h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Araldite?

I've just spent almost ten minutes trying to get the shell off a hard boiled egg. It only came off in millimetre-square pieces and each one took a lump of egg white with it, so by the time I'd finished I had not much more than a yolk left for my sandwich

I've noticed this a lot lately

I always have that problem, yet my dad can grab an egg from the same batch and peel it right off in one go.

I think there are some helpful hints out there to make peeling eggs easier like adding a drop of something to the water, vinegar or something like that. Also whether to rinse them in cold water may help (or hinder) peeling... my memory is like a... one of those thingies you strain or sift stuff with... whotsit... SIEVE! Yeah, ... what was I saying?

there was a thread on Ask recently about it. But I'm blowed if I can remember which one it was (but you can probably bet your house on the fact that it wasn't called "how to peel a boiled egg")

I think you need to eat more - very good for the brane so I'm told

I honestly don't remember this being such a problem in the past, and I've noticed that the longer an egg stays in the fridge the more reluctant it is to let go of its shell.

In the distant past I would have gone to Ask with a question like this but... y'know.

By the way, I meant eggs that have been in the fridge for a while *after* being hard boiled rather than before are the ones that don't let go of their shells.

I saw one of those interweb u tub vidyas about how to boil an egg and I think it's the one that recommended a bit of vinegar. Then after he boils it and it's cooled down, he just taps a hole in each end, blows on one hole and the whole egg pops out the other side.


Infuriating.

Definitely you should peel them asap after boiling them (if you're not going to eat them right away). But I think it might be dependent on how long you cook them for, and how long you take to cool them.

I have some hard boiled eggs in the fridge (since yesterday) to peel tonight. I'll report back.

(and yes, Ask. Sigh)

I usually boil three or four at a time to save on energy (and to avoid adding more heat to the apt. during the Texas summer) because it takes virtually the same amount to boil one as it does four. I start them off in cold water and set the timer for six minutes as soon as the water starts to boil, so the yolks are a little soft in the middle.

I don't keep ice in the freezer so once they're done I empty the pan, fill it with cold water* a couple of times and then I put them in the fridge, unshelled of course, so an egg could be in there for four or five days.

*Or at least what passes for cold water. The ground gets so warm here during the summer that you can't actually get any cold water, which is good because you save money on hot water for showers and washing, but not so good when you really do want cold water.

Out of curiosity I've just taken the temperature of the water coming out of the 'cold' tap - it's at 89°F/31.7C, and I expect it to get warmer than that before summer's end.

The blow-the-egg-out video suggests baking soda I've started dumping some in, and it does seem to help for normal peeling (I have no reason to blow on an egg--plus that bit of theatrics probably only works if done immediately, anyway.)

Oh, yea... Baking soda.

I couldn't remember what it was. Sieve and all that.

A sieve that reverses things, at that

Presumably you don't have to do the blowing bit - if the shell comes away that easily you could just peel it if you want to, right?

If I was to try and blow the shell off I foresee two probable outcomes - either busted eardrums, or a boiled egg ricocheting around the kitchen inna Warner Brothers/Hanna-Barbera stylee

It works... sort of.

I boiled four eggs yesterday afternoon and I put a teaspoon of bicarb in the water. I cooled them down with cold(ish) water as I usually do, left one out and put the others in the fridge. About an hour later I tapped one end of the egg and then the other, removed the broken bits of shell, put the egg to my lips and...

Well, it took a bit of blowing and it sure didn't come out as easily as it does on some of those YouTube clips, but it came out eventually.

To be honest, if all the bicarb does is to loosen the shell from the white, I think I'll just tap the shell all round and peel it off like I normally do, but with better results and in much less time than it's been taking me, and I'll keep my eardrums intact.

Oh, and we'll see if it still works on the fourth egg after it's been in the fridge for four or five days.

And not a drop of WD40 in sight which, as we all know, is the universal loosener

I forgot to report back. I boiled 4 eggs on Sunday. Gruesome #1 and I ate one each on Monday. One was a total mess to peel, the other one was fine.

Had one yesterday - easy peasy lemon squeezy.

Had the last today. Total dogs dinner.

Make of that what you will... for next week I'll boil a few on Sunday again with bicarb - how much of it do I need to add to the water? (and no, I will not be blowing them)

Just a teaspoon according to the video.

The videos I watched all said 1-2 teaspoons of bicarb. I used a 1.5 US qt (1.25 UK qt, 1.4l) saucepan with four eggs that I just covered with water and added 1 tsp.

Sounds to me like your eggs came from two different chickens Sho, and they were playing good cop bad cop

I've had hen eggs this last week (for a change from duck eggs), and actually boiled one, a few days back, to go in a home made zen-baguette, with sausage and bacon
The hen egg was a lot* more of a pain to peel, after boiling it,a nd my useual too short a quick cool under the o cold water tap... definately more tricky and messy and coming off in smaller bits than it does when I do the same with duck eggs I always figured its down to the freshness of the egg, plus the time its left to cool, but clearly its more than that I think Fried my eggs for lunch today, as that save the problem