Once the eggs have cooked to your preferred time, use the skimmer to remove the eggs and immediately submerge them in the ice water bath to stop them from cooking. You'll let the eggs sit here for about 5 to 10 minutes before peeling.
Drop the eggs into boiling water. Eggs added to a pot of boiling water rather than brought to a boil along with the cold water will be easier to peel.
Here's her hack for how to peel hard-boiled eggs in large batches: Put five thoroughly cooled hard-boiled eggs into a small plastic container with some cold water, top with the lid and then gently rock and shake until the shells break and fall away. You'll almost always end up with perfectly peeled eggs.
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.
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.
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. As an egg ages, the pH level rises and the inner membrane is less likely to bond to the albumen, so the shell peels off much easier.
Apparently super fresh eggs are difficult to peel because the pH of the white is more acidic which causes it to adhere to the shell membrane more tightly. Two solutions here – use older eggs or add a little bicarb soda to the cooking water to increase the pH.
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.
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.
Boil for 6 – 7 minutes over medium-high heat for perfect hard-boiled eggs. Using a slotted spoon, transfer them to a large bowl of ice water and let them cool for a few minutes. Or you can place them under cool running water to stop the cooking.
Directions. Place your eggs in a pot and cover with cold water by 1 inch. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then cover, remove from the heat and set aside 8 to 10 minutes. Drain, cool in ice water and peel.
Place the pot over medium-high heat, without a lid, and allow it to come to a rolling boil, which is indicated by large, vigorous bubbles. Bringing the pot to a boil without a lid will slow down the heating process and reduce the likelihood of the shells cracking.
An ice bath stops the eggs from continuing to cook
And as anyone who's ever overcooked an egg (which is probably everyone) knows, it doesn't take long to go from perfectly set egg whites and beautifully yellow yolks to rubbery egg whites and a chalky green-tinged yolk with a rotten egg smell.
Follow this tip: Not only is an ice bath your ticket to stopping the cooking immediately, but it will also help separate the egg membrane from the shell, making it easier to peel.
For one to four eggs, bring the water to a rolling boil, cover the pot, and turn the heat down to its lowest setting for 12-14 minutes. For five to eight eggs, cook for 15 to 18 minutes. For nine to one dozen eggs, cook for 20 minutes. After cooking, transfer the eggs to a bowl of ice water.
Bring the water to a boil over high heat. Then, let them sit in the hot water. As soon as the water begins to boil, turn off the heat and cover the pot. Leave the eggs in the hot water for anywhere from 10-12 minutes, depending on how you like your eggs.
As soon as eggs start to boil, let boil for 10-12 minutes (I do 11 minutes). Set timer to help. Immediately remove from heat and set pot in a clean/cleared out sink. Fill with cold water and ice cubes to stop cooking.
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.