# Help settle the egg peeling question
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-settle-the-egg-peeling-question/785396
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [April 27, 2017, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-settle-the-egg-peeling-question/785396 "2017-04-27T21:47:24Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)
#### Post date: [April 27, 2017, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-settle-the-egg-peeling-question/785396/1 "2017-04-27T21:47:24Z")
My experience, sometimes it almost falls off by itself and sometimes I have to peel it one flake at a time and everything in-between. My usual method of cooking I add eggs to cold water and bring to a boil for about a minute. I let them sit in the hot water for about 10 min and then move to cold water for about 10 more minutes to cool before peeling. I am starting to believe that some eggs just peel easier than others. Are there any sure fire methods for easy peeling?
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### Author:  [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)
#### Post date: [April 27, 2017, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-settle-the-egg-peeling-question/785396/2 "2017-04-27T22:20:19Z")
Use older eggs. Fresh eggs peel less readily.
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### Author:  [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)
#### Post date: [April 27, 2017, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-settle-the-egg-peeling-question/785396/3 "2017-04-27T22:26:18Z")
There’s another thread where someone suggests steaming eggs to hard-boil it.
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### Author:  [@Tom\_Terrific](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Terrific)
#### Post date: [April 27, 2017, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-settle-the-egg-peeling-question/785396/4 "2017-04-27T22:48:42Z")
My wife adds vinegar to the water then boils the eggs as normal. Runs cold water on them and peels. Usually the peels come right off. Maybe one egg out of 50 or so doesn’t peel easily.
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### Author:  [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)
#### Post date: [April 28, 2017, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-settle-the-egg-peeling-question/785396/5 "2017-04-28T00:01:09Z")
Older eggs, then pour off the hot water, crack each with a spoon, and put in cold water. As the innards cool they contract, drawing in water through the cracks.
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### Author:  [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)
#### Post date: [April 28, 2017, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-settle-the-egg-peeling-question/785396/6 "2017-04-28T00:37:26Z")
> [@dropzone](#):
>
> Older eggs, then pour off the hot water, crack each with a spoon, and put in cold water. As the innards cool they contract, drawing in water through the cracks.
I was told to do this, but to put ice and cold water into a tumbler before spooning in one hot egg.
Then, over the sink with your hand covering the top of the tumbler, rapidly shake the tumbler containing the egg up and down.
After a minute, stop and peel all of the broken shell easily off of the egg, placing the cleaned egg in a bowl.
Then, add more water to the tumbler & spoon in another hot egg to repeat the process.
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### Author:  [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)
#### Post date: [April 28, 2017, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-settle-the-egg-peeling-question/785396/7 "2017-04-28T01:04:07Z")
Jesus, this is like hiccup remedies.
Yesterday I decided to pickle some eggs – I’d had them for two weeks – so I brought six to a boil, turned off the heat and let them sit for ten minutes, then cracked the shells as I put them in cold water.
AGONIZING peeling, bits of white came off with the shell. Not going to be the prettiest of pickled eggs.
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### Author:  [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)
#### Post date: [April 28, 2017, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-settle-the-egg-peeling-question/785396/8 "2017-04-28T01:08:05Z")
The rule about peeling hardboiled eggs is this: if you intend to use them in potato salad or egg salad, cut up, then they will peel perfectly no matter how you cook them or how old they are. If you intend to make deviled eggs for a picnic attended by people you would like to impress, no matter how you cook them or how old they are, the peels will come off as described by **Ukulele Ike** above. Or worse.
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### Author:  [@somepumpkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/somepumpkin)
#### Post date: [April 28, 2017, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-settle-the-egg-peeling-question/785396/9 "2017-04-28T01:14:47Z")
> [@kayT](#):
>
> The rule about peeling hardboiled eggs is this: if you intend to use them in potato salad or egg salad, cut up, then they will peel perfectly no matter how you cook them or how old they are. If you intend to make deviled eggs for a picnic attended by people you would like to impress, no matter how you cook them or how old they are, the peels will come off as described by **Ukulele Ike** above. Or worse.
Have you posted that in the "[What ‘laws’ have you come up with?"](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=824766) thread? 🙂
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### Author:  [@Okrahoma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Okrahoma)
#### Post date: [April 28, 2017, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-settle-the-egg-peeling-question/785396/10 "2017-04-28T01:18:18Z")
I tried it at least a dozen different ways. I concluded that it is the old/fresh eggs thing. Fresh eggs won’t peel easily no matter how you cook them/cool them.
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### Author:  [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)
#### Post date: [April 28, 2017, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-settle-the-egg-peeling-question/785396/11 "2017-04-28T01:26:32Z")
I don’t think there is a good answer. I’ve tried just about every trick I’ve ever heard of and sometimes they peel easy and sometimes they don’t.
When it matters, I usually just make a few extra and hope I end up with enough decent ones.
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### Author:  [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)
#### Post date: [April 28, 2017, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-settle-the-egg-peeling-question/785396/12 "2017-04-28T01:41:15Z")
Please. Try steaming them. Just once.
I raise hens and use fresh eggs, still warm from the hen, all the time. I hard cooked half a dozen such eggs this morning. It works great.
You can use any cheap old vegetable steamer you have hanging around. Put it in a pot, fill with water to the bottom of the steamer. Add your eggs, warm, cold, whatever. Put the lid on. Turn on the heat. When you know it’s steaming (I use a glass lid on my pot so I can see), reduce heat just enough so the steaming continues and set a timer for 13 minutes.
When the eggs are done cooking, plunge them into cold water and ice. This is not to loosen the shells. It simply stops the eggs from cooking and prevents that nasty blue sulfur ring they can get.
Peel. Easily. Every time.
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### Author:  [@Peanuthead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanuthead)
#### Post date: [April 28, 2017, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-settle-the-egg-peeling-question/785396/13 "2017-04-28T02:06:57Z")
Tap them on the counter to crack them all over and peel under cold running water. I got that from the Frugal Gourmet and it really works.
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### Author:  [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)
#### Post date: [April 28, 2017, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-settle-the-egg-peeling-question/785396/14 "2017-04-28T02:21:29Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#):
>
> Yesterday I decided to pickle some eggs –
Can you give us the recipe? I also pickle eggs and would be interested in seeing if our recipes are similar or not. (Mine is basically water, vinegar, sugar, beet juice, and whole cloves - boil together, then pour over peeled eggs and refrigerate. Ready in 3-5 days.)
The beet juice turns the eggs a beautiful shade of crimson. I like to make them for parties because they are so lovely. But no one ever eats them. My husband and I don’t care; that’s more leftovers for us.
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### Author:  [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)
#### Post date: [April 28, 2017, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-settle-the-egg-peeling-question/785396/15 "2017-04-28T02:23:30Z")
Yeah, but he was a perv and his cooking advice is automatically suspect. 😉
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### Author:  [@Not\_Carlson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Not_Carlson)
#### Post date: [April 28, 2017, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-settle-the-egg-peeling-question/785396/16 "2017-04-28T02:26:35Z")
I seldom have trouble peeling eggs because I always crack them BEFORE boiling them.
If cracked too much, the whites will bubble out during boiling, but a gentle tap on the counter top is usually enough to create a small fracture that allows the shell to separate easily once the egg is boiled.
Give it a try next time.
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### Author:  [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)
#### Post date: [April 28, 2017, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-settle-the-egg-peeling-question/785396/17 "2017-04-28T02:39:40Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#):
>
> Can you give us the recipe? I also pickle eggs and would be interested in seeing if our recipes are similar or not. (Mine is basically water, vinegar, sugar, beet juice, and whole cloves - boil together, then pour over peeled eggs and refrigerate. Ready in 3-5 days.)
Sounds like we’re on the same page.
I take 2 or 3 medium red beets, simmer until tender, then put a cup of the beet water into a saucepan with a half-cup of cider vinegar, a couple tablespoons of sugar, a tablespoon of kosher salt, and some fresh-ground back pepper. I hate cloves, so I substitute a bay leaf. Simmer for a few minutes until the sugar dissolves, then pour over the peeled sliced beets, a sliced onion, and the eggs. And I give it at least 48 hours in the fridge before tucking in.
You can cheat by buying a quart of Manischevitz Borscht in the kosher section of the supermarket and just dropping your eggs into that. But I like the pickled onions and beets especially as a summer side dish.
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### Author:  [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)
#### Post date: [April 28, 2017, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-settle-the-egg-peeling-question/785396/18 "2017-04-28T02:43:58Z")
I plan to invoke the power of our Dark Lord Satan over the next pot of eggs I boil. My immortal soul in exchange for easy peeling, plus a warm roll with butter. (I need a snack)
I’ll report how it turns out.
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### Author:  [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)
#### Post date: [April 28, 2017, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-settle-the-egg-peeling-question/785396/19 "2017-04-28T03:02:04Z")
I’ll see your steaming and raise you one - I bake them. You need a muffin tin or a jelly roll pan to keep them from rolling around in there. Oneeach in a muffin tin works great.
Set them in a cold oven and set the timer for 30 minutes; set the heat to 325. Go read a book.
When they come out, cool them by any method you like - I usually eat the first couple hot with butter and toast. They peel like a dream.
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### Author:  [@NAF1138](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NAF1138)
#### Post date: [April 28, 2017, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-settle-the-egg-peeling-question/785396/20 "2017-04-28T03:12:46Z")
Once upon a time this site required cites to support options.
So, go read this from [The Food Lab](http://www.seriouseats.com/2009/10/the-food-lab-science-of-how-to-cook-perfect-boiled-eggs.html)
Also a follow up article with [further research](http://www.seriouseats.com/2014/05/the-secrets-to-peeling-hard-boiled-eggs.html).
The key to perfect peeling is starting cold eggs in a hot environment. Steam or straight into boiling water. Both work.
Evidence and experiments etc etc above. Also, cooking times and methods.
Don’t be fooled by old wives tales. Trust science.
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