My family loves hard boiled eggs. They would eat as many as I could make each week. Unfortunately for them I don’t make them weekly, or even monthly, because no matter what I try it always seems like they end up to be such a hard process. Cooking the eggs is simple, easy, great. Then it comes to peeling them. Headache, nightmare, pain-in-my-behind. I have Google searched tried different processes and just never seem to find anything that works for me. When I came across a pin on Pinterest about the Easiest Hard Boiled Eggs I HAD to give it a try. I followed the instructions to a T.
- I filled my pot with water to and added a hefty pinch of baking soda. I added my eggs, which were a week old and bought at Publix (people say older eggs peel more easily.) Then, I turned the heat on the burner to high.
- I waited for the eggs to come to a rolling boil. In reading the comments on the post many people complained that their eggs were soft boiled instead of hard boiled and there was great discussion on bringing the water to a rolling boil. You can see below the difference between starting to boil and a rolling boil. Mine was definitely a rolling boil as instructed.
- After the water reached a rolling boil I removed it from the heat and set the timer for 15 min.
- I then poured off the hot water, added cold water to cover the eggs and packed a ton of ice into it until it wasn’t melting away. No pictures for this step since the power then went out and the kitchen was dark! I am so glad I finished the boiling before that happened!
- After waiting about 15 minutes the water was icy cold and I poured it off again and started the bumping process. This was where the exciting magic was all supposed to happen but wah-wah-wah no magic took place in my pot. I was instructed to put on the lid and shake the eggs around the shells would just fall off. I tried to balance the process bouncing them around enough to crack them but not shaking them enough to open the pot to deviled eggs. As you can see VERY little shell came off. I bumped a bit harder, and then even more, same results. To me this was no different than just rolling the egg on the counter to break up the shell.
All in all I ended up peeling the eggs in the sink. About 95% of the peel was still on the egg. Major disappointment. All was not lost though. I do think the eggs were easier to peel than normal but I ended up with some spectacularly ugly eggs that only a mother could love. Also, I did not have any issues with the eggs being cooked all the way through and true hard boiled eggs like some had commented. In the end I think that my family will continue their hard boiled egg deprivation… at least until the next tutorial pops up!
How much did I like this project? I loved the idea. I hated the result!
Unexpected Happenings? The eggs didn’t shed their shells during “bumping” and they ended up to be UG-LAY!
Overall Rating 1-5: 2
Sharon Green says
I’ve read once very similar instructions and the results were supposed to make the eggs peel very easily, not that they should get peeled on their own through bumping the pot.Is that what you thought would happen or you thought the shell would come off on its own?
Kimber says
Thanks for the comment Sharon. In the original instructions from the pin she used the “bumping process” after rapidly cooling the eggs and said most of the shells would come off on their own from the bumping in the pot. As you can see this wasn’t the case for me. Although the eggs did peel easier than some, I had problems with the egg being stuck to the shell and lost a lot of the whites. I might try a few tweaks to the method and try it again as I really, really wanted this to work!
Melanie a/k/a CrazyMom says
You know.. I always use COLD water over the eggs for a minute or two and my shell comes right off; never had an issue and it really gives you nice clean eggs… sooo odd that you are having problems*but then never heard all these steps to go through to peel an egg…smile*…. but loved reading about your experiment and love how you showed the step by step. I also after I run the cold water over the eggs, hit each side on the counter and it really comes off super easy, almost all the peel at once…:-) Good luck and I can’t wait to hear more about your egg adventures…..
Kimber says
I am so glad you enjoyed the post and thank you for your tips! I am wanting to do another batch and try out some modifications of this method. In the past when I hard boil eggs I tend to get lazy after I take them off the heat and just let them cool over hours to room temperature which is why I think they are always so hard to peel. I will have to try running them under cold water next time.
Annan says
Not that it helps with peeling but if you want to make a large number of hard boiled eggs for say egg salad. I recommend baking them. Put eggs in muffin tin. 325 for 30 min. Cold water after and done. You probably know that trick but I learned it at Easter. It’s awesome.
Kimber says
Annan, thank you so much for stopping by and looking around! I have seen that pin and wondered if it worked! I figured I would get around to testing it one of these days! How do the eggs peel after you bake them? Easy or Hard?
Ella says
An older lady told me this trick, bring water to boil then put the egg in a tablespoon and slip it into the water, do all eggs that way then turn off heat cover pot and leave for 15 to 20 min. depending on how you like your eggs and the shell always peels off, of course you drain off the hot and put on some cold before peeling. I tried this and it worked and I really don’t know why, you might give one or two a try sometime and see if it works for you.
You have the best website of info I have ever seen. Keep up the good work. Ella
Kimber says
Wow Ella! Your comment brought the biggest smile to my face. Thank you for taking the time to tell us that. I will definitely have to try your tip. It sounds like a fun new experiment and hopefully I will find the perfect way yet!
Nicky says
I have found that for me the best way to get hard cooked eggs is to bake them. You can put the eggs directly on the rack with foil on the lower rack or use a muffin tin to hold the eggs. Don’t preheat, put eggs in cold oven and then bake on 325 for about 35 min(depending on oven). When done put in bowl of ice cold water for about 10-15 min. I have found that for the most part it is so much easier to peal this way.
Good Luck