Thursday, June 27, 2019

life hack

Do you ever have a hard time peeling hard boiled eggs?

Me, I almost always do.

The shell sticks to the egg and my "peeled" eggs usually look all "bumpy".

I recently learned a new hack though.

Before boiling the egg, tap the "rounded" side of the egg with the back of a spoon a couple of times. (FYI: the opposite side is more "pointy")

The rounded side has an "air pocket" and when the egg is in the boiling water, the "cracks" will release the carbon dioxide that is between the egg and the shell.

(Apparently, this is also why the egg is put into the carton with the rounded side up, so it can "breathe"...)

Then when you peel it the shell should just slide off.

If you try this, I hope it will work for you.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

I have to try! I hate when the shells don't come off cleanly. I had heard that the older your eggs are, the easier to peel. Also, I bought that egg piercer from Daiso that makes a pin hole in the round end and that seems to help but since I also buy cheap mainland eggs with super thin shells, I always end up breaking one of the eggs
Coincidentally, Kenneth was just telling me last night that he googled how to boil the perfect egg too complicated that only retired old people have time for...something about boiling water first, then put eggs in for 5 minutes, let it sit or something then don't give a cold bath, but gradually change the water from hotter to cool. Ugh.
v

K and S said...

V, that does sound complicated, hope this method works for you. I heard that too about older eggs. When I tried this, I put the eggs in cold and when the water came to a boil, I turned off the heat and let it sit in for 5 minutes (to get medium boiled, let it sit longer if you want hard boiled) then I put the egg into an ice bath for a couple of minutes before peeling.

Take care.
Kat

Anonymous said...

Steaming the eggs then chilling works great everytime. I follow Serious Eats' directions. https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2014/04/steamed-hard-boiled-eggs-recipe.html

jalna said...

Oooooh, so that's why the eggs that I pick up from the farm are all "upside down" in the tray. My boiled farm-fresh eggs were hard to peel until I started using this method recommended by one of my blog readers: put eggs directly from the 'fridge into boiling water, cover and lower heat; cook for 11 minutes; dunk in ice cold water. This is also a Serious Eats recommendation.

KirkK said...

I have an egg pin that I use for boiled eggs Kat. Makes it really easy to peel.

K and S said...

Thanks Anon!

Jalna, apparently if the pointy sides are up then the egg spoils quickly.

Sounds like a lot of people use that pin Kirk!

Take care everyone.
Kat

Rowena said...

I will definitely try this because my boiled eggs turn out ugly after peeling.

K and S said...

I hope this helps Rowena.

Take care.
Kat

Steph said...

I find that the older the eggs the easier they peel when boiled. I'm lucky to have a small shop nearby that sells boiled eggs in the shell...so easy, so inexpensive, so convenient!! Still, some eggs I buy from them are difficult to open. Better than when I do it myself most times though!

K and S said...

That is cool to have it already boiled Steph!

Take care.
Kat