by Texas Homesteader ~
I stumbled upon this handy trick of peeling a hard-boiled egg in just seconds using a jar and water. Yes it works, I even included a video as proof. Check out this fun kitchen hack.
Eggs Are A Healthy Natural Snack
RancherMan & I have several free-range hens and they provide us with an ample supply of fresh healthy eggs.
I like to boil up a whole pot of them at a time and keep ’em in the fridge for a high-protein snack for him to grab-n-eat when he’s hungry. But he really likes the convenience of having them already peeled when he reaches for them.
Instant Pot ‘Boiled Eggs’ WITHOUT The Shell
Hey, I’m a happy girl that RancherMan’s eating something provided right here from our homestead instead of reaching for sugary or salty snacks. So I’m very willing to make it as convenient as possible for him.
When I’m making eggs for RancherMan’s snacking, I most often make Instant Pot Boiled Eggs WITHOUT The Shell.
Then I just have to separate the eggs and place them in a covered bowl. I’ll keep them in the refrigerator for RancherMan’s grab-n-go snacking convenience.
Cooking Hard-Boiled Eggs On The Stovetop
But sometimes you need an actual egg-shaped boiled egg. Such times as when you’re making Deviled Eggs, for instance.
Luckily there’s an easy way for me to cook and peel hard boiled eggs easily.
I first take the eggs out of the refrigerator for about 30 minutes. Then boil enough water to cover the eggs in a large saucepan.
Once it begins to boil I’ll lower the room-temperature eggs into the boiling water. I’ve read that this ‘shocks’ the eggs enough to make them easier to peel. An old wives’ tale or not? I’m not sure. But I always do it just in case!
Then I let the water come back to a boil and cook the eggs for 3 minutes.
After that 3 minutes is up I’ll turn off the heat, cover the pot and allow the eggs to stay in the hot water for 10 minutes more.
Why I Boil, Cover & Rest My Boiled Eggs
It seems everyone has a favored way to boil their eggs. So you might wonder why I’m boiling them for 3 minutes and then resting them further in the covered pot in the hot water for another 10 minutes?
The answer is simple. I’m just using the residual heat. It saves us on cooking fuel to allow the eggs to continue to cook in water I’ve already heated to boiling instead of allowing them to boil a tiny fraction shorter time and then pour out the boiling water.
But whatever method you like to use to boil eggs, just make sure they’re hard boiled and not medium or soft boiled. You’re gonna need those boiled eggs to be able to withstand a beating here in a minute! Soft boiled won’t stand a chance. LOL
Draining & Cooling Hard-Boiled Eggs
Now that the eggs have stayed in a covered pan in hot water for 10 additional minutes, I strain out the water by pouring water and eggs into a colander.
Then I allow the boiled eggs to cool completely. Oftentimes I even leave them in the colander after they’ve cooled and stick the whole thing in the fridge overnight to chill.
Kitchen Hack For Easily Peeling Boiled Eggs
But when I’m ready to peel a bunch of eggs for my handsome RancherMan I can pull out the chilled eggs and drop one into an empty glass jar. The chilling helps to make sure the cooked egg is solid as it can be.
Then I add water to just below the height of the egg in the jar, then place my hand over the mouth of the jar and shake as vigorously as I can for about 5 seconds.
The egg then peels super-easily. Sometimes the shell is even floating around in the water by itself leaving my egg completely peeled without me touching it again!
Wanna see this coolage in action? Well the proof is in the pudding, as they say.
Check out this video…
Hey, anything that makes my time spent in the kitchen quicker is a winner in my book, no??
I will say it helps if your eggs are hard boiled and not soft boiled. You want a good, firm white to take this kind of abuse!
It also helps if you’ve popped the cooked eggs in the fridge for awhile after you boil them to get them good and cold. A cold, cooked white is a little more durable during the shaking.
But this always works beautifully for me. Give it a try and let me know what you think!
~TxH~
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Nice little Hack ~TxH~
Pinned it to Just Hacks board.
Good little video as well …
Thanks Greg, it’s saved me from many a grumbling while trying to pick tiny pieces of shell off a boiled egg. LOL ~TxH~
Whoa!!! This is brilliant! Definitely sharing on my Facebook page and pinning!
It’s a fun way to peel eggs when you have little ones visiting too Melissa – of course I don’t use a glass jar but opt for a plastic peanut butter jar instead and include the lid or there’d be water EVERYWHERE! LOL ~TxH~
I’ll be trying this technique next time I make hard boiled eggs! Thanks for sharing on Simply Natural Saturdays.
It really works, Beth. And it’s fun to let little ones help with it, they think it’s a game! ~TxH~
I just tried this and it really worked! What an awesome tip! Thanks so much for linking up with Share The Wealth Sunday.
xoxo
Lisa
I know, crazy, RIGHT Lisa??!! I was amazed too. ~TxH~
This is an AWESOME tip! I always have such a hard time peeling eggs. Please come share your blog posts over at the Home Matters Linky Party! We’d love to have you for a visit. The Door Opens Friday! 🙂
~Lorelai
Life With Lorelai
Awesome – thanks for the pin Elaine. ~TxH~
Hopping over from Natasha in Oz “Sundays Down Under”. This is such a great tip…my mom showed it to me recently and I was shocked how well it works. It’s almost magic. Love it! Thanks for posting.
Some of the eggs really did float right out of their shells in the water without me even touching them again. Plus, I’ll admit – it was FUN! 🙂 ~TxH~
What? Where has this been all my life?
I KNOW, RIGHT??!! LOL ~TxH~
I’m so going to give this a try the next time I boil some eggs for the kids. I’m sure my kids will appreciate not having to help me peel a whole pot of eggs…lol. Thanks for sharing on Merry Monday.
True Erlene, but then again they may find this method fun enough to WANT to help. 🙂 ~TxH~
I just struggled peeling a few for breakfast today! I assume since they are your own eggs they are fresh. One trick I have been told is to make sure the eggs have been sitting in the fridge for a week or two before boiling. And I think that was part of my problem this morning. Wish I knew your trick before hand. Next time.
Saw this on the Say G’day Linkup
True Audrey, the fresher the eggs, the more tightly that membrane clings to the egg white. I have a system when I store my eggs in the fridge where I can tell which ones came in first. I always use the oldest eggs when making boiled eggs. ~TxH~
Thanks for that!
I have been struggling with this for years! I knew there must be an easier way 🙂
…and it’s kinda fun too Mila! 😉 ~TxH~
I just got done peeling a ton of boiled eggs yesterday, wish I had read this first! Excited to try this next time! One trick that helps make them easier to peel for me is to put the eggs in an ice bath as soon as they’re done cooking. Still, sometimes I get stubborn eggs that don’t want to peel, and even with that they still aren’t nearly falling off! I’m going to pin this. 🙂
It works great for me Rachael, but another commenter noted that when they tried it with softly-boiled eggs and while they were still hot it didn’t work as well for them. I boil my eggs until they’re hard boiled and then I let them cool completely, often placing them in the fridge overnight. It’s always worked for me! ~TxH~
What a cool idea and I’ve heard peeling fresh eggs is not easy.
Thanks for linking up at the Weekend Blog Hop at My Flagstaff Home!
Jennifer
I gotta try this next time I try to peel hard boiled eggs. Great tip. I can’t wait to try it. My eggs always look pitiful when I try to peel them (lots of missing chunks that stick to the shells) and it always takes me so long.
I’ve had those peeling-chunks-of-the-white sessions too Joybee. I didn’t experience any of that hardship with this method, but I have also learned that the fresher the eggs are the more tightly that membrane clings to the whites, so at least your eggs were super fresh. LOL. ~TxH~
I can’t wait to try this tomorrow! And I can’t wait to share it with co-workers, we are always trying to come up with the easiest and best way to peel a boiled egg.
Awesome Judith. Be sure to come back & tell us how it worked. The key is to really bang up that boiled egg inside that jar so don’t be afraid of releasing your aggressions in the kitchen! 😉 ~TxH~
I’ll have to try it again with HARD boiled cold eggs. It doesn’t work so well if the eggs are medium hard boiled and still hot, trust me…. I will pass this method on to others.
LOL – wow Judith, never thought about that. I hard boiled my eggs & they were refrigerated when I gave this a go. ~TxH~
I’m using my own eggs too, good large ones and it only takes 8 mins to cook them set in the middle. I’ll have a go with a batch of ours tonight and see how it goes.
This looks like a great way to get my little one involved. She loves to help, and I bet she’d be great at this.
Yes Jessica, getting children involved in the kitchen when they’re young can be a great step to take ~TxH~
What? Thanks for the tip and the video !
I know Cynthia – crazy, right??! ~TxH~
This is the best idea I have heard since sliced bread, LOVE IT! Thank you!
LOL Patti – works like a charm! ~TxH~
I kinda do mine about the same way as you. I start my eggs in a pan of cold water with about 1 t. vinegar and salt. Bring water to full rolling boil, turn off the heat, leaving pan on the burner (providing you have an electric stove that is ) and put a lid on the pot and leave the pan set for 10 minutes ( don’t forget to set your timer) but it all depends on your altitude, shape of the pan and the size of your eggs, as well as the ratio of water to the eggs, it can take a few minutes more.
Drain the hot water and run cold water over the eggs to stop the cooking process.
Drain the cold water, put on the lid, and with one hand, hold onto the lid and give your pan a good shimmy shake. After a few good hard shakes you will notice that the shells are very easy to shell,
Then store your eggs in an air tight covered container at which time they should be eaten within 5 days.
My late aunt had taught me this several years ago. The only difference, I shake my eggs in the pan they where boiled in and she put hers in a Tupperware container and then shook them all about.
My biggest temptation is not adding a little salt when eating hard boiled eggs. I had cut back on the salt some years ago so now I hardly ever use salt.
We go light on the salt as well Colleen, I think many people just eat too much salt as it is. I peel boiled eggs in various ways but I thought this water-peeling thing was clever and fun. ~TxH~