Ask Lemmy

My boyfriend has this trick where he pokes a hole on the top, a hole in the bottom, and then he blows and the egg just falls out.

Never managed to pull it off, I just claw at it until it's done.

with your mouth, silly.

roll it around your tongue to smash the shell up but not break the egg inside. then, suck all the shells down and pop out the freshly washed egg.

this is the way my family has done it for generations. we used to play a game where we would swap the eggs out from person to person and whoever had the clean egg by the end was the winner.

Bend over and I'll show you.

So you are interested in how to peel a hard boiled egg? Let me tell you first about the history of the egg and its impact on society…

With a teaspoon. Gently crack the shell, then pull off a small bit so the spoon fits then run the spoon between the shell and egg. Works perfectly for me, but works best if they're freshly cooked.

Make sure you get under the membrane, not the shell. Its super easy after that.

Cook a fresh one. Older ones are impossible to peel, the membrane get's glued to the white.

Paper towel on a hard surface, drop egg to crack shell, roll it under your hand until it’s all crackled, then pick out a piece that lifts the membrane and peel it off like skin.

Give it a rinse after to remove any particulate. Humans really shouldn’t be eating the shells in chunks as it can get caught in appendix if you have one.

Everyone has their specific method, personally I tap the top and bottom on the counter, then roll it on the counter with a little bit of pressure. For me, this let's the shell get all cracked up but still stick to the membrane and peels off super easily... It worked well enough that my wife asked me why I never mention it for the first decade of our marriage, I thought everyone knew and just did it their own way.

That's a great question! Break the shell a bit with a spoon, peel under flowing water. The end.

Press it on the counter then roll it while pressing. Like a rolling pin. It creates lots of cracks. Then do the water thing.

After you boil it, put it in some cool water. This helps the white pull away from the shell a little bit, I think. I use a plain kitchen knife to crack the egg and then slide the end of the knife between the shell and the cooked white. There's a kind of a film layer in between too. Usually, this helps the shell stick together as you peel it off.

You want to break off pieces at a time, don't go for the whole thing all at once. Work your way around the egg slowly, breaking off chunks of the shell as you go. Once you're about halfway done, you can usually hold the egg over a bowl or plate or something and then work the tip of the knife around the rest of the shell, letting the egg fall out onto whatever is below it.

It takes a little practice but you should get it after a few eggs. Hard boiled eggs are easier. Soft boiled eggs aren't too bad but you have to be careful that you don't dig too deeply because you'll break the yolk and it all runs out.

With a spoon under a running faucet. It's the perfect tool for peeling an egg.

My best results come from:

• Bring your water to a boil. Before or after it starts boiling, add a disgusting amount of baking soda. The alkalinity will help weaken the shell membrane, so that they peel like much older eggs
• As your boiling time comes to an end, prepare a bowl of salty ice water. The salt is to lower the freezing point so that the ice cubes cool the water to perfect shocking levels
• As soon as your egg is cooked, quickly and SAFELY move it from the hot water to the ice bath. Let the egg hang out for a bit. People often enjoy chilled hard boiled eggs, so every bit of time the egg chills gets to closer to enjoying the fruits of your labor
• Crack the shell a little bit and then run the egg under cold tap water while you gently peel the shell away using your fingerTIPS, not nails
• When the water hits at the right angle, it should practically peel the egg for you, right under your fingers.

Your water for boiling can be reused for cooking beans, the baking soda will help break down the various gas-causing sugars, and cellulose. Don't fully cook them in this water, they'll taste bad. This is simply a trick so that you can soak your beans for 45 minutes or so instead of overnight.

The salt bath can be used to start a brine, or to cook pasta.

The way I was taught was to place down a paper towel, then crack the side of the egg against the flat surface and roll the egg back-and-forth to mush the shell into much smaller pieces.

Should make it easier to peel bit by bit instead of pulling away large chunks that can cut into the egg “flesh.”

Edit: the paper towel was to make it easier to clean up the shell bits afterwards

I just hit it againt the counter until the peal breaks then it starts behaving like a bouncing ball. I keep playing with the ball until the shards are small enough and then pull the peal that now is more like a skin.

Then wash it with running water to get rid of the remaining shards. This step helps cooling down the egg which after boiling is too hot anyway, but you can probably skip and just pull the remaining shards manually it if you are one of those people who can stand and prefer things superhot.

Mit einem eierschalensollbruchstellenverursacher, natürlich

But if you’re headed for deviled eggs or that sort of thing, a cold plunge is what I’ve always been told.

This is partially because 90% of the time the cook determines how an egg will peel. The other 10% are eggs that are too fresh and no matter what the shell would stick.

Peeling can be easy or difficult in part due to the cooking method. Here's a good write up on tests of various cooking methods to make easier peeling hard boiled eggs: https://www.seriouseats.com/the-secrets-to-peeling-hard-boiled-eggs

The trick is getting the skin beneath the shell to pull the rest of it

Fresher eggs will be harder to peel tho

For starters, eggs should be put in already boiling water, as opposed to heating up the eggs and the water together. Otherwise the egg sticks to the white. If you have problems with eggs cracking while boiling, use a needle or a knife to poke a hole in the shell in the end that is the least pointy so that the air bubble inside has an escape.

I usually drop it in the table and roll it around just to get the entire shell to Crack. Then it should come off easily.

I don't really understand people getting out an unnecessary utensil to crack the egg. Put the pot you cooked it in in the sink and run cod water on it. Then just knock it against the inside of the pot to crack it. If you like the roll technique, roll it against the pan. Do this in the water; some believe cracking it underwater helps the shell release, tho honestly I'm not sure about that part.

You put it in cold water for a few minutes and it's pretty easy with your fingers, like peeling a brittle orange.

Simplest answer?

1. While/before the egg is cooking, half fill a suitable container (enough to hold egg + water + ice) and then with cold water, set it aside to get cold.

2. Use thumbtack/pin to poke a single hole in round end (not pointier end) to let air escape.

3. Cook egg to your preferred doneness, and immediately transfer egg (gently, don't let it crack) to icy water in said container. Let rest for a few minutes (ie. 5+).

4. Run a cold tap until the stream is steady (just barely above separate drops) but not forceful.

5. Remove egg from ice bath, and discard contents of container.

6. Crack egg onto flat surface on opposite sides and then both ends, in turn. (1 gentle tap on each should do it)

7. Under the stream of cold water, begin with the most prominent section of breakage, peel with the underlying membrane the shell back and let the water work its way between the egg white and the membrane while you work your thumbnail/fingertips to remove the shell in multiple shards still attached to said membrane.

Once you get the hang of it, you can often get ~½" of shell off before the rest simply unsleeves. 🥳👩🏼‍🍳

Use old eggs. New eggs sink to bottom of a glass of water and lay on their side, old eggs will sink but stand up, bad eggs float.

Get the water boiling before adding the eggs.

Cook for twelve minutes.

Remove from water and immediately place them in an ice bath.

Tap the flat end and then roll its side on a hard surface to crack.

Pick off bits of shell in a vertical line from the flat to the point making sure to remove the film under the shell.

Peel of the remainder horizontally.

Eat all damaged eggs.