Why is hard to peel a boiled egg

It not only brings the cooking process to a halt, preventing your eggs from getting overcooked, but also shocks the egg white, causing it to shrink back from the shell.

This process helps begin to loosen the egg white from the inner shell membrane that's responsible for most difficult-to-peel hard-boiled eggs. In general, about 10 minutes or more of rest time in the ice bath will do the trick. Once your eggs have cooled to the touch, peel them right in the ice bath or, if it's too cold, replace the ice bath with cool water. Cracking the shells while the eggs are submerged allows the water to flow into the space between the egg white and membrane, further separating them.

Once you've peeled all your eggs, strain off the water remaining in the bowl and compost the eggshells. Got an Instant Pot? Try this steaming method for perfectly cooked and peelable hard-boiled eggs. Followed this technique to the letter. It was like the shells had been gorilla glued on to the egg. Ended up having to peel them like a potato with a pairing knife only to find out that my single layer of eggs, steamed in a colander just above water level with a tight fitting lid for exactly 12 minutes were still RUNNY..

A waste of my time and a waste of my eggs. And egg that floats is rotten. When eggs age there is an increase in yolk size, thinning of the egg white, weakening of vitellenin membrane and deterioration of odor and flavor. The deterioration depends upon the storage conditions. Eggs Safety. Buying and Storing Eggs. Why are some eggs hard to peel? Why do some eggs crack when boiled?

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What are the drugs in Chocolate? Research on Chocolate and Cocoa. Why is Chocolate Tempered? Toggle navigation Science of Cooking. Boiled Eggs. Baking soda is alkaline, so adding a sprinkle to your cooking water will raise the pH of the water, which, theoretically, will raise the pH of your egg and make it easier to peel.

But for this to actually work, the baking soda would need to pass through the eggshell and come in contact with the egg white before the proteins started to coagulate, Davies said. So I used a pin to prick tiny holes in the top and bottom of the egg to make sure the baking soda could get inside ASAP.

The verdict : Not very effective. Maybe I needed to use more than just a sprinkle of baking soda? Pricking holes in the egg was a pain, and the egg had a faint soapy taste. Gently rolling the cooked egg on a cutting board or another hard surface with the palm of your hand makes lots of cracks in the shell, which supposedly helps detach the membrane from the egg white.

So after dropping the egg into boiling water and chilling it in an ice bath, I gave this a try instead of my usual one big crack. The verdict : Even though the boiling-and-cooling method worked on its own, the initial peel would sometimes still be a little tough.

Rolling the egg first made the process even easier. A few years back, this egg-peeling hack went viral. In the video , a guy puts an egg in a glass, adds a little bit of water, covers the opening of the glass with his hand, and then shakes vigorously for 20 seconds. The combination of the water and the shaking seems to cause the shell to detach from the membrane in one giant piece. Amazing, right? The verdict : I tried this in place of gentle rolling, even though I was sort of afraid that the glass might break in my hand.

Eggs, especially the whites, are packed with protein. What a wonderful recipe! Thank u for this much better, foolproof way of cooking hard boiled eggs! Came out perfectly. Your recipe is great. Thank you for your boilling tips. Hi Ann-Marie, no need to add more ice. Yes, it will melt, but as long as the water is cold it will cool the eggs. I stir them around off and on while in the cold bath to make sure they all get cold..

I love this recipe.. Thank you. I followed the recipe exactly, I have never had such perfect easy to peel eggs. And an ice shock. Thank you! I have been trying for years to find the perfect method to easily peel eggs, and finally — today was the day I discovered your method!

Thanks so much for sharing! I was getting used towasting a few eggs due to peeling! Every egg pelted in pieces, really fast! I used your method and successfully cooked six beautiful hard boiled eggs.

I bought them at my grocery store so they were fresh but not just lifted from the backyard nest. They peeled great and the yolk is perfectly yellow. Wonderful recipe. Works like a charm. Followed to the T.

Now I have perfect deviled eggs for Easter. Thank you for sharing. This website does not scale well on mobile devices and half the text is cut off. This seems to happen no matter which phone I am using android or apple, I have one each for home and work. You might need to advise your web developer. Happy to send screen shots if you need them. Hi there, thanks for letting us know! We want to fix that right away. Just sent you an email if you can please send us a screenshot, we would be so grateful.

Or, send it to our contact form. Again, thanks! I never did pin holes bu im making a dozen and i stuck 6 lightly to check it out should know in a few minutes. I had no leakedge from pin holes but cause my eggs were so cold about 4 shells cracked bu its still looking good not much leaking. Worked perfectly. I have my own chooks so none of the eggs are more than a week old and I have never been able to shell them successfully before.

I have just done 10 perfectly peeled eggs so we are having devilled eggs with the Christmas salad. Thank you from New Zealand. This was incredibly easy, I have been trying to make deviled eggs and out of 12 eggs I have to throw out 4 to 5 of them. The boiled egg process was awesome and worked perfectly. Do not punch a pinhole in the egg. You get an instant stream of egg white shooting out of the hole as soon as you lower them in the boiling water.

The water was full of cooked strings of egg whites and there were large voids in the whites missing from the finished egg. Also, the voids of whites were full of water. Almost every egg has an air bubble in it. You can find the air bubble by shining a light on the egg and looking fo a shadow. The membrane that contains the wet part of the egg forms on the other side of bubble. There are exceptions to every rule, but if you are using store bought eggs they have been run through some fascinatingly high tech equipment that bring the chance of finding an exception to almost zero.

I was wondering about that cause great grandma, grandma, all my aunties,, mommy never poked no holes in the egg. Plus if one cracks when you drop it in we all know theirs egg white bubbling all in the water..

Ive never poked a hole in egg for boiling and after all my family im 63 i stil dont poke a hole. My eggs are perfect most of the time. I lower them into a 6 qt pot of cool tap water, and put them on the stove on med-high. When the water rolls, I set a timer for 8 minutes. Once time has elapsed, I cool the eggs immediately under cold running water, dry, then finish chilling in the fridge.

Hi Elizabeth, I love hard boiled eggs, and deviled eggs. I hate peeling them — I used to say! I made this today for the first time and the eggs were perfect and peeled like a dream!!!

Thank you!!!! Hi Elizabeth. I want to give you my greatest appreciation for sharing your method to accomplish these goals. I have tried other folks methods and none seem to work for me, but your method worked the first time I tried it.

I am super happy with the results I got. I just wish I could have found you sooner than 77 years. Thank you so much. Oh my goodness! Using this recipe forever from now on! This works! I have avoided recipes with boiled eggs. I got so excited when the shell came off beautifully.

Thank you ,thank you, thank you! This method really works! So glad I went on line to solve the problem of peeling hardboiled eggs. Followed instructions to a t. One of three eggs peeled properly.

And ended up with ice-cold eggs. When done, I fished the eggs out of the pot with the same large mesh spoon and placed them in a large bowl filled with ice and water. I let them sit there for at least 15 minutes and then was able to gently tap them on the counter and peel them easily. Did not work for me the minute I put the eggs in the boiling water 2 cracked have not gotten to the remove the shell yet… Jeanie Morgan. Complete with the comment regarding the cold start method for potatoes. Only difference is she says to leave the eggs in the ice water bath for 5 minutes instead of I came across your post by happenstance while looking at varying recipes for egg salad.

And it does work. Hi Amanda, thanks for the note. I love Ree! She is amazing. Again, all images and the words in which we type are copyrighted — but general methods are not. Thanks for stopping by to comment! Thank you, thank you, thank you. This is the only recipe for easy peeling eggs I have found. Perfect peeling eggs every time.

My mother made perfect peeling eggs but when I tried it her way, it never worked for me. I love boiled eggs but hate when I end up with what I call a slaughters egg. Thank you very much. Ok, I had to turn on my common sense and then this worked great. I took my boiling water off the burner and let it settle a moment and then gently lowered my eggs. Worked great! I had several broken eggs on my first batch when I put the eggs in while he water was at a rolling boil.

Hope this helps someone because this recipe is a game changer!!!! Ok, I boiled the water, slowly and gently added the eggs one at a time with a slotted plastic spoon, and as soon as the eggs touched the boiling hot water they cracked open. What am I doing wrong here.

My eggs are 1 day from expiration so they are definitely old. I was getting so frustrated boiling eggs and when peeling them the half of the whites would come off with the shells. However, this has changed my life…well my egg boiling life!

I was really hoping this method would work because peeling eggs is no fun! You are Brilliant Elizabeth Rider! I love hard boiled eggs, but I could never find a good method for an easy peel, so I just pretty much stopped… I deployed ur method just yesterday and the results were stunning!

I planned to peel 2, and put the rest in the fridge until I was ready to use them. And the eggs came out looking smooth and perfect. This worked perfect! Thanks for the tips for the hard boiled eggs.

I cooked my first batch using a different recipe and the peeling was a disaster. My wife will be happy when she prepares deviled eggs for our super bowl dinner tomorrow. Elizabeth, Your recipe is perfect! I used a pin to prick the eggs, and I wondered if eggs would crack when placed in boiling water and they did not. After 15 minute ice bath they peeled so easily. In one place above it says you can keep an unpeeled hard boiled egg in the refrigerator for three days and in another place unpeeled in the refrigerator for seven days.

Followed yourcdurections to a tee! Easy peel and a more creamy yoke, but not undercooked! Easiest peel I have ever had!! Didnt lose my temper this time!! All 6 eggs cracked even though they were gently lowered into the hot water. This might work if the eggs were brought to room temp before placing into the water.

Shame on me…. Worked perfectly!!! Have been trying to do this for decades.