“Eggsceptional!”
I love hard boiled eggs.
I eat them whole with a dash of salt, as deviled eggs-to which I cannot
eat just one, and especially as egg and olive salad on toasted rye bread. To that I say, “Scrumpt-diddily-delicious!” It is easy enough to cook eggs; however,
peeling eggs is another story. Reading a
food science book inspired me to challenge my cooking ways to get a tender
white egg that had a creamy yolk instead of a rubbery egg with a crumbly dry
yolk.
I went back to reading in order to shed some light on this dilemma. Here is what I found out.
- Fresh eggs are more difficult to peel. However, store bought eggs are “old enough” by the time they get to the store and are not to blame for pocked eggs.
- Rotten or bad eggs float in water due to the amount of air within the shell.
- Make sure to cool eggs completely immediately after cooking or peeling is more difficult.
- An egg shocked in cold water is easier to peel than one left to sit and cool.
- Start peeling from the wider end of the egg which has the air pocket between the egg and shell.
- Try a gentle crack and roll method for cracking the shell.
- It is purported that adding a teaspoon of baking soda to the water when cooking fresh eggs makes for a more alkaline bath, which then seeps through the egg shell and aides in assuring the protective membrane sticks unto itself rather than the shell.
- If making deviled eggs, try cutting the hard-cooked egg in half and then scoop out the egg as you would with an avocado. Saves you from unsightly peeling incidents.
- If making deviled eggs and you are aiming for a “centered” pocket for the prepared egg stuffing then use fresh eggs that have been placed on their side in the refrigerator to keep the yolks centered.
Basic Hard-Boiled
Eggs. Retrieved June 4, 2013 from http://www.incredibleegg.org/recipes/recipe/basic-hard-boiled-eggs.
Geiger, B. (2009, June 4). Food Science: Cracking the Boiled Egg Mystery. In Fine Cooking. Retrieved June 4, 2013 from http://www.finecooking.com/item/10702/cracking-the-boiled-egg-mystery.
Lopez, J. K. (2009, October 9). The Food Lab: Perfect Boiled Eggs. In Serious Eats. Retrieved June 4, 2013 from http://www.seriouseats.com/2009/10/the-food-lab-science-of-how-to-cook-perfect-boiled-eggs.html#.
McGee, H. (2004). On Food and Cooking: A Science and Lore of the Kitchen (Rev. ed.). New York: Scribner. p. 82-89.
Geiger, B. (2009, June 4). Food Science: Cracking the Boiled Egg Mystery. In Fine Cooking. Retrieved June 4, 2013 from http://www.finecooking.com/item/10702/cracking-the-boiled-egg-mystery.
Lopez, J. K. (2009, October 9). The Food Lab: Perfect Boiled Eggs. In Serious Eats. Retrieved June 4, 2013 from http://www.seriouseats.com/2009/10/the-food-lab-science-of-how-to-cook-perfect-boiled-eggs.html#.
McGee, H. (2004). On Food and Cooking: A Science and Lore of the Kitchen (Rev. ed.). New York: Scribner. p. 82-89.