Easy-to-peel hard-boiled eggs are possible and not just a myth. Yup you heard it right, not sure about you but every time I would make hard-boiled eggs I was never sure if they were going to peel easily or not. Some days I had great luck but more often than not I didn’t. 

Sad was when my hard-boiled eggs would come out with dents and half the flesh still on the peel. Needless to say, my deviled eggs were not the ones best-in-show, although they were yummy. 

This is when I finally had enough set out to find the perfect easy-to-peel hard-boiled eggs method. I vowed never again to have what I called mutilated-looking deviled eggs. 

For this, I turned my kitchen into a test kitchen to test two popular methods for easy to peel hard-boiled eggs. Please know that I did not come up with these methods rather I just tested them out. Glad I did because I found one to work perectly.

I hope that my trial and errors help save you time and that you have some happy looking hard boild eggs.

The first method was a huge success on the first try. 

Method #1 of easy to peel hard-boiled eggs (winner)

I tried this method twice and I will tell you why in a minute. The first time trying this method I used three eggs and one out of the three cracked the moment I put it in the water. 

The recipe doesn’t state if the eggs need to be room temp or not the first time making these eggs I used eggs straight out of the fridge. That was when one out of the three eggs I used cracked the moment I placed it in the water. 

The second time I used this method I made sure the eggs I was going to use were room temp. When I cooked the eggs this way I had no eggs crack and a very easy to peel hard-boiled eggs success. 

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Bring a pot of water to a full boil. Use an appropriate-sized pot that will fit your eggs. I use a 2.5-quart pot for six eggs.
2. If using, use a thumbtack to make a tiny hole at the top of the big end of the eggs. (See note.)
3. Gently lower the eggs into boiling water. A fine mesh strainer or spider-skimmer works well for this.

(Tip from a reader comment: “I took my boiling water off the burner and let it settle a moment and then gently lowered my eggs. Worked great! I had several broken eggs on my first batch when I put the eggs in while the water was at a rolling boil. Hope this helps someone because this recipe is a game-changer!”)

1. Boil on high for 30 seconds, then turn the burner to the lowest setting for a very gentle (not rolling) simmer. Cover the pan with a lid and wait 13 minutes. (It’s ok if the water doesn’t come back up to a rolling boil for 30 seconds.)
2. Put the eggs in an ice bath. You can do this by filling a separate bowl with water and ice, and transfer the eggs, or, gently pour the water out of the pan without cracking the eggs, then fill the pan with cold water and ice. The first way, with the bowl, is easiest to prevent accidentally cracking your eggs while they are hot.
3. Leave the eggs in the ice bath for 15 minutes.
4. Peel, or store in the refrigerator unpeeled for up to three days.
5. To peel, gently tap the egg at the big end first, then the small end, then tap all around to gently crack the shell. Be amazed at how easy they peel.

The second method was an epic fail. I tried this method three times and the results each time were slightly different and still unsuccessful. 

Method #2 (The epic fail) 

Easy Peel Boiled Eggs

If your eggs are super fresh, adding bicarb soda will change the pH and assist with peeling. Older eggs don’t need this.

• as many eggs as you need
• 1/2 teaspoon bicarb soda (optional)

1. Place eggs in a small saucepan. Cover with cold water. Bring to a simmer.
2. When the eggs start simmering, set your timer for 8 minutes.
3. As soon as your timer rings, drain the eggs and transfer them to a bowl. Run cold water over the eggs for a minute and then let the eggs sit in the water until cool.
4. Crack the eggs on the side of your sink to crack the shells all over.
5. Roll the egg between your hands to help loosen the membrane. Gently peel the membrane and shell from the eggs.

The first time I tried this method I cooked 3 eggs as not to overcrowd the pot. After following all the step-by-step instructions all three eggs came out practically raw still. 

When I went to follow step 4 which was to “Bash the eggs on the side of your sink to crack the shells all over,” the yokes came running out. This was the same for all three eggs. 

The second time I repeated this process I also used 3 eggs and followed the same steps however I made a slight modification which seemed to work till it didn’t. 

Instead of allowing the water to come to a simmer slowly, I raised the flame on the stove to speed up the simmering process. Once the water started to simmer I lowered the flame and followed the rest of the steps exactly. 

The results…the first egg came out beautifully. It was cooked perfectly and easy to peel. However, when I went to peel eggs 3 and 4 I sadly got runny eggs AGAIN. 

The third time is a charm, right? Well not exactly, the third time did not prove to work this time either. 

Which may not have been such a bad thing. No, I am not crazy by just saying that. It just proved to me that method #1 was really the way to go. On a consistent basis, my hard-boiled eggs were easy to peel and came out beautiful. 

NOTES (these came from the first method I tried)

Tips to prevent cracking:

• Tip to prevent cracking #1: Be sure to not crowd the pan. Your eggs need a little room to groove. They should not touch or be on top of each other. There needs to be enough room to allow a single layer of eggs in your pan while they cook. If they crack while cooking, it may be because they were too crowded.
• Tip to prevent cracking #2: Don’t use super fresh eggs for your hard-boiled eggs. This is probably the only time in the kitchen that day-of-fresh isn’t best. Shells like to really stick to just-laid eggs. If you have your own chickens or buy directly from a farmer, use those eggs for a glorious scramble or poach ’em up. If you buy your eggs at the grocery store, they’re already a few weeks old so they’ll work great. In the US eggs are refrigerated because they are power-washed before packing. No need to bring them to room temp, you can use this method with eggs straight out of the refrigerator.
• Make sure you have a single layer of eggs in the pan. If you try to stack eggs or stuff more in the pan that fits, the water won’t be hot enough to cook the eggs. I use a 2.5-quart pot for six eggs, which is about 6.5 inches in diameter.