I struggled with peeling hard-boiled eggs literally all my life until I finally realized what the problem had been right along. If eggs are stored below a certain temperature, which I estimate at 38F though I have only used consumer-grade thermometers, they will not peel. And this applies both before and after cooking. Since I learned this, and adjusted my cold storage accordingly, I have had no problems, except occasionally when a batch sold through a particular retailer apparently got too cold somewhere along the supply chain. The word "freeze" is not appropriate but the egg albumen does undergo some kind of irreversible change below the threshold temperature -- and suppliers are evidently aware of this, as it is very unusual for eggs to be damaged in transit by excessive cold. But if you keep your fridge at or below 38F, you're asking for trouble.
The most important data point is whether you’re heating the water with the eggs already in the pot, or if you put them in after the water is boiling.
I found that heating them with the water in the pot always leads to the shell being stuck to the whites, and adding the eggs after the water is boiling (almost) always leads to easy peeling.
I start with refrigerated eggs and warm them in a hot tap water bath while waiting for the pot to boil. This helps to reduce cracking from thermal shock.
I live in EU so I don't keep eggs in the refrigerator, and let me tell you that
I have problems peeling my eggs half the time. It's not about where or how you store them.
After boiling them, drain the water, shake the pot so the shells crack a bit, soak in cold water for 10 min. The shells will come off easily. Same as what is done in food business.
6.5 minutes is soft boiled for a large (in US egg sizing) egg. Soft boiled eggs don't have fully set yolks or firm whites. These are the kinds of eggs you use for ramen.
If you want a fully set yolk you need more time (about 10 min or so), but that's a personal preference.
Boil your eggs by steaming them for excellent results based purely on timer and no need to use anything to cook with other than water since the temperature of steam is extremely consistent. This works very well for results ranging anywhere from barely soft-boiled to quite hard-boiled. Of course, after removing from steaming basket, you'll still need the normal cold shock techniques for removing the shell.
Steam in an unpressurized pot and boiling water are both 100 C. It seems like anything that would disturb the temperature of the boiling water would have a bigger effect on steam since the steam has less mass. What am I missing?
I just boil some water and use the steamer basket to cook them for 12 minutes then put them directly into cold icy water. Perfectly hard-boiled and easy to peel.
Glad to come across this article. I have been struggling with it. There was an expensive organic tray of eggs at Whole Foods. Those eggs would feel right off; almost always. So, is it about diet?
Tried many things like adding vinegar, salt, baking soda; not together, but changing methods during each boil. Have even tried to bring them to room temperature before boiling them but no change.
Sent a DM to Kenji, but no response. Maybe he gets a lot of them. Thanks Vess for that article, wasn’t aware about that.
While Googling for ideas, Gemini chimes in, and recommended to boil for 7 mins and then transfer the eggs into ice cold water. I knew it’d not work as 7 mins is too low. Turned out to be a mess; never again doing that thing
There’s a way to do it right for sure. As those hard boiled, peeled off eggs for sale are flawless. Even at breakfast buffets.
> brute-force method of getting perfect boiled eggs: I boiled at least three times what I needed
Also from surveying friends who work in dining. It took years for me to accept that there will always be hard boil duds. Except ramen shops, apparently a lot of them have machines.
For those who have a rice cooker, it's absolutely perfect to cook a batch of hard boiled eggs in. Getting the amount of water right takes a few tries but worst case you just have to turn it off manually.
Single best tip: The AGE of the eggs is critical to peel-ability. If you prefer boiled eggs, buy ones closer to “best by” date. it makes a huge difference!
Agree to boil the water first. Don’t try to gradually heat egg and water. Will suck.
Sous vide is also a great way to dial in your perfect temp/goey-ness (or not) if you have some time to experiment to find that.
Also, baking soda in the water helps, so I agree with the article on that. Personally 11-13 minutes is much too dry IMHO. I’m a 7-8 minute egg guy.
>You cannot put the eggs and then boil the water because that is not going to work.
Why would the author say such a thing? In any rate, doing precisely that works wonderfully for me.
>There is some amount of moisture trapped between the shell and the albumin. It prevents the sulfur and iron inside the yolk from forming iron sulfide, which is the grayish color we often see on over-boiled yolks.
Why would "moisture" at a completely different boundary, not at all in contact with the yolk, affect the outside of the yolk? Overcooking is what turns them grey.
I struggled with peeling hard-boiled eggs literally all my life until I finally realized what the problem had been right along. If eggs are stored below a certain temperature, which I estimate at 38F though I have only used consumer-grade thermometers, they will not peel. And this applies both before and after cooking. Since I learned this, and adjusted my cold storage accordingly, I have had no problems, except occasionally when a batch sold through a particular retailer apparently got too cold somewhere along the supply chain. The word "freeze" is not appropriate but the egg albumen does undergo some kind of irreversible change below the threshold temperature -- and suppliers are evidently aware of this, as it is very unusual for eggs to be damaged in transit by excessive cold. But if you keep your fridge at or below 38F, you're asking for trouble.
The most important data point is whether you’re heating the water with the eggs already in the pot, or if you put them in after the water is boiling.
I found that heating them with the water in the pot always leads to the shell being stuck to the whites, and adding the eggs after the water is boiling (almost) always leads to easy peeling.
I start with refrigerated eggs and warm them in a hot tap water bath while waiting for the pot to boil. This helps to reduce cracking from thermal shock.
I live in EU so I don't keep eggs in the refrigerator, and let me tell you that I have problems peeling my eggs half the time. It's not about where or how you store them.
This does not negate what the OP has observed, but I'd like to hear more about your peeling issue, as it could be for a different reason!
I was told new egg might have problem to peel. Eggs that have been stored for few days (without refrigeration method) are easier to peel.
just use a spoon
After boiling them, drain the water, shake the pot so the shells crack a bit, soak in cold water for 10 min. The shells will come off easily. Same as what is done in food business.
Boil older eggs, fry newer ones. The former peel more easily and the latter keep their shape.
Slightly easier in the UK/EU as we don't have to keep our eggs in the fridge.
Bring a pot of water to boiling, then once boiling put eggs in for 6.5 minutes, then put in cold water.
Will give me perfect eggs every time that look like the first image
> Bring a pot of water to boiling, then once boiling put eggs in for 6.5 minutes, then put in cold water.
I tried that a couple of weeks ago; the yolk was still liquid. It turned out to be a failed experiment. Never again.
6.5 minutes is soft boiled for a large (in US egg sizing) egg. Soft boiled eggs don't have fully set yolks or firm whites. These are the kinds of eggs you use for ramen.
If you want a fully set yolk you need more time (about 10 min or so), but that's a personal preference.
See: https://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-boil-eggs-perfectly-every-t...
If the eggs come from the fridge they need 13min for a fully cooked yoke. The key is to put the eggs in after the water is already boiling.
Are you sure your water was fully boiling? Not just little bubbles at the bottom of the pan, but the top is properly rumbling
Dont they crack when you put room temp eggs directly into boiling water
Sometimes they do but it doesn't really make a difference
Boil your eggs by steaming them for excellent results based purely on timer and no need to use anything to cook with other than water since the temperature of steam is extremely consistent. This works very well for results ranging anywhere from barely soft-boiled to quite hard-boiled. Of course, after removing from steaming basket, you'll still need the normal cold shock techniques for removing the shell.
Steam in an unpressurized pot and boiling water are both 100 C. It seems like anything that would disturb the temperature of the boiling water would have a bigger effect on steam since the steam has less mass. What am I missing?
I just boil some water and use the steamer basket to cook them for 12 minutes then put them directly into cold icy water. Perfectly hard-boiled and easy to peel.
Yup. Steaming is the way to go.
In my opinion Kenji Lopez-Alt wrote the definitive set of instructions for this: https://www.seriouseats.com/the-secrets-to-peeling-hard-boil...
I won’t summarize it here, but it’s worth a read if you like to feel very in control of your egg cooking outcomes.
That's a good article. I won't try to fully summarize either, but I'll mention two key differences from the method suggested above:
1) Kenji says to start with eggs cold.
2) Kenji says that baking soda doesn't make a difference.
Both articles agree that the water should be boiling when the eggs are put in, and that shocking them to cool helps.
Interesting that he seems less hardline on what to do here than in The Food Lab.
Personally I do the steamer pot method. It's way easier.
Glad to come across this article. I have been struggling with it. There was an expensive organic tray of eggs at Whole Foods. Those eggs would feel right off; almost always. So, is it about diet?
Tried many things like adding vinegar, salt, baking soda; not together, but changing methods during each boil. Have even tried to bring them to room temperature before boiling them but no change.
Sent a DM to Kenji, but no response. Maybe he gets a lot of them. Thanks Vess for that article, wasn’t aware about that.
While Googling for ideas, Gemini chimes in, and recommended to boil for 7 mins and then transfer the eggs into ice cold water. I knew it’d not work as 7 mins is too low. Turned out to be a mess; never again doing that thing
There’s a way to do it right for sure. As those hard boiled, peeled off eggs for sale are flawless. Even at breakfast buffets.
Yeah the budget eggs never reliably peel for me.
> 80% of the time
From classic Kenji
> There is no 100% foolproof method
> brute-force method of getting perfect boiled eggs: I boiled at least three times what I needed
Also from surveying friends who work in dining. It took years for me to accept that there will always be hard boil duds. Except ramen shops, apparently a lot of them have machines.
For those who have a rice cooker, it's absolutely perfect to cook a batch of hard boiled eggs in. Getting the amount of water right takes a few tries but worst case you just have to turn it off manually.
Incredibly relevant tweet [1] about implementing the ideas in this paper [2] on "periodic cooking of eggs."
[1] https://x.com/oldestasian/status/1897450264451293664.
[2] https://www.nature.com/articles/s44172-024-00334-w
Single best tip: The AGE of the eggs is critical to peel-ability. If you prefer boiled eggs, buy ones closer to “best by” date. it makes a huge difference! Agree to boil the water first. Don’t try to gradually heat egg and water. Will suck.
Sous vide is also a great way to dial in your perfect temp/goey-ness (or not) if you have some time to experiment to find that.
Also, baking soda in the water helps, so I agree with the article on that. Personally 11-13 minutes is much too dry IMHO. I’m a 7-8 minute egg guy.
>You cannot put the eggs and then boil the water because that is not going to work.
Why would the author say such a thing? In any rate, doing precisely that works wonderfully for me.
>There is some amount of moisture trapped between the shell and the albumin. It prevents the sulfur and iron inside the yolk from forming iron sulfide, which is the grayish color we often see on over-boiled yolks.
Why would "moisture" at a completely different boundary, not at all in contact with the yolk, affect the outside of the yolk? Overcooking is what turns them grey.
This article is absolute bullshit.