Peeling cooked eggs

[seabream]

I've been having a really hard time peeling sous vide eggs cooked to my definition of perfection (65C yolk just set, and white also just set, using 80C water and timing the cooking). The set white completely sticks to the shell, and I always end up with a perfectly cooked yolk, with lots of bits of perfectly cooked white on the side. Disappointing.

I am wondering if anyone has tricks or tool recommendations that help keep the peeled egg intact.

[OliverB]

use older eggs, they tend to peel easier than fresh ones. make sure they're fully cooled (if you want them warm you can put them in a baggie and let them swim a bit more in the SV to get them warm again), crack the shell all over on the counter and roll them a bit under your hand, carefully just to loosen the membrane.

As for a tool, I sometimes use a teaspoon to slide under the membrane carefully.

a completely other option is to crack them in a baggie (one per) and SV in the baggie, but you won't get a nice egg shape.

[nickrey]

Soak them overnight in water with a small amount of vinegar added. The vinegar eats into the shell and makes it very easy to peel the following morning.

Reheat for serving in water at 55 - 60C.

Edited January 15, 2013 by nickrey (log)

[Broken English]

The guru Harold McGee says it's all in the pH levels. The older the egg, the higher the pH, and the easier to peel. I remember reading an article in Lucky Peach where he says 3 week old are the best.

[heidih]

The guru Harold McGee says it's all in the pH levels. The older the egg, the higher the pH, and the easier to peel. I remember reading an article in Lucky Peach where he says 3 week old are the best.

Yes - here is the link to a one post Q & A on the very subject with the man http://forums.egullet.org/topic/55184-peeling-hard-or-soft-cooked-eggs

[Msk]

You can add some baking soda to the cooking water as well to affect the PH

MSK

[ahpadt]

A while ago I saw this video, where Wylie Dufresne says that if you put some baking powder in your water for boiling eggs, the peel comes off very easily;

 

[saluki]

A while ago I saw this video, where Wylie Dufresne says that if you put some baking powder in your water for boiling eggs, the peel comes off very easily;

 

Pretty sure he used baking soda in the water....... wonder if I can add that for pressure cooked eggs.   Frankly, a few times the shells on my pressure cooked eggs stuck like mad....... Don't know what the problem was but I noticed I wasn't alone........

[dcarch]

Pretty sure he used baking soda in the water....... wonder if I can add that for pressure cooked eggs.   Frankly, a few times the shells on my pressure cooked eggs stuck like mad....... Don't know what the problem was but I noticed I wasn't alone........

 

All methods work, and none of the methods work.

 

Interesting that people assume that there is only one kind of chicken for egg laying, and all the egg laying chickens are the same age, eat the same diet, only lay eggs in the same temperature, same season, ------------------ therefore, all the eggs are identical, therefor all you need is one method.

 

dcarch

Edited June 23, 2014 by dcarch (log)

[nickrey]

I also find it relates to the eggs used. If they are truly free range and fresh, all it takes is a tap on a hard surface to give a break around the edge and they come out perfectly. If I use "industrial" free range eggs it turns out as you describe. My advice is to change eggs and try again and keep doing so until you find one that works. Also, try 63 to 63.2 for an hour rather than the temperature/time you tried.

Edited June 23, 2014 by nickrey (log)

[Kim Shook]

The teaspoon technique is what I use now.  I agree with dcarch - all the tricks work and none of them work.  Eggs have a mind of their own.  Sometimes they are generous, other times not.  By and large the best way I've found is the teaspoon.  Here is a demonstration: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FV9ytMg_fi4 .  I do it over a sink so that I can add a little running water to the process.  

[MelissaH]

Nothing to add about making it easier to peel the eggs, but I like to use brown eggs (rather than white ones) for eggs that get peeled after cooking because it's easier to see the bits of shell that you haven't yet removed.

[gfron1]

Once I started adding baking soda, as others have said above, my problems have 100% been solved regardless of the age of the egg.  I do 1 T per quart of water mas o menos.  

[Okanagancook]

I agree with it's all about the egg. We get fresh eggs, I mean fresh...last night fresh. I have hard boiled a number of these together and they are all different in terms of ease of peel. I wonder if it is the method of cooking? I use the put in cold water; bring to a boil; take off heat and sit for 10 minutes; then put in cold water with a tablespoon of baking soda. I'll have to try the spoon method.

[dcarch]

Actually, all the science I have read does not make much sense to me. I am still confused.

 

An experiment I have done:

 

We know there is air inside an egg, fresh or old egg. We know air expands when heated (Boyle's Law?). We know that egg shells are permeable. 

 

If you put an egg in water and draw a vacuum, you can see air bubbles coming out from the egg thru the shell. If you put an egg in hot water, you also see bubbles coming out, indicating the inside of the egg is pressurized.

 

So, if in hot water the egg is pressurized, how can water with baking soda get into the egg white?

 

So I put a few eggs in water, and colored the water with food dye and baking soda. I boiled the water. I can see air bubbles were escaping from the eggs. A few minutes later, I washed the colored water away, and crack opened the eggs. There was no indication that the egg white was colored. I therefore assume that baking soda was unable to penetrate the shell while the eggs were pressurized.

 

All the science I have read some how I don’t remember anyone talk about the fact that the shells never touch the egg white, in fact it is the thin membrane which sticks to the egg white.

 

I have a feeling that atmospheric pressure may have a lot to do with the egg white sticking to the membrane.

 

Do you remember a classic physics 101 experiment? Take two pieces of flat glass, put them together. You can easily pull them apart. But put a small drop of water in between the glasses, you will not be able to pull them apart. Because if the glasses are 5” x 5”, you will have to use: 5” x 5” = 25 sq. in. x 15 lbs = 375 lbs of force to overcome the air pressure acting on the glasses.

 

You must have seen people who can walk up a glass skyscraper using suction cups. That’s air pressure sticking to the building.

 

So what would happen if a tiny bit of water is in between the membrane and egg white?

 

Go to frame 5:45 of this video:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3qcAZrNC18    

 

dcarch

[minas6907]

Somehow I ended up watching that whole video, interesting stuff.

[CatPoet]

After spending  3 month peeling eggs daily,  200  bloody eggs,  I learned a few things  for egg salads and topping,  Just plonk eggs in a pan, let them go  to boil  , put a lid on and turn the pan of, 10 minutes the eggs are done.   Then  rinse and leave in cold water for 20 minutes.   Roll the eggs in a towel to crack the shell and peel  and older eggs works best.

[nickrey]

Thought I'd put in pictures.

 

These were relatively fresh, good quality eggs cooked at 63C for one hour.

 

Tap gently on plate to give a fracture around circumference of egg.

 

 

Open gently onto plate.

 

 

Rinse away loose egg white.

 

Place in simmering water for around a minute.

 

 

Serve.

 

Centre was runny, outside cooked.

 

This will scale easily.