Usually, when we boil eggs, getting the shells off is really easy. They peel off no problem.
But now and then we get a batch - such as the one we’re working with now - where removing the shell is nearly impossible without pulling off chunks of egg.
Why is that?
Fresh eggs are hard to peel.
If you let them age for a week or so, then hard-boil them, they peel much easier.
But why is it that way?
Apparently, the pH of the albumen changes - the higher the pH, the easier it is to peel.
More than you ever wanted to know about egg peelability.
Moved to Cafe Society. Yeah, yeah. I know.
I think we’ve had multiple threads on this, some as recent as last year.
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=503683&highlight=peel+eggs
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=446664&highlight=peel+eggs
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=391326&highlight=peel+eggs
Damned if you weren’t correct about how much we need to know. :eek:
Many of the several threads listed above have have *time *recommendations.
Shouldn’t time relate to altitude?
Does anyone have a link as to how professionals do it?
I think Chefguy has been a professional for quite some time.
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=10749259&postcount=20
I think he just plays one on TV. Not that his advice isn’t sound, mind you.
Irrespective of his credentials, I don’t see where he has addressed the time and altitude problem.
That’s not more than we wanted to know. That’s EXACTLY what we wanted to know! Ignorance fought decisively!
Finally, we get documentation for one reliable, scientifically proved method for making peeling a hard-boiled egg easy: raise the eggs’ Ph by keeping them at room temperature for 24 hours before use. The table at the link just NAILS it. This info should be appended to the Staff Report.
Props to Shirley Corriher, author of Cookwise, mentioned here for the baking soda alternative.
Please note that there is a Staff Report on this topic: What’s the secret of getting hard-boiled eggs to peel easily? - The Straight Dope
Please also note that there is another current thread on this topic: Hard Boiling Eggs So the Shell Is Easily Removed
Damn those scientists! What will they conquer next!
Seriously, I can’t believe there is an article/chapter that long on “peelability.”
Dex That’s probably not a current thread. I think I linked to it as an example of threads we had previously done. Then, someone posted to it today?
It actually ended, for all intensive porposes :p, in January.
Toss the boiled eggs into cold water, crack their shells with a spoon to introduce water between the shells and the albumen as the soft parts shrink, and hope for the best.