Boiled Egg Peeling Hack

I learned this hack this week and it is truly amazing. I have to share. While this hack video is not the one that introduced me to this idea, it is the one I would have posted—with all of the improvements, like not wasting water.

Boiled Egg Peeling Hack
Peeled in less than a minute

Boiled Egg Peeling Hack

Ingredients

Large eggs (as few or as many as you need)

Also needed

Lidded pint jar with square-ish sides

Directions

. Hard boil your egg by your preferred method.

Tip: I have not “boiled” an egg in years. Steaming the eggs out of the water gives you far more control over the cooking time. Seven minutes—exactly—for a large soft boiled egg.

. Pour cold water over the eggs.

Tip: This stops the rest of the eggs from continuing to cook as you peal your first eggs.

Note: The last peeling trick I posted called for using week old eggs and chilling them overnight. This hack works instantly.

. Half fill the pint jar with water and add 1-2 eggs.

Tip: The person in the hack video does one egg at a time, but you can really process two at a time—but not three.

Note: It is important to use a jar with internal edges—if you use a round jar the eggs just spin around the sides. It is also vital to leave some air space—if you fill the jar full the water buffers the egg(s) from contacting violently with the sides of the jar—preventing the shells from cracking. Putting three eggs in the jar fills the jar and prevents the eggs from having room to move around and hitting the sides of the jar.

. Put the lid on the jar and shake it hard.

Tip: At first, the eggs make a sharp “crack” as they hit the sides of the jar. After a few moments the sound is more of a   slight “thud.”

Note: As the shell hits the sides of the jar several things happen. 1) The shell cracks—because it is hard and stiff. 2) In side the soft egg white distorts on contact. 3) When the egg moves away from the edge of the jar the egg white bounces back into shape. 4) Which creates a slight vacuum under the shell crack, sucking the ambient water into the shell and under the membrane just inside the shell—releasing this membrane from the egg white is the cause of all of your egg peeling woes.  5) After just a few hits enough cracks have cause the water to seep under all of the membrane—completely separating it from the egg white.

. Pour the egg(s) into your hand and pinch off the shell.

Tip: With the membrane completely separated the shell slides right off in seconds.