I hard boil eggs on a weekly basis as my family of five loves them.
 
After the egg cools, I lightly tap it on a hard surface, then turn a spoon upside down and carefully slide it under a cracked shell and slowly push it under all the shell to get it off. Easiest way I have found.
 
Adding baking soda to the water it boils in works wonders, although take care that the pot isn't stainless steel or else (hah) the stainless steel will stain.

After that, I keep seeing this thing where you peel out a large enough circle for it to pass the big end and a small hole for you to blow through the small end...but, first, if you're making that for other people then that's not exactly hygienic; and second, that never works for me!
 
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