Community Pick
Kittencal's Technique for Perfect Easy-Peel Hard-Boiled Eggs
photo by limeandspoontt
- Ready In:
- 17mins
- Ingredients:
- 5
- Serves:
-
6
ingredients
- 6 large eggs (or you may increase)
- 2 teaspoons white vinegar
- 1 pinch salt
- water, to cover
- 3 cups ice cubes (or use as much as desired)
directions
- Place the eggs in a saucepan.
- Cover the eggs with lukewarm water.
- Add in vinegar and pinch salt.
- Bring to a full boil over medium heat; boil for 2 minutes (start timing after the water reaches a full boil).
- Remove from heat cover with a tight lid.
- Allow the eggs to stand for 11 minutes.
- Drain the eggs a couple times under very cold water.
- Cover the eggs with cold water then add in some ice.
- Allow the eggs to sit in ice water for about 3 minutes.
- Drain and peel.
Reviews
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I've been using this method for years for perfect creamy yellow (no sulfer green) hard-boiled eggs! If I am making deviled eggs, I do stir them every few seconds (GENTLY!!) for getting the yolk pretty much directly in the middle. (Just for looks). I don't know what the addition of vinegar does to help, but I always add it and have good luck! Always remember, the fresher the eggs, the harder to peel. I learned that when we kept chickens. So if Easter is coming or you're just planning on making devied eggs or egg salad, buy them well in advance, the dang things keep for a while! Also, whenever you're looking for a specific recipe, check to see if Kitten has one. There are some great chefs here on Zaar, and she's one of the best!
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Tweaks
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Reviews of hard boiled egg recipes are always mixed, with most rating them either excellent or terrible and very few in between. Assuming everybody is following the recipe carefully, I think the reason for this is that the recipes never control the water acidity well enough. Vinegar works by making your water acidic. Acid dissolves calcium carbonate from the eggshell, which makes it softer and more flexible. That means you don't need to use as much force when pulling the shell off, so it's less likely you'll tear the white before the membrane lets go. The more acidic the water is, the faster it softens the shell. Municipal tap water generally has a pH from 6.5 (a tiny bit acidic) to 8.5 (slightly alkaline), and varies from city to city or even seasonally. Well water is usually quite alkaline. When you add vinegar (acid) to alkaline water, it goes toward neutralizing the water first; only if there's more acid than alkaline will it tip the pH into the acid range where shell softening can occur. So depending on how alkaline your water is, you may need more vinegar before it has any effect at all. And of course, the more water you use, the more vinegar you need. If you don't want to stink up the kitchen by adding more vinegar, you can use different water instead. Distilled water should be very nearly neutral, meaning all your vinegar will go toward softening the shell. Unfortunately, water from a home filtration system is unpredictable; it depends on the adsorbent used and how long since it was cleaned or changed. Most commercially bottled water is acidic to start with, which means you can use LESS vinegar (but also means it's LESS healthy than municipal water if you drink it frequently). It's been claimed that baking soda can also make eggs easier to peel because it weakens the bond between the membrane and the white. I haven't tried that, but it might work. Still, don't add both vinegar and baking soda because you think their effects will combine to make super-easy peeling: Baking soda makes the water more alkaline, so the effects will mostly cancel each other out.
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I tried the vinegar and salt today. But I put the eggs in cold water and waiting for it to boil. Once it boiled I turned it off and kept it covered for 20 minutes. After that I poured out the hot water and put in cold water. Left them for 20 minutes in cold water. I peeled 36 eggs ( I was making an egg salad for friends ) in about 3 minutes. I have never peeled eggs so easy ever.
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I altered this method. First, I set the eggs in hot tap water and let them sit until the water in the sauce pan comes to a boil. The next change I made is to allow the eggs to sit covered for 12 minutes instead of 11 minutes after removing the pan from the flame. Last change I made is to allow the eggs to sit in ice water for 5 minutes instead of 3 minutes.
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