Why am I having trouble peeling a boiled egg?

Question

I have been trying to perfect deviled eggs lately. I just can't seem to get the egg shells to come off without talking part of the egg with it. I'd like for the eggs to look nice, but they end up having bits missing everywhere! Is there something that I am doing wrong? I am currently using free range chicken eggs. I wonder if perhaps the shells are different than ordinary eggs. Any helpful tips??

Answer 1

Adding a dash of salt or vinegar in the boiling water helps with getting the peel off easily. You can also take the egg and gently roll it on the counter, using the palm of your hand, so the shell is cracked all the way around, and it should peel right off at the membrane.

Answer 2

What a coincidence - I just boiled some eggs for potato salad tomorrow. I love deviled eggs too. I've had good luck with this method:

Put the eggs into a saucepan, then cover with water and add a little vinegar.

Cover, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer for 10 minutes.

Remove pan from heat, and let it sit for one minute. Then pour out as much of the hot water as you can, and run cold into the pan. The cold water will warm up, so you'll have to repeat this step a couple of times. You could also put a bunch of ice cubes into the pan to cool it.

Then roll the eggs, one at a time, on the counter to just crack the shell. Remove the shell under slowly running water.

One common error is that you do NOT want to let the eggs sit in the water, or in the refrigerator, for a long time. That makes peeling them much harder.

And if you've never put a finely diced jalapeno into your deviled eggs, do give that a try!

Answer 3

I had the SAME problem and also posted a question. I'm at a higher altitude now so I found from my answers that I needed to boil the eggs a little longer, starting with cold water and bringing it to boil with the eggs in it. Adding a little salt to the water helps. Then after boiling a few minutes longer and using "not as fresh" eggs, I was told to immerse the eggs in ice cold water to cool and then peel under cool water. Worked much better. Still had one that stuck, but maybe it was a fresher egg! LOL! These boiled eggs can be so frustrating!

Answer 4

I agree with DaveC. The free range eggs have a higher protein because the chickens eat alot of bugs. The albumen produced causes the membrane to hold tighter. What you can try is to place the eggs in cold salted water them bring to a boil. Cook longer than usual and then place in an iced water bath till completely cold. When ready to open, crack the top and bottom of the oval portion on the counter then slightly tap around the sides. The air pocket at the "top" will more than likely cause the higher protein albumen to peel down like paper instead of ripping around the whole side of the egg.
Good luck.

Answer 5

When your done immediately get the eggs under cold running water, the sudden temp change will cause the hard boiled eggs to shrink a little. Also peel the eggs under running water, let the flowing water help pull the shell away.

Answer 6

Boil your eggs and let them sit in some cold water for about 20 min and your egg shells should come off perfectly. I turn my egg side ways roll it across the counter to help crack the shell evenly then runn it under cold watter while peeling it. It sounds weird but it really works! I always have perfect looking deviled eggs!

Answer 7

The irony here is that the fresher the egg, the greater the chance for the shells to stick.

The only tip I have is to roll the egg back and forth a few times on a hard surface so the shell breaks into little pieces which makes it easier to peel.

Answer 8

Sometimes it depends on how long you cook the eggs, personally I prefer a good 7 minute egg.

Also, if you don't let the eggs cool, peeling them will be a pain.

You can speed up the cooling process by using lukewarm water on the eggs or leaving them in the fridge for a bit.

Answer 9

all of the things the other people said are true...but what will really help is when you pore the water off put the lid back on and shake them in the pot and run cold water over them, then peeling them in cold water while warm. I was raised on farm eggs and always had a hard time peeling them. One more trick, put some in the back of the of the refrig and leave them for the boiled eggs.

Answer 10

I just read through the answers, and decided I should post. after you boil the eggs, you want to run them under cold water, that's true, but you still want the eggs warm, as they are much easier to peel when still warm. the larger end of the egg contains an air pocket, you want to crack the egg right on the end, on this air pocket, and peel under a trickle of running water. This is definitely the easiest way.