Chef John's Perfect Hard-Boiled Eggs (2024)

FAQs

Does adding baking soda to water help peel eggs? ›

According to our friends at Delish, adding a teaspoon of baking soda to your boiling pot of water will help the shell peel off seamlessly. Why? The alkaline in the baking soda will help your egg whites loosen up from the shell, making it easier to peel.

The vinegar in the water makes the eggs easier to peel. Here's why: The vinegar's acid not only dissolves some of the calcium carbonate in the shell, it also helps the whites set faster. Running the hard-boiled eggs under cold running water as you're peeling, meanwhile, helps the shell separate from the membrane.

As soon as the water begins to boil, turn off the heat and cover the pot. Leave the eggs in the hot water for anywhere from 10-12 minutes, depending on how you like your eggs. The 10-minute eggs will have vibrant, creamy yolks, while the 12-minute yolks will be paler and opaque, with a chalkier texture.

A Push Pin Is All You Need For Easy-To-Peel Eggs

But the tiny hole allows for water to get into the egg, which then pools between the shell and the membrane. It prevents the shell from sticking to the membrane, making it much easier to peel the egg once it's cooked.

Egg Peeling Method #2: Boiling Eggs with Salt

Third, when dissolved in water, salt molecules become small enough to permeate the eggshells, and some say this helps with peeling.

Drop the eggs into boiling water. Eggs added to a pot of boiling water rather than brought to a boil along with the cold water will be easier to peel. Plus, this method allows for more precise timing.

Fill a large pot with water. You want there to be enough water to cover the eggs, about 6-8 cups. Bring the water to a rolling boil on the stove over high heat. Add 1 teaspoon baking soda to the boiling water.

Therefore, adding one tablespoon or 15 ml of vinegar for every quart of water in the pot is recommended. So, vinegar for hard boiled eggs can save you time and effort when peeling and also help you get more out of your protein-rich snack!

Carefully place the eggs in a large saucepan; add cold water to cover by one inch, and bring to a rolling boil. Cover pan; remove from heat. Let stand 12 minutes, then drain and rinse under cool water. To store, keep eggs unpeeled in the refrigerator, up to 4 days.

The FDA recommends consuming hard-boiled eggs within a week, and two weeks is well past that deadline. Since spoiled hard-boiled eggs can make you sick, it's best to be safe and toss out any leftover hard-boiled eggs that have been in the fridge for more than one week.

How do I know when my hard-boiled eggs are done? ›

For hard-boiled eggs, remove after 8 minutes.

The yolks of hard-boiled eggs are crumbly and bright yellow, completely solid, but with none of the grayish-green around the yolk that over-cooking yields.

Perfect scrambled eggs, by my definition, are meltingly soft and fluffy, almost like a cloud. To get them that way, I use baking soda, which reacts with the eggs' natural acidity and creates pillowy air pockets.

Adding baking soda to the boiling water can help make the eggs easier to peel by raising the pH level of the water.