You would think by now I could figure out how to boil and egg so it peels easily. I just can’t seem to find the right trick. I have done the following. Every once I awhile an egg perkscesdily, but that’s the minority.
Brought to a boil, then turned off for 15 minutes and tried again at 18. Brought to boil for 5 minutes, etc.
I put them immediately in the refrigerator.
Rinsed with cold water, then put in refrigerator.
Put in ice water until the water turns tepid, then put in refrigerator.
Bring water to a boil, gently lower your eggs into the water and let them cook for 30 seconds. Then add ice to lower the temperature, let the water boil up again, and cook for 11 minutes.
Get a Dash egg cooker. I have a six egg (they make them for 12 too). Perfect every time. Doesn’t even matter if you let them sit or rinse them. Peels great.
Load up to six eggs, put the little measure cup of water in and start. (does hard, soft, omelettes)
Bought one for everybody and they’re all happy.
Super easy clean-up on tiny appliance. Just wipe with paper towel. Easier than getting out a pot to boil water.
When the timer goes off though, it’s LOUD!
This is the key. If I buy eggs at the market, they don’t peel smoothly. The eggs I buy from the grocery store are perfect every time. For the record, I put the eggs in the pot, add cold water until they are almost covered, turn burner to #5 (electric stove) and the first moment it starts to boil, turn off. Let pot on burner for 12 minutes or more. Pour off water, fill pot with cold water. Tap egg on counter to crack the shell and peel.
@bookreader is right -very fresh eggs don’t peel well. Deviled eggs have been a staple at our family gatherings since I was a kid. So, we always buy the eggs for those events about 2 weeks out (but within the fresh-by date.) Greatly cuts down on the peeling issues. I use the “sit for 15 minutes” method, then plunge them into an ice batch (the shock helps the shell pull away from the egg, or so they say.) But older eggs should be fine regardless of your method of cooking/cooling.
I hard boil grocery store eggs only. Other option is tomget farm fresh, but let them sit in your fridge for a couple of weeks. But really…what’s the point in that?
I bring the water to a rolling boil. Add the eggs. Leave boiling for 14 minutes. Remove from stove, and immediately cool with cold water.
^^ That’s roughly what I do, except after the boil I briefly cool the eggs then move them to a sous vide bath to make them soft-boiled. The shells do generally peel pretty well even with fresh farmer’s market eggs.
The only downside is that I often lose one or two to cracked shells when they get placed in the boiling water. I try to bring the eggs up to room temp first in a warm water bath and that helps a bit, but likely doesn’t do the peeling any favors.
Probably the easiest way is to just let the eggs age for a few weeks. I’ve heard older eggs peel more easily, most likely due to the whites shrinking.
I’ve had much better luck peeling eggs by changing 2 things -
I steam the eggs now instead of boiling. 12 minutes is a good time to try.
For peeling, I put the eggs in a tupperware type container and add a decent amount of water. Then shake, shake, shake the whole thing. When you open the container some of the eggs will be completely shelled and the rest will slip right off.
We make a dozen hard boiled eggs a week so this is what works for me: agree on the idea of using less than perfectly fresh eggs. Put them in pot with cold water (no lid); bring to boil; turn off heat and put lid on. Leave for 15 minutes. Pour out water; put in cold water and a bunch of ice cubes (like 3-4 glasses worth). The key (IMO) is to bring down the temp as fast as possible. When ice is mostly melted, take one out and roll it on the counter to crack the entire shell. Should be easy from there.
You guys boil eggs for 10+ min? That’s really hard boiled eggs. I like mine a bit soft, but not running. I just drop my eggs in boiling water for 7 min, D2 likes it at 6. I then quickly run it under cold water and peel.
If you have fresh eggs, let them sit on the counter for a day or 2. We have chickens, and if we have older eggs we will use them to boil, or just buy store eggs. Regardless of where I get them, I put them out on the counter at a minimum the night before I boil them.
Obviously you can overdo this, but eggs are not refrigerated in most countries. Store eggs have had the protective layer washed off, but farm eggs haven’t. So they are safe for counter. It does rapidly decrease shelf life though, so I only do it with eggs I plan on boiling soon.