What's the best cooking method for hard boiled eggs?

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Peeling boiled eggs is an awful kitchen task when it goes wrong, and a satisfying one when it goes right.

Today, I want to answer the question. what is the best way to hard boil eggs for easy peeling?
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Eggs
Hard-boiled eggs
peeling eggs
how to peel
peeling hard-boiled egg
steamed eggs

[connorkenway]

Seeing you put some much effort only to get under 2k views but you still kept going. Makes me so happy to see there's now a 100k subs and nearly 80k ot them in one week.

[PbFoot]

nice experiment. if its true about an ice bath making eggs harder to peel (although that has not been the case for me), the point of the ice bath is to halt the cooking. whether or not the shock of the cold water causes the whites to contract and separate from the shell easier, that would be a secondary benefit. by far the one factor thats affected the ease of peeling eggs in my professional cooking career has been the age of the eggs. and although i have been steaming eggs in recent history, thats only a matter of convenience and conservation since my restaurant has a rational oven and it doesnt require setting up a pot of water that will get dumped after the eggs are cooked (california is always in a drought).
there is one method you did not try. eggs in cold water, bring to boil, turn off heat and cover, let sit for 10 minutes, ice bath. this method has never failed me to produce consistently perfect boiled eggs.
its too bad you didnt cut into all the eggs you cooked on camera. it would have been interesting to see what the yolks looked like for each of those methods, provided you cooked all of them for the same 12 minutes.

[allenzhu]

If you have an Instant Pot, then steaming your eggs using Manual (High Pressure) for 1 minute makes them peel super easy. Works like a charm!

[joeyrektor]

I came over from tic tok.
As a pro chef for...ever!!...tons of salt or baking soda help with release by chemical reaction with the calcium of the shell. Fresh vs too old is critical too. Fresh eggs are really tough to shell.
A good hack, but only if hard boiled, is a small Mason jar half full of water and shaken helps with getting the shell off easily.

[shermanhofacker]

Pressure cooker set for rice with time adjusted to 3 minutes. Put eggs into steamer basket directly from the refer over cold water. Relieve pressure as soon as time is up, then put them into cold water and peel easily no matter how new or old.

[diverdon]

I just used a method from Youtube for the first time. You tap the larger end of the egg on a counter until a small dimple forms on the end of the egg. Then immerse in boiling water, let the water return to a boil, then turn off and cover for 12 minutes. Cool in ice only until cool. I peeled 31 perfect eggs....and these were Costco organic eggs, which are the hardest to peel with the toughest membrane I've ever seen.

[josephwirth]

Awesome video ethan. i went and got the eggs from the farmer. started them in cold. 5 minutes to a boil. Put warmer than warm water in a bowl put the eggs in the warmer than warm water after they boiled. run the tap warm like the bowl . Tap a line around the egg while its still warm in the bowl test the temp. dont wanna burn your hand, use the water like a drum, tap the egg with the water when you feel its not removing that stuck shell. dont hold the egg under the running water. DO NOT CHANGE THE TEMP OF THE EGG TO FAST. The shell of the egg is seperate from the inside. Changing the temperature of the shell to fast will cause it to stick. Excellent video Ethan. You have some of the best videos on youtube.

[stephenraatz]

Thank you for the test. I eat 2-3 soft boiled organic eggs every morning for breakfast. I do the boil water first method. I also find it easier to peel eggs, boiled or soft, when they are peeled immediately after cooking. I always make sure I start peeling at the end that appears a little larger and hit them with a large spoon all over to get them nice and cracked. When starting I try to find the membrane and include as much of it when peeling. When I get under the membrane just right, often I can easily peel the entire shell off in one piece.

[branflakee]

I also add a small splash of vegetable oil into the boiling water and I get an easy peel every time

[manpaulhart]

Okay, so the best method is to put eggs in boiling or steaming water let cook for 12? minutes then peel when they are warm? My question would also be what temperature should the eggs be before you heat them? Dan

[dannykapz]

This episode is very Alton Brownesque, and I'm not mad about it at all.

[jessicacarter]

Found you on TikTok and love your videos! Thank you 😘

[joogergo]

You should also try piercing the bottom of the egg, where the gas pocket is. If you pierce it only on a single point, some boiling water can get inside the egg and force the membrane away from the white. It is a technique the Japanese use for their ramen soft boiled eggs and it made a world of difference for me with the already boiling water combined, most of my eggs come out perfect maybe aside from me breaking the shells a bit too forcefully and tearing the white around the yolk about 1/8 eggs, but that's the force applied, not the cooking method.

[charleschapman]

I've made thousands of HB eggs and start with room temp water and cover eggs by about 3/4 of a inch with water and add a tablespoon of salt and wait until rolling boil then boil for one minute, remove from heat, cover and let stand for 12 minutes then give cold water bath until they are slightly warm and start peeling. I leave the eggs submerged in the same pot with a small stream of luke warm water coming out of the faucet, crack on all sides and crack the big end pulling the big end off first and letting some water get under the shell and peel. On larger eggs you can sometimes squeeze the egg once it's half way peeled and get the whole other half of the shell to come off in one piece. Once peeled I place the egg on a paper towel on a plate, after all are peeled I use another paper towel to dry off the tops, you can roll the eggs under the paper towel to get all sides dry, place into a container and refrigerate. Clean up is easy because all the shells are still in the pot of water, I reach in and crack all the shells into small pieces, drain the pot against the side of the sink and use the paper towels that you used to dry off the eggs to grab the shells and wipe the pot clean. The yoke is still creamy, not dry ! If you prefer a yoke with a center that's still a little creamier just sit covered for 10 minutes.
My main reason for commenting is, you didn't do a ice bath or a cool water bath.

[jcornish]

I have heard and have tried starting out by bring my eggs to room temperature first before boiling or steaming and that seems to also help compared to taking them straight out of the fridge.

[LanceHKW]

I rarely comment on cooking videos but this was a greatly informative video! Thank you.

[makeminefreedom]

When I drop a cold egg into boiling water sometimes it cracks and when I remove it the shell tears the egg. Putting a cold egg in cold water and heating slowly seems to work best for me.

[melsyoutube]

i can’t believe this doesn't have more views

[Cloppa]

I've been starting in cold water so will start now in boiling and see if I get any improvement.
I still think peeling in cold water is best. Ice water is not necessary.

[lindsnix]

This was helpful. I’d love to see the experiment cooked in baking soda, in salt, or vinegar. Ive heard any of those helps. Ps> I’ve been making your baked fries after cooking in salted water. Life changing. Never getting McDonald’s again. 🍟 😋