Why can't I peel my eggs?

clutterydrawer

I remember a a child shelling boiled eggs for my mum and the whole shell would peel off lovely leaving a nice smooth naked egg.

These days I cannot get the shell of without it takign a 5mm+ layer of egg with it - that's a lot of egg to waste.

Am I cooking them wrong or something?

Nomoneymummy_2

I remember the same, only way I can ever get a clean peel and its not every time is to put the eggs under cold running water for 30 secs, wrap in kitchen towl and roll egg so shell crushes totally, seems to peel off a little easier

floyd

I have noticed this too, tried fresh eggs, old eggs, cold eggs and hot eggs and still none the wiser

Patchwork_Quilt

I was always told that fresh eggs stick together better, so should be used for poaching, whilst old eggs don't so should be hard boiled. I find this works fairly well for me. I seem to peel them while they are hot so maybe this makes a difference. However, I agree that it is frustrating to waste half an egg when it sticks to the shell.

Money_maker

Eggs with a thin shell tend to stick more to the white. Older eggs would have a bigger air gap and should therefore peel easier. All good theories but I still don't know!

ChapelGirl

I boil my eggs for no more than 10 minutes, then immedately put the pan under a running cold tap or lift out the eggs and drop them into a bowl of cold water.
As soon as the shells are cool enough to pick up I tap both ends on the draining board to break the shell and put them back in the cold water. If the eggs are warming the water up I add more cold.
When the eggs have cooled a bit more I finish shelling them.
This seems to work OK for me with most eggs, but sometimes I also get one which doesn't want to let go.

Nordictat2

Oh..I hate with the shell sticks and if it happens more than twice (say..if I'm making deviled eggs or a batch of egg salad) I get so angry sometime..last time this happened.I grabbed the egg and crushed it and yelled at it :rotfl:

clutterydrawer

^^ That is interesting - these eggs comes from my friend's chickens and do seem to have quite a thin shell.

I will try your tips, thanks everyone who's posted so far!

Nomoneymummy_2

Nordictat2 wrote: »

Oh..I hate with the shell sticks and if it happens more than twice (say..if I'm making deviled eggs or a batch of egg salad) I get so angry sometime..last time this happened.I grabbed the egg and crushed it and yelled at it :rotfl:

:rotfl:Egg rage,, beware!!!!!

ChocClare

Don't have your egg too fresh. Bash it against the side and roll it so it cracks all round. The shell should come off without taking half the egg with it. Should...

MarsdenCuckoo

clutterydrawer wrote: »

^^ That is interesting - these eggs comes from my friend's chickens and do seem to have quite a thin shell.

I will try your tips, thanks everyone who's posted so far!

Chances are then that they're really fresh eggs, which I was always told makes them harder to peel. The 'extra air' mentioned earlier in this thread i.e. as the egg gets older, seems to make sense and bear this out.

If you want easily peelable eggs, don't use fresh eggs.