Shelling hardboiled eggs!

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Jovin

Senior Cook
Joined
Dec 17, 2003
Messages
334
Location
Niagara Falls, Ontario
Come on! There has GOT to be a secret as to how you get the darned shells off of the hardboiled eggs without taking half an hour each, or half of the egg itself!
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I am so darned agitated with this problem. I have times when they come off so easily and clean and others when I just shove the darn half-shelled egg back in the fridge and wait till I can cool off enough to try it
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I do my eggs the way an old neighbour told me years ago. For really tender eggs she said that you put them in cold water and bring them to a boil and then take them off the stove and let them sit for 20 minutes. After that you run cold water over them for abit and then leave them sit in it for awhile.
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I'm happy with these eggs the way they turn out, but have a problem from time to time shelling them.
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HELP!
Jovin
 
Ah! A :?: I have an answer for!

It has to do with the age of your eggs. Older eggs peel much more easily than very fresh ones because the membrane around the white shrinks some. Keep your eggs at least a week before hard-boiling and you should have better luck. Of course it becomes very clear that not all the eggs in a carton are the same age! :? because some will peel easily but not others.

Another tip I've seen is to put a rubber band around the carton and store the egg carton on it's side. That will center your yokes better.

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Lindatooo's advice was good. As far as getting the shells off, the easiest way I have found is to tap each end on the counter or cutting board. Then roll the egg between the counter and your palm. You should hear it cracking all over. Then peel it under cold running water.

:) Barbara
 
Hi Barbara,

That's basically what I do, but somewhere I read that you should start peeling at the rounded (larger) end. I always do, but I hate trying to get the shells off!
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I don't always have alot of trouble, but the times when I do, I feel like there has got to be a secret that has been well kept by someone, somewhere!
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It's so irritating!

Thanks for the advice.
Jovin
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After cooking the eggs... immediatly throw them in very cold water.
Wait 2-5 minutes and peel. Because of the temp difference the eggs (inside) will shrink. And the goo (yes.. I know, Im very technical) will harden a bit, making it easier to rip off more shell at a time. ;)
 
Deadly Sushi said:
After cooking the eggs... immediatly throw them in very cold water.
Wait 2-5 minutes and peel. Because of the temp difference the eggs (inside) will shrink. And the goo (yes.. I know, Im very technical) will harden a bit, making it easier to rip off more shell at a time. ;)

I do immerse them in cold running water..letting it run over them for awhile and then let them sit in it. I still have trouble some of the time though.
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Maybe it's just me, or maybe the eggs are old?
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Jovin
 
Deadly Sushi said:
Put them in a POT of very cold water.... not just under running water. ;)

I DO put them in a pot of very cold water, after letting cold water run over them for awhile.

Jovin
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Wonderwoman I am NOT!
 
Jovin it's the opposite problem...your eggs are too new not too old...try keeping them a week. It will help..promise!
 
lindatooo said:
Jovin it's the opposite problem...your eggs are too new not too old...try keeping them a week. It will help..promise!

Do you mean to say that when I bought them at the grocery store the other day that some chickie had just got off that egg before I went into the store?
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Wow! It's hard to believe that you can actually buy eggs that are THAT fresh!
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Well thanks for that info, and I'm passing it on to my cousin who hasn't had any answers for me either on that subject.
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Jovin (It's after 3am now, so I'm getting a little silly!)
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Jovin, here's what I do--------Bring eggs to a boil-------cover pot and turn off stove--------let stand for 5 min.---------take pot to sink and carefully drain water-------then cover pot and give it a shake to crack the shells-------and voila----shelled eggs......Linaka
 
Well, listen Linaka, if this is the Hawaiian way of doing it, I'M DOING IT! It's the closest I'll get to anything Hawaiian.
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Thanks,
Jovin... in the OTHER tourist place!
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Linaka said:
Jovin, here's what I do--------Bring eggs to a boil-------cover pot and turn off stove--------let stand for 5 min.---------take pot to sink and carefully drain water-------then cover pot and give it a shake to crack the shells-------and voila----shelled eggs......Linaka

Questions: Do you start with the eggs already in the pot in cold water, and then bring them to a boil?
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Do you put salt in the water too?
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Jovin (who never tires of asking questions)
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I put them in cold water and bring to A boil, then turn off heat and cover. It has to do with bringing the temp of the whole egg up. You could imagine dropping A cold egg into boiling water- the outside would cook and get rubbery, while the inside is soft. I use alot of salt in the water also- not really sure if this works, but I just add some :?: Some people swear by using cooking oil in the water. As stated previously, after there done and drained, shake em in the pan to crack, then emerse into very chilly water. I think the cold water can get underneath the shell to make for easy peeling. This seems to work the best from my experiment's when my 2 kids and I went thru the "hard boiled egg addiction-after school- every day for A snack" period awhile ago.
A little salt & pepper, and A splash of Tabasco!!mmmm.
Jovin, I learned the smilie thing!
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Well, MJ...I guess I was doing things pretty much the right way...putting them in cold water, sometimes with salt, and then bringing to a boil, taking off the stove and letting sit for 20 min. for tender hard cooked eggs (I was told) and then rinsing for a minute or so with cold running water, and then leaving them sit in cold water for awhile.
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The only thing is lots of times I don't shell them right away, but put them in the fridge for use later. Is this my problem?
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Jovin
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I'm not sure Jovin. I crack em' in cold water, dry them, and put them back in the carton, for later use also.
I do know that fresh eggs are A pain! I check the experation date and wait at least A week before boiling. This is the bigest factor for getting the shell off with ease that I noticed.

Maybe you could buy that egg-stractor thing on those infomercials! You just slam the top of that thing and A perfect hard-boiled egg shoots out.
seems to good to be true. I've heard it works badly though.

http://www.iseenontv.com/

Have A GREAT day
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MJ said:
I'm not sure Jovin. I crack em' in cold water, dry them, and put them back in the carton, for later use also.

Gosh, that's different. Never heard of anyone doing that before. After such loving care as that, how can you eat them?
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I check the experation date and wait at least A week before boiling. This is the bigest factor for getting the shell off with ease that I noticed.

Do you mean that you actually wait till a week AFTER the expiration date, before you use them?
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Maybe you could buy that egg-stractor thing on those infomercials! You just slam the top of that thing and A perfect hard-boiled egg shoots out.

I've never seen that...must be missing something, I guess.
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(I just checked it out...neato!)

Jovin
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I should have been more specific :? I check the experation date to make sure I don't go past it, if I wait A week to cook my eggs. People always check the eggs at my grocery store to see if the eggs are cracked, but I never see them check the date.

I crack my hard-boiled eggs under water and put them back in the fridge with the shell still on. A farmer down the road sells fresh eggs (the best for cookin-not boiling) for 75 cents A dozen. Darn good and fresh- same day eggs
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MJ said:
I should have been more specific :? I check the experation date to make sure I don't go past it, if I wait A week to cook my eggs. People always check the eggs at my grocery store to see if the eggs are cracked, but I never see them check the date.

That's the first thing I check..the date..then to see if any are cracked.

I crack my hard-boiled eggs under water and put them back in the fridge with the shell still on.

Well that's interesting...guess I'll try some of these hints...thanks alot.

Jovin
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