Hard-Boiled Eggs Without Peeling

Yesterday I checked at LewRockwell.com and saw a link for the article: The Food Lab: The Hard Truth About Boiled Eggs.

At the end of the article is included this video and list of instructions:

Instructions:

1. Cover the eggs with water and boil on low for about 12 minutes.
   
2. Cool the eggs by placing them in cold water with one teaspoon of baking soda and ice. The baking soda raises the pH level and reduces adherence. If you choose not to use baking soda, be sure to move the eggs into cold water with plenty of ice immediately after boiling.
   
3. Crack the top of the egg and remove a small piece.
   
4. Crack the bottom (wide end) of the egg and remove a small piece.
   
5. Hold the egg in your hand and blow vigorously into the narrow end of the egg, which will expel it out the wide end.

Since it has been raining and keeping me from working outdoors, and since this was an exciting discovery, I had to give it a try.  So I started small, with only 8 eggs.  It worked wonderfully.

However, I had not noticed the list of instructions, having only viewed the video, so I thought that the baking soda was to be added to the boiling water.  This worked just as well.

Also, I used a large bowl with tap water to cool the eggs rather than wasting ice cubes.  I simply lifted the eggs from the hot water using a spoon and gently added them to the cool water.  After a brief period of cooling, I gave it a try and it worked to my delight.

A word of caution should be noted, however.  In steps 3 and 4 one should be careful not to make the openings too large as this weakens the integrity of the shell so that it shatters and peeling becomes necessary.  But if the opening on the small end of the egg is just enough to allow blowing air into the egg and the opening in the larger end is just as wide as is easily peeled away after gently cracking the shell on that end, it works beautifully.

Ploop!  Out slides the egg into the hand waiting to catch it.

Then a gentle rinse and any remaining shell fragments wash away down into the sink.



Only six eggs ... I couldn't wait and had two for brunch.

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Thursday, June 12, 2014

Today, upon my wife challenging the necessity of adding baking soda, I tried some without the baking soda.

It seems that she was right.  The process seems to work very well using plain water both for the boiling of the eggs and for cooling them.

I suspect that letting them cool only enough not to burn my lips is a good procedure, as the eggs are more pliable when still warm, and easier to expel from the shells.

So I made a total of 18 today.  Each one slid out beautifully without actually peeling them.

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