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peeling a hard-boiled egg
genkaku
Northampton, Mass. U.S.A. Veteran
Finally ... something practical received in email. I admit I haven't tried it yet, but I like hard-boiled eggs:
2
Comments
It looked to me as if the egg was burned
Making a heart-shaped egg is cute, too... and timely for this weekend, even if it IS a little fiddly....
Hmmm
Doesn't say if the boiled egg is hot or not
Or
if the water in the glass is cold or not. Any more details?
I thought though that it usually required a very freshly boiled hot egg and pretty cold water.
we use fresh eggs (as in from the guy down the street) and they can be really hard to peel. But I found this is pretty much fool proof.
1. Cook as normal (I put the eggs in lukewarm water, bring to a boil, let boil 9-11 minutes depending how many eggs, then remove from heat.
2. Empty the hot water out of the pot, pouring some into a bowl or another pot. Shake the pot so the eggs roll around and crack a bit. Cover eggs with very cold water.
3. After a few minutes, drain the cold water and put the cracked, cooled eggs into the bowl/pot of hot water just for like 30 seconds then remove and peel.
It seems like the combination of the hot to cold back to hot releases the membrane better. It's a little putzy, but if you are doing deviled eggs or something where you want them to look nice, it's worth it. Also works well if you want warm hard boiled eggs, putting them in the hot water warms them up nicely without them being too hot.
Just put a bit of salt in your boiling water before you put in your egg. Osmosis very slightly dehydrates the egg and makes it slippery, so the shell slides right off, even the tiny pieces.
I always salt water that I boil, but fresh eggs, the membrane is much more difficult to separate from the shell. In store bought eggs they are usually several days old which causes that membrane to weaken.
I put vinegar in my cold water, and very lightly pierce each end with the sharp point of a knife. the perforations permit the two end air sacs to expel their air without too much, or even any damage to the shell.
The reason eggs are so difficult to peel when fresh, is that the albumen is non-acidic and contains carbon dioxide; as the shell is porous, it absorbs air, releases its carbon dioxide and the egg-white (or albumen, to give it its correct name) 'shies away' from the inner membrane.
The best eggs to boil for best peeling results are those which are 7 - 10 days old.
@federica
I only puncture the bigger (rounded end) so that the air sac can expel the internal air pressure as the egg cooks.
Why are you doing the same to the pointy end and how? without having the egg white push out during the cooking?
If eggs are stored pointy-end up, there is a chance that, as the egg ages, some of the air from the rounded end, penetrates and passes through the inner (porous) membrane, and then travels up, between the membranes, to sit at the top end of the egg.
hence my piercing both ends.
Sometimes, yes, the white 'bubbles' out, but not every time.
All very technical.
yes, the term 'pointy' is only for the cognoscenti.....
I iz cognoscenti? Iz I egghead?
. . . and now back to the tips . . .
I am seriously pondering that now. About me. Not you.
^^^ you are fine Victor, bit of a scrapper, when not being attacked, but we all have our shells . . .
OMG - retreat - I'm going to go and play on my kid's eggsbox as the real world is too much for me to deal with right now... Minecraft - aged 7+ eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeekkkkk
back to the real world.....
I'll meet up with you in elder scrolls online!
is this
minecraft? looks horrible graphics
yep...
Kids love it.....
But it is, or can be, something very creative...
like a hard-boiled egg....
nuff said
What came first, the chicken or the egg?
Please explain the correct answer. (There is one.)
A question phrased as badly as this has endless possibilities so here are two of them.
Evolution says that eggs existed long before there were chickens
but
others say that chickens come where eggs do not.
I'm so glad this thread was resurrected JUST before the virtual deadline of it's one-year limit.
~ Fede rolls eyes ~
Could I simply ask: Why?
Why? It's an eggistential question really.
That yolk is so old, but it's alwhite... albumen life is here....
The cockerel.
[Lobster is escorted to the naughty corner by the feminist hens]
My brain is scrambled and fried.
How many vegetarians in this thread eat eggs?
Wish there were a "Why?" or "What???" button on the Word Association Game (2) thread.
Sorry, but I just cannot bring myself to share a reason. Would just saying it bemuses me be enough?
Guess so...
Whatever rolls your omelette....