Use a mason jar: Place a hard-boiled egg in a mason jar, fill with two inches of water, and cover tightly. Swirl and shake the jar vigorously for a few seconds. VOILA! The shell will break loose in big pieces, and you're left with a perfectly peeled hard-boiled egg.
Shocking your recently boiled eggs by submerging them into a bowl of ice water is key. The quick cooling of the hard-boiled eggs causes the egg whites to contract, freeing them from the membrane. If you let them cool for about 15 minutes, the peeling is much easier.
Egg white solidifies more quickly in hot, salty water than it does in fresh. So a little salt in your water can minimize the mess if your egg springs a leak while cooking. The egg white solidifies when it hits the salt water, sealing up the crack so that the egg doesn't shoot out a streamer of white.
Why are fresh eggs so hard to peel? The fresher the eggs, the harder they are to peel. This is because the egg white or “albumen” in a fresh egg has a relatively low pH level, making it acidic. When cooked, these fresh egg whites bond strongly to the inner shell's membrane.
Shocking hard-boiled eggs — that is plummeting them into a bowl of ice water — right after boiling also makes an easier-to-peel egg. The rapid cooling of the eggs contracts the egg whites, releasing them from the egg's membrane. It also firms the egg white proteins, making them easier to peel.
All you need to do is immediately transfer your eggs to an ice bath after you boil them. This seems to sort of shock the shell and make it easier to peel. It also halts the cooking process allowing you to decide exactly how your yolks are cooked. I let my hard boiled eggs sit in the ice bath for about 10 minutes.
You might have heard that you should drop your eggs into room temperature or cold water and then bring the water to a boil. This is a myth. In our tests, bringing the water to a boil first and then lowering the eggs into the bath made for easy peeling and more accurate timing.
Add salt and vinegar to the water.
The salt permeates the shell a little bit, and the vinegar helps to break down the shells, making them easier to peel.
Keeping Hard-Boiled Eggs Fresh
For maximum freshness, leave them in their shells until you are ready to eat or prepare. The shell will help to protect the egg from bacteria, and can help prevent them from absorbing odors from other foods in your refrigerator.
Baking Soda
According to our friends at Delish, adding a teaspoon of baking soda to your boiling pot of water will help the shell peel off seamlessly. Why? The alkaline in the baking soda will help your egg whites loosen up from the shell, making it easier to peel.
-Place eggs in the bottom of a saucepan and cover with cold water. Make sure the eggs are completely submerged. -Add 1 teaspoon baking soda. -Bring to a rolling boil.
It's important to start the eggs in cold water — bringing the water and eggs up in temperature together ensures even cooking and prevents cracking. Bring the water to a rolling boil over high heat, then immediately remove the pan from the heat. Cover, and let stand for 10 minutes. Carefully pour out the hot water.
Give the eggs at least five minutes in the ice bath before you try to peel them—letting them cool may help make it easier to peel them, but it's also so you don't burn your hands.
If you boil an egg for five or 10 minutes, it becomes firm and cooked. If you boil it for hours, it becomes rubbery and overcooked.
Cover them with cool water by 1 inch. Cover the pan with a lid and bring water to a rolling boil over high heat; when the water has reached a boil, reduce heat to medium-high and set the timer for the desired time. Boil for 6 – 7 minutes over medium-high heat for perfect hard boiled eggs.
Once the water is boiling, reduce the heat to low (so that there's no bubbles) and use skimmer to gently and slowly add the eggs to the water. Then, turn the heat back up to a boil. Set a timer and cook the eggs for 6 to 7 minutes for soft-boiled eggs and 12 to 14 minutes for hard-boiled eggs.
Chef Ramsay opts to boil his eggs for four and a half minutes to keep the egg's center slightly soft. When your eggs are finished boiling, drain the water and run the eggs under cold tap water in the pot. According to Chef Ramsay, cooling the eggs as quickly as possible prevents their yolks from turning gray.
Put the pot over high heat and bring to a boil. Once the water is at a rolling boil, turn off the heat and cover the pot with the lid. Allow the eggs to sit in the hot water for the following times according to the desired doneness: 3 minutes for SOFT boiled; 6 minutes for MEDIUM boiled; 12 minutes for HARD boiled.