Help - Lost My Ability To Hardboil an Egg

[blazedog]

I used to be able to cook a flawless hardboiled egg -- perfectly done with a shell that came off easily. I didn't even consciously think about my technique

Since reading the experts, I can't produce a decent egg to save my life.

So help -- lead me back to the path of the perfect hard boiled egg -- one with a shell that cames off without removing most of the white.

Thanks in advance.

[Aubergine]

blaze, the "trick" for getting an easily removeable shell is to use eggs that are 1-2 (or more) weeks old. as the egg sits, the water in the albumin (white) evaporates slowly through the shell and the egg shrinks slightly and pulls away from the shell all by itself, even before cooking.

[blazedog]

Aubergine -- Since I buy eggs at the supermarket, my eggs are well over 2 weeks old so I don't think freshness is my problem.

[Grace]

Well, Aubergine is right - that's the reason the shells stick - the egss are too fresh. Your store might just go through eggs like crazy so their supply must be pretty fresh.

Otherwise, do you let them cool all the way before peeling? Do you run them under cold water? I find that that helps. But if you have really fresh eggs, there's nothing you can do to avoid those stuck egg shells.

[blazedog]

I don't mean to seem contrarian but not only is it doubtful that eggs bought at my local supermarket in Los Angeles are that fresh but I am having this problem with eggs that I have not just brought home -- I don't use a whole lot of eggs so I sometimes use eggs that I bought the month before.

I do rinse immediately in cold water.

[beacooker]

blazedog, I've had the same problem. I know that 'they' say that fresh eggs are the cause of the hard-to-peel problem, but I know that my eggs aren't overly fresh, but I still sometimes have the problem. I think some eggs are just that way.

BTW, the way I hard boil my eggs is to put them in cold water, cover and heat to boiling, let boil for about 30 seconds, then remove them from the heat and let them sit for 15 minutes before plunging them in cold water. Perfectly cooked eggs, every time, although as I mentioned, I still sometimes get an egg that doesn't peel well.

ETA: I think Julia Child's method for hard boiling eggs is like I mentioned above, but after the plunge into cold water, she then boils them again for a few seconds, then back into cold water. I seem to remember her saying that this helped with the peeling of the eggs, but I can't remember her reasoning. This method always seemed like WAY too much work for me, so I never tried it.

[paula]

My parents raise chickens, and my mother claims that the eggs of some breeds are easier to peel than the eggs from other breeds. (I doubt that she has done an actual side by side comparison controlling for age of the eggs...) Maybe you have recently changed grocery stores, or your grocery store recently changed suppliers.

Paula

[Aubergine]

i'm only repeating what i've been taught by the mysterious "They," but it has worked for me. i keep 2 sets of eggs on hand, newly-purchased ones for baking and omelettes, and some that sit in the fridge for a couple of weeks before i boil them. i use the same, start with cold water, let sit after quick boil, rinse under cold water method.

[Little Bit]

I use the method beacooker describes, and then after they've cooled, I tap the eggs to shatter the shell, and put them back in the cold water for a bit, then peel them underwater. Not quite foolproof, since some eggs are just contrary, but certainly better than whatever it was I did before.

I find that if a layer of water can manage to seep underneath the membrane, so there's a layer of water between the egg and the membrane, it makes it much easier to peel the egg.

[jtoepfert100]

blazedog - I had the same problem. I used to make hardboiled eggs with no problems before I started real cooking. Then I started reading all these different techniques for "perfect hardboiled eggs". None of them worked for me. Last month, I went back to the old way of just not having any technique and now my eggs are just fine. I plan on ignoring all egg boiling tips from now on.