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Ice bath. Needed an ice bath for sure. Put some salt in the ice water…get it frigid.
I do mine in instant pot now. I take a dozen of my older eggs (from backyard hens), on the rack with a cup of water, 5 minutes high pressure, 4-5 minutes natural release, 1 minute quick release, and then an icebath…at least 5 minutes, preferably longer.
Most of them come out perfect but my olive-egger is always a pain to peel. Not as bad as this, though.
U running an ice bath after boiling?
I just peel it under running cold water. Fast and easy.
I used to do a 12 minute egg with an immediate ice bath. Works well. Egg peels easily. Yolk isn’t overcooked.
Recently switched to the 10-5-5 method. 10 minutes of cook, 5 minutes in the pan but removed from heat, 5 minutes in an ice bath. I’d argue the results are slightly better.
Always soak your eggs before boiling. This forces any air to escape which reduces the likelihood of your eggs cracking once in the hot water.
Whacking the top of the egg right after the ice bath with like a spoon helps with peelability. I always forget to tho. But yeah, I do bring the water to a boil and set a timer for 12 minutes after it starts boiling, then immediately put into ice bath. My eggs are consistently perfect with that method. I’ve seen the one you mentioned, but I’m too lazy lol.
“The way I peeled this egg” is the correct title.
You didn’t give it the ice bath.
I don’t entirely disagree with you, but I’ve boiled eggs. I’ve peeled boiled eggs. I’ve never once given boiled eggs an ice bath - I didn’t even know that was a thing until I saw a roommate doing it in my early thirties (though to be fair I didn’t have my first boiled egg until my mid twenties).
I’ve definitely peeled eggs poorly, as shown in the OP, but I’ve also peeled them nearly perfectly with no ice bath. I don’t know if it helps, but it’s not necessary.
The ice bath will give you consistency so it’s not such a dice roll. It also helps stop the egg cooking, in case your going for a jammy or soft-boiled egg. And you can peel sooner because it’s not so hot.
“The way I impatiently didn’t follow instructions”*
this happens usually with very fresh eggs, leave them for a couple of days.
(German popular “science”, note the quotation marks, magazine) GEO: https://www.geo.de/wissen/endlich-verstehen-darum-lassen-sich-frische-eier-schlechter-pellen-30173258.html
I had an egg this morning that I had to get by basically chasing the chicken away from the nest. It had the same problem. Even after an ice bath
I think you misunderstood. Fresh eggs have that problem more. If you boil an older egg, the shell doesn’t stick as much.
I think they were agreeing. Offering evidence in support.
Oh, okay
this happens usually with very fresh eggs
Exactly, I came to mention that too. So he/she should enjoy the egg being fresh.
How has no one responded with correct response: steaming eggs.
Seriously, every egg peels super easy after I steam them for 15 minutes. My grandpa has bought a steamer because I brought mine to his house.
Instant pot 5-5-5 recipe has never let me down.
I tried this once, but stupid me didn’t think it through all the way. My steamer basket is for the microwave… do not steam eggs in a microwave steamer.
A simpler method is to just add a little salt to the water, and they peel easily. Vinegar works too.
It also helps to leave a tiny bit of the egg above water. This will create an air pocket in the egg, and if you start peeling it from there, it will be a lot easier.
The egg always has an air pocket on the bottom, at the blunt end. This is an air pocket that the developing chicken embryo uses for gas exchange. See the diagram:
Source: Bird eggs on Wikipedia.
That egg’s more on the balut phase.
Yes, though the air pocket is there right from the start. If you pierce the bottom of the shell with a pin before boiling then the egg will have less of a dent at the bottom after boiling, giving a more uniform shape.
Also removes the pressure when cooking and helps the shell to separate.
if you fully submerge them, the airpocket will be on the bottom (fat side) of the egg. IIRC, eggs always have an air pocket there.
The fresh eggs thing is a myth, this happens to all eggs. Here’s what you do: Boil the water first and then place your eggs in it. You can lower the heat afterwards to a lower simmer.
6 minutes for really runny eggs. 7 minutes for runny yolk. 8 minutes and the yolk is almost firm. Egg size matters of course.
After, put the eggs in cold water so they stop cooking. This also helps the membrane to separate.
Another method is to prick the bottom of the egg where the air pouch is with a small needle before dropping them in the boiling water along with some vinegar. Same steps after, cold water etc. This is what they do in restaurants but honestly I never bother, the first method delivers easily peelable eggs 80% of the time and that’s good enough for me.
Haven’t seen this mentioned, best way to prevent this is to fry the egg, make an omelette or even scrambled eggs 👀
I feel like that scene in Forest Gump with the shrimp
This may also signal stress or calcium deficiency or excess in the animal’s diet.
Hens over one year old tend to lay very thick and hard shelled eggs, that break unevenly and peel poorly, even with every single technic to boil it used, when a surplus of calcium is available.
Younger hens, below 6 months of age, tend to lay fin shelled eggs that stick more to the inner membrane.
The comments are hilarious, as eggspected.
The yolks on you
Aren’t you eggsaggerating a bit here?
We have 30 chickens, we get fresh eggs every day. We can cook them the same day after they’re laid with a dash rapid egg cooker which uses steam. It comes with a little device to poke a hole in the wide end where the air pocket usually is and then we just cook them upside down. They peel easily whether they’ve been in cold water or not.
Dammit! I only have 29 chickens, will this method still work?
Unfortunately no. Id mail you one of mine, but then I’d be in the same boat. You’re just going to have to put a stuffed chicken out there to fool the universe.
Eeeey, we have that machine as well! Device to poke holes that doubled as the measuring cup for the water to put into the steam unit! Cool stuff!
That’s the one, works incredible and the eggs never stick to the shells.
Pressure cooker will force steam between the membrane and egg with no hole needed so you get the same effect with longer shelf life - probably doesn’t matter if you have your own chickens and are in the routine of doing it daily but I prefer no poking of holes so I can make a weeks worth at a time and if I forget them they stay fresh in their unbroken shells
havent seen anyone add this yet in the comments so here goes: are you adding the eggs to already-boiling water? or adding them to cold water and bringing them to a boil? i switched over to adding them to boiling water, and have had no trouble peeling since. 7mins for over-medium. no ice bath necessary, i just run a little cold water over them so i can handle them easily.
I’ll have to check that out. Thanks unknown stranger.
Don’t expect it to work 100% of the time because it doesn’t. It’s not enough of an improvement (if it even is actually an improvement – debatable) for me to justify the extra electricity cost.
I always boil the water first, so i can’t speak to that portion. But what I do is add the boils to a sealed container with cold water. Then give it a good shake so that shells crack, but not so hard the eggs themselves are damaged. But after that the shells slide right off
Yeah, the best peeling trick I know is a mason jar with a little water in it and you just shake the egg around like a bartender with a sleeping child next to them.
Riskier with soft boiled eggs though.
Funnily enough, I add them when the water is cold and never had trouble. Just run the tap for maybe 10 seconds and let it sit for a bit
It’s even more infuriating when I hard boil a bunch of eggs and about half of them peel pristinely clean, the other half end up looking like the surface of the moon. Ya’ll was in the same damn pot, what’s the excuse?
Should have scared it with cold water, right after boiling.
It’s either new/fresh, or old, eggs, that are hardest to peel.
The ice-bath after boiling is right, too, as it shrinks the egg within the shell, so peeling it is easier, as it’s already pulled-away…
You either got a too-new or too-old egg, & the white bonded to the shell-lining membrane.
The only method I know-of for defeating such impervious opponents, is simply to use a spoon inside the egg, to slice-away the egg from the inside of the shell.
Nothing else works, with those ones…
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I’m a simple man. I see
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And I downvote.
I made boiled (well, steamed) eggs in my instant pot and they came out perfect…
Put eggs on trivet/riser. Add 1c water. Lid on, sealed. 5 minutes high pressure. 5 minutes off and sealed. 1 minute venting. 5+ minutes ice bath.
The ice bath is the critical part.
The shells slide off.
Just did 5 dozen in batches in my instapot, game changer for sure. Its the only way id do it now.
60 eggs all at once, or 5 batches of a dozen each?
As I understand it, you should be able to pile the eggs on in there, they shouldn’t move like they would in a full rolling boil.
But at the same time, I had been warned not to put all of my eggs together.
Warned not to put your eggs in one basket, as it were?
I do mine on the stove.
No special prep, just in a pot with a steaming trivet or basket with water up to the basket, eggs in for exactly 10 minutes with a lid on, then immediately transfer over to ice cold water.
I have chickens, and steam eggs in a steamer pot on the stove, but these kind of eggs when they didn’t peel right is from an old chicken. Something to do with membrane is not great on them
How old are your girls?
Mine are just turning two and it’s my first flock…I’d gotten some soft-shell eggs lately (which are surprisingly durable), but that’s about it.
Well most are now over 5 yrs old, my oldest hen was 12, and she just died last July. My oldest hen now is like 8.
This is the girl who turned 12 last year
You might need to get some oyster shells. They might not be getting enough calcium. Especially young hens need it sometimes.
