you may have noticed many of my posts are about eggs - how can you tell they are fresh? how do you poach them? and today -
how the hell do you peel hard-boiled eggs without ripping them apart? (please imagine that I wrote this in caps because I'm super frustrated...but I hate all caps so I refrained.)
I decided to make deviled eggs for my mad men gathering this evening. they are such an amazing appie but absolutely a pain in the butt to make. most frustrating - spending 40 minutes hunched over the sink peeling them.
I cooked two dozen eggs. I did not have a single egg pristine after peeling - all of them got pitted and scarred.
I read stuff on the internet about how to best peel an egg and nothing seemed to help. frau what do I do to master this incredibly annoying task? currently I tap the egg on each end with a spoon and try to peel them underwater in a bowl. it is not a good approach.
6 comments:
You put them on their side and roll them gently on a cutting board or other hard surface, applying just enough pressure to make little cracks all over the surface of the shell--the inner membrane of the shell will stay mostly intact.
Once they have little crack marks all over the surface, you should be able to get a hold of a piece of shell and gently peel the whole thing off in one or two pieces because the inner membrane is holding it all together.
Voila!
Two things: 1. You might be cooking the eggs for too long which can sometimes make the eggs hard to peel 2. The longer an egg sits after boiling. The harder it is to peel as well. Just think about all of those Easter eggs that seem impossible to peer after a few days.
she-she - I must say the ONLY talent I have when it comes to cooking eggs is some bizarre sixth sense that lets me know precisely when they are done. it secretly annoys my husband because he fastidiously watches a timer and his hard-boiled eggs tend to be over cooked - I use the force and somehow it has always worked for me...so unfortunately cooking time isn't the reason I am completely incompetent at peeling eggs.
omnivore - you on the other hand may prove to have the special secret I'm seeking. I don't foresee myself making hard-boiled eggs again soon, since I'm still a bit pissy about the whole experience. But I will assuredly try your method next time.
vp: you need to use older eggs. the eggs you are using are too fresh. buy good, fresh, free-range eggs a week or two before you want to eat them. this usually does the trick.
are you putting them directly into an ice bath to rest and cool after boiling? if you get the temperature inside to come down fast enough it separates the innards from the shell. when you peel them (after they are quickly and thoroughly cooled) the shell releases in great big hunks. i just boiled a dozen on sunday morning and peeled each in under a minute. i swear.
i have ms ab's experience too if it helps.
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