Hard Boiled Eggs.

[DontTreadOnMe]

Hard boiled eggs used to be so easy to do.
And they used to peel easily most of the time.

So what happened? 
Our water is weird? 
The eggs are different?

What's the secret? I'd sure appreciate it if you could share it.
Or at least a reasonable facsimile.

Use only the freshest of eggs.
Use older eggs.
Use cold water and bring eggs to a boil.
Salt the water.
Don't salt the water.
Boil for x minutes.
Turn off stove and let sit.
Run under cold water.
Use ice.
Don't use ice.

I saw one method recently that involved a lot of time and a lot of temperature changes....after all the yellow and white parts don't cook the same.


ARGHHHHH!!!!!!!!

[Raptured]

Eggs in pan with cold water
Bring to boil
Turn off heat and cover
Let sit covered for 20 minutes
Put an egg into a sealed container, like tupperware
Shake vigorously for about 30 seconds
Peel

[putnam6]

Eggs in pan with cold water
Bring to boil
Turn off heat and cover
Let sit covered for 20 minutes
Put an egg into a sealed container, like tupperware
Shake vigorously for about 30 seconds
Peel

The sealed container and shake works like a charm easy perfectly peeled eggs

as for cooking, I use a splash of ACV and most times put eggs in a pot of water turn off when it's boiling vigorously cover, and wait ten minutes for perfect hardboiled even on the grade a large eggs.

[chr0naut]

Hard boiled eggs used to be so easy to do.
And they used to peel easily most of the time.

So what happened? 
Our water is weird? 
The eggs are different?

What's the secret? I'd sure appreciate it if you could share it.
Or at least a reasonable facsimile.

Use only the freshest of eggs.
Use older eggs.
Use cold water and bring eggs to a boil.
Salt the water.
Don't salt the water.
Boil for x minutes.
Turn off stove and let sit.
Run under cold water.
Use ice.
Don't use ice.

I saw one method recently that involved a lot of time and a lot of temperature changes....after all the yellow and white parts don't cook the same.


ARGHHHHH!!!!!!!!

Article from local news:

Scientists say they've made the perfect egg - but is it?

Sounds like a lot of work, but if you are a perfectionist...

Also, says nothing about the issue of the eggshell and membrane sticking to the egg. I find that quick cooling and rapid shelling of the egg is better than letting the egg stand and adhesion to begin.

[UltraBudgie]

Eggs in pan with cold water
Bring to boil
Turn off heat and cover
Let sit covered for 20 minutes
Put an egg into a sealed container, like tupperware
Shake vigorously for about 30 seconds
Peel

This. Except:

Eggs in pan with cold water
Bring to boil
Turn off heat and cover
Let sit covered for 12 minutes
Replace water with cold water
Let soak in cold water at least 1/2 hour
Put an egg into a sealed container, like tupperware
Shake vigorously for about 30 seconds
Peel

20 minutes and they get overcooked yolks, dry with grey bits. 8 minutes for "jammy" egg yolks that will spread on bread (yum), 12 minutes for hard boiled but not over boiled.

How easy they are to peel depends on the current conjunction of the planets, modulated by background radiation levels.

Also use pasture-raised eggs, not cage free or free range. They taste less horrorshow.

[guyfriday]

I just steam my eggs for 12-15 minutes and place them in ice cold water afterwards. Shells come off pretty easy and they get cooked but not over cooked.

I do have a friend that uses an emersion cooker to cook their eggs and they come out perfect.

[Encia22]

What amazing timing, DTOM! Just yesterday I came across a newspaper article that pointed to a recent study on how to cook the perfect hard-boiled egg. When I saw your thread last night, my jaw dropped... perfect synchronicity!

Because it was in Italian, I hunted down an English equivalent for you...

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/scien...boiled-egg
 

It seems like a simple culinary task, but cooking a hard-boiled egg has caused many a furrowed brow in the kitchen and spawned a cottage industry of techniques and tips. Who among us hasn't been disappointed to crack open an egg we assumed we had cooked to perfection, only to find the insides either rock hard or distressingly liquidy?

According to a team of Italian researchers, there is a good reason why boiling the perfect egg is such a challenge: albumen (the egg white) and yolk require two different temperatures for optimal cooking. That’s around 185°F for the former and approximately 149°F for the latter.  

Writing in the journal Communications Engineering, researchers from the University of Naples Federico II claim to have discovered the method that best cooks both albumen and yolk and leads to eggs that are both more flavorful and nutritious than those cooked by other methods. The drawback? You’ll need two pots of water, a thermometer, and just over half an hour.  

The technique involves a pot of boiling water and a pot or bowl of water that is kept at approximately 86°F. The key is to place the eggs into the boiling water for two minutes, then into the cooler water for two more minutes and back into the boiling water again, the process repeating for eight full cycles, or 32 minutes.

Unfortunately, the study didn't address the peeling process, but, from my experience, the cold water bath and a shake, as other have described, always works for me.

 :beer:

[user123]

An instapot is like the miracle egg steamer.  I'm never going back to any other way.

[DontTreadOnMe]

I just steam my eggs for 12-15 minutes and place them in ice cold water afterwards. Shells come off pretty easy and they get cooked but not over cooked.

I do have a friend that uses an emersion cooker to cook their eggs and they come out perfect.

Do you use just any old steamer as would be used to steam veggies?
Never considered steaming eggs

[FlyersFan]

Found this out the hard way ...

After you boil eggs and peel them, don't put them in a microwave.

Tried to reheat boiled peeled eggs like this once ... just once ... exploded all over the microwave.