Sometimes, hard-boiled eggs peel like a breeze, and sometimes it’s almost impossible.
Every once in a while you boil some eggs that stubbornly refuse to peel.
We wrote a post a while back on the best way to boil an egg (see this post) and in the last paragraph we mentioned – “And the cold rinse/ice bath is definitely the key to easy peeling.”
Want them to peel easily? The first thing you should do is make sure you aren’t using the freshest eggs. Have 2 cartons of eggs in your fridge? Use the one that is older.
Now we come back to the cold rinse/ ice bath. If you never bother using an ice bath and just rinse them in cold water, you may notice that now that, in the summertime, you are starting to have trouble peeling them. That’s because in the winter the sink water is automatically colder. In the summer the sink water you are using is closer to lukewarm and is not cold enough for the eggs.
If you never usually turn to an ice bath to peel your eggs, in the summer, it might be something you have to do.
Esty says
We boil the water first and add the eggs to the boiling water They peel really easily. I cook the eggs for 25 minutes but you probably don’t need to cook them that long.
Esti says
So true!
I was just commenting last week that it was the first time in forever that my eggs weren’t peeling nicely. Now I know why.
Shaindy says
I keep 2-4 plastic cups of frozen water in my freezer at all times for this purpose.
Erev Shabbos, there’s no time to stand over the eggs cooling them off.
I simply rinse them 2-3 times after cooking and put the cups of ice (with the cups) in the egg pot.
Once the ice melts, I refill the cups for the next time.
P.S. I keep it in my ice drawer because every once in awhile there’s a cracked cup that I miss and then I’m left with a mess. But this way it’s all contained.