# Hard cooked eggs



## huesmann (Aug 18, 2011)

I find them to peel better when they're cold, like fridge cold, not just cooled down with ice water. The white isn't as soft and doesn't come off with the shell as easy.


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## raylo32 (Nov 25, 2006)

In my recent experience they peel the same just out of the ice (and I let them get ice cold) or if they sit in the refrigerator for a couple of days.



huesmann said:


> I find them to peel better when they're cold, like fridge cold, not just cooled down with ice water. The white isn't as soft and doesn't come off with the shell as easy.


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## Fish_Stick (Feb 28, 2017)

Went through this years back and found this article. Still have a couple that rip but for the most part they come out perfectly peeled and have hardly any waste now. I feel you though, one of those stupid things where you're thinking how hard is it to boil an egg?









How to Make Perfect Hard-Boiled Eggs | The Food Lab


The secret to peeling hard-boiled eggs? Well, <i>secret</i> might be a bit of an exaggeration. Here's the truth: There is no 100% foolproof method for peeling hard-boiled eggs, and anybody who tells you different is selling something. Still, our method will allow you to pretty routinely produce...




www.seriouseats.com


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## BigJim (Sep 2, 2008)

I get my water hot, drop in the eggs with a spoon easy, let boil 10 minutes, remove and drop in ice water for 10 minutes, mine come off really easy...so far.


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## Half-fast eddie (Sep 19, 2020)

There has to be a tool for this. Or at least an iPhone app.


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## J. V. (Jun 1, 2007)

BigJim said:


> I get my water hot, drop in the eggs with a spoon easy, let boil 10 minutes, remove and drop in ice water for 10 minutes, mine come off really easy...so far.


I watched Jaques Pepin make hard boiled eggs this way. I am going to try it.
Now there is a bar I go to (before virus) that serves hard boiled eggs. He serves them at room temp.
I watched him make them once and he poured about a cup of salt into the water. Then boiled them. Then set them out on the bar. I have yet to see one person have a problem peeling those eggs. He allowed them to cool at room temp.


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## raylo32 (Nov 25, 2006)

What is strange is that I used to have great success with my method above, often making deviled eggs for picnics. But lately? Sheesh. I'll give the hot insertion another try. IIRC some of the eggshells crack from the thermal shock when you do that.


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## BigJim (Sep 2, 2008)

The older the egg, the harder to peel.


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## raylo32 (Nov 25, 2006)

Alexa, boil me some eggs. Dammit!



Half-fast eddie said:


> There has to be a tool for this. Or at least an iPhone app.


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## Herring Impaired (Nov 20, 2020)

Tried doing hard boiled eggs in an instant pot pressure cooker, now it's the only way I do them. Easy to peel....


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## SpentPenny (Dec 15, 2020)

Ice bath immediately after removing from stove. Let them stay in the ice bath until the egg shrinks away from the shell. I noted by the grocery store sells perfectly peeled hard-boiled eggs by the dozen so figured there has to be a mechanical way so I researched on YouTube and found a couple of videos that talk about the peeling machines. The eggs do not enter the peeler until they have been in an ice bath and cooled to 50 degrees or less (if I recall right). The ice bath was the trick.


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## Mike Milam (Mar 3, 2017)

BigJim said:


> I get my water hot, drop in the eggs with a spoon easy, let boil 10 minutes, remove and drop in ice water for 10 minutes, mine come off really easy...so far.


That's exactly how my wife does them and they come off cleanly.


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## raylo32 (Nov 25, 2006)

The example above had been in an ice bath for 20 minutes.



SpentPenny said:


> Ice bath immediately after removing from stove. Let them stay in the ice bath until the egg shrinks away from the shell. I noted by the grocery store sells perfectly peeled hard-boiled eggs by the dozen so figured there has to be a mechanical way so I researched on YouTube and found a couple of videos that talk about the peeling machines. The eggs do not enter the peeler until they have been in an ice bath and cooled to 50 degrees or less (if I recall right). The ice bath was the trick.


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## Mike Milam (Mar 3, 2017)

Well, I can't help first hand, but the wife usually only puts them in cold tap water and not for more than 5 minutes as she's doing it before work in the mornings.


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## Nik333 (Mar 1, 2015)

Maybe you're just too rough?


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## raylo32 (Nov 25, 2006)

I have been known on occasion to resemble a bull in a china shop. ;-)



Nik333 said:


> Maybe you're just too rough?


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## Startingover (Apr 18, 2012)

BigJim said:


> The older the egg, the harder to peel.


i thought it was the opposite? Who has a chicken to test the difference Between very fresh or older eggs?


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## taylorjm (Apr 11, 2013)

Herring Impaired said:


> Tried doing hard boiled eggs in an instant pot pressure cooker, now it's the only way I do them. Easy to peel....


Same results for me. Pressure cook for 5 min, wait 5 min, release steam, put in an ice water bath. The only way I could get them to peel easy every time.


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## Nik333 (Mar 1, 2015)

All I do is cook them, pour them in the sink from the pan, run cold water over them in the sink while I crack them & peel them. But, I'm very, very gentle! 😇


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## Rodochan (Aug 22, 2020)

I only let my eggs sit in the ice bath for 3 minutes then peel. Works for me.


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## wooleybooger (Feb 23, 2019)

I use an egg cooker like this. It steams the eggs. You put a specific amount of water in it and turn it on. It turns itself off when the water is gone. You need to punch a small hole in the small end of the egg. Tool included. Cool under running water until cool to touch, not necessarily cool though. Peel. Works well, 10 minutes cooking time for hard cooked. Does 6 eggs at once.


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## BigJim (Sep 2, 2008)

I would love to see all your kitchen tools, I can only imagine how many you have. I am getting the bug buying more cooking utensils. My wife is having to hold me down a little, our kitchen isn't that large. lol How's that for getting off topic. lol


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## wooleybooger (Feb 23, 2019)

Ours isn't large either and wife knows that if I'm in there cooking/canning her presence is unappreciated. If I stand in the middle of it I can almost work on the cabinet and stove without doing anything but turn around. Hardly even room for me when I start canning.
Oh yeah, thanks Big Jim. Wondered how long this thread was going to go and stay on topic.


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## raylo32 (Nov 25, 2006)

I just boiled another egg from the same carton by the hot insertion method... getting the water simmering first and gently lowering the cold egg in. Simmered for 10 minutes, cooled in the same ice bath. When I cracked it, the shell literally fell off almost in one piece. OK, I am done with the old method of starting the eggs off in the cold water.


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## huesmann (Aug 18, 2011)

So the egg is never boiled, just simmer cooked?


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## wooleybooger (Feb 23, 2019)

Eggs need a temp of about 160* F to cook and destroy any bacteria.


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## raylo32 (Nov 25, 2006)

Simmer is boiling in my book. Just turned down so it doesn't bounce around so much and break. Maybe I am using "simmer" incorrectly??



huesmann said:


> So the egg is never boiled, just simmer cooked?


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## huesmann (Aug 18, 2011)

Simmer is 180-190º, so pretty much right in between "boiling" and "enough to destroy bacteria."

But pasteurization is actually a function of temperature _and _time, so...?


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## JLawrence08648 (Mar 1, 2019)

Steam them.


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