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Easy to Peel Hard Boiled Egg

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I have an unhealthy obsession with achieving the perfectly cooked, easy to peel hard boiled egg.

As a quick reminder, according to Dr. Jeff Volek, “Whole eggs contain more essential vitamins and minerals per calorie than virtually any other food.”

I can trace my fascination back to clubhouse in Arlington while a member of the 2001 Texas Rangers. Catcher Bill Haselman, utility man Frank Catalanotto and I would have egg-peeling competitions while our perplexed teammates stood around and marveled at our immaturity (or sometimes joined in). MLB locker rooms are notorious for shenanigans like these. I got pretty damn good at this act.

While I may be your not so humble champ, if I’m honest with myself, those eggs were special. Palm to the table, quick roll and you could literally pull one half of the shell from the other, exposing the stunning, whole white completely unmarred. Was it the lunch lady or man back there in the kitchen with the magic eggs? I’ll never know.

Since then, I’ve tried every method known to man and still have shells that stick, stubborn film and green yolks.

Until today, that is. I have finally discovered through decades of trial and error the formula that produces a stunningly cooked, easy to peel hard boiled egg and recorded the process so you won’t need to go through the years of heartache I’ve endured. Enjoy.

1. Toss those bad boys in a pot and blanket them with water. Make sure the water comes up about an inch over the eggs. You want to ensure they stay covered by H2O throughout the process. Cooking your eggs in cold water provides for a slower cook and fewer cracked shells. Slow down, youngster. Don’t rush the process by dropping them in already boiling water. Eggs appreciate foreplay.

2. Put the pot on high and bring the water to a powerful, rolling boil. Don’t mess around here with the little bubbles. Let the eggs cook at this heat for 2 minutes.

3. Remove the pot from the burner and let it sit, covered, for 13 minutes. If you have huge eggs (shame on you for going there in your mind), extend the time out to 15 minutes.

4. Remove the eggs from the water with a slotted spoon. Get a bowl of ice water ready.

5. The most important step to revealing your perfect egg is cracking and rolling before bathing them in the ice water. This will loosen the membrane (that pesky film) and alleviate your stress. Begin peeling the moment the eggs are cool.

6. Hot sauce; lots and lots of hot sauce.

Your homework assignment, should you choose to accept it, is to tell me how this went for you.

Respectfully,

Kap

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  • Kenny

    Hey Kap, how much of a crack before dropping the egg in the ice water?
    Thanks!

    • Gabe Kapler

      Hey Kenny, I crack and roll to let the cold water get in there. Make sure you see cracks all over the egg.

      Thanks,
      Kap

  • http://twitter.com/Raynaadi Ro♜ (@Raynaadi)

    Like you, I have worked hard to perfect my boiling and peeling techniques. Mine are very different but work just the same.

    First, I boil them the same way, at least the cold water part. I do a dozen at a time in a big pasta pot with removable colander. I cover with cold water, bring to a hard boil but immediately turn the heat down so it’s a soft boil. I was having too many cracked eggs. I leave the pot on the burner for ten minutes.

    I prepare an ice bath in the sink with refrigerated water and ice cubes, then I can just remove the colander from the pot and cool all the eggs at once. I let them sit in the cold water for 15 minutes.

    I eat two of the eggs every day for lunch. I crack the top and bottom of the egg and blow puffs of air to loosen the peel. then gently roll under my palm and 9 times out of 10 they peel easily and quickly.

    Hmmm, egg addicts are we? ;)

    • Gabe Kapler

      Love it, Ro. Good stuff. Thanks for the input.

      Kap

  • Janinne

    The timing on this couldn’t have been better. I was just trying to find out the best way to do this because my last batch was less than stellar. I will implement your method and report back. Thanks!

    • Gabe Kapler

      Thanks, Janinne. Appreciate whatever you post.

  • Brian

    I will also add that the peeling becomes significantly easier/more fluid with eggs that are 7-10 days old. If you use eggs that are brand new, easy peeling is difficult to achieve.

    With fresh eggs, a higher concentration of carbon dioxide can be found in the egg. This causes the membrane around the egg to be rather acidic, and the keratin in the membrane adheres tightly to the egg in the acidic conditions.

    Over time, the CO2 exits through the tiny pores in the shell, and the membrane becomes alkaline (a higher pH), reducing the affinity for membrane adherence to the egg.

    An easy visual test for you is to make note of how cloudy the egg whites are when cooking new vs old eggs. That cloudiness is caused by the carbon dioxide gas still trapped in egg.

    A final note of caution: if you buy your eggs straight from a farmers market, the cuticle of the shells may not be washed off. This cuticle prevents the exit of the CO2 gas, so peeling can be a little more difficult. Same can be said for grocery stores who get their eggs from a supplier who sprays the eggs with an oily mineral coating. If the eggs have a shiny surface, they were likely sprayed and, thus, peeling won’t be very enjoyable.

    So how does one determine how old the egg is? A little math will do the trick: there is a Julian date on the egg carton (ex. 001). This three digit number corresponds to the numbered day of the year. My egg carton currently reads 026 (Jan 26th), so since today is Feb 4th (035 in Julian), I can be confident my eggs will peel well at 9 days old.

    Sorry for the length, Gabe - but I had done this research previously and found it interesting and rather effective at improving the ease of egg peeling.

    • Gabe Kapler

      C’mon! This is gold. Thanks for sharing.

  • brady anderdon

    please can somebody respond

    My wife banned me from Boiling eggs because they stink up the house I don’t really notice it but it makes her sick just about every batch I cook the shell sticks to the white and I can only eat the yolks. What am I doing wrong?

    • Gabe Kapler

      Well, your first mistake was not sharing all the good jokes that followed in the convo with your wife. Ask her for one more chance and follow my instructions exactly. I’m guessing no more issues.

      Kap

  • BD

    @Kap - It looks like you’re making a TON of eggs at once. How long are the eggs good for once they’re cooked?

    • Gabe Kapler

      I’ll eat those as snacks for a week or so. If they taste good, I eat them. Let me know how it goes for you.

  • Peter

    I have found that if you add salt to the water the eggs are easier to peel. Osmotic pressure or something like that. Lots of salt, until it is about like sea water.

  • http://twitter.com/Raynaadi Ro♜ (@Raynaadi)

    I had forgotten the bit about not using fresh eggs, like Brian said. I buy eggs on Sundays but I don’t boil them until the following Sunday. I recently boiled two dozen at once but then wondered how long they were good for so I hit google and they’re only good for about a week since the boiling kills the protective coating on the shell. Unboiled eggs are good for a few weeks.

    I notice a sulphur smell in my fridge a day or so after boiling, but I haven’t noticed the whole house smelling so not sure what to tell you. Light a match? ;)

  • Chris

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  • http://twitter.com/chrisadams_i Chris Adams (@chrisadams_i)

    I tried it this morning - other than getting a little overzealous on the cracking and rolling causing me to tear an egg in half…it really worked well and the yolks were a brilliant yellow. Thanks for the tip Gabe!

  • Jack Davis

    Just made a pot of eggs. The ice water trick seemed to work well. They popped right out. The wife was amazed when I peeled 8 eggs in about two minutes

    Our teenage son has given up beef pork and chicken. He’s wanting to eat more eggs to be sure he gets enough protein.

  • B W

    do you crack/roll/peel then refrigerate or do you crack/roll then refrigerate and peel when you are ready to eat?