Egg Shells

Oldman · September 16, 2005, 12:04:07 AM

My wife just showed me something I never knew. When she boils eggs as she first puts on the water to boil she places the eggs into a boil of warm water. This helps with the egg shell from not cracking in the boiling water. She said it works 95% of the time.

Olds

jaeger · September 16, 2005, 04:09:09 AM

...also, add salt to the water to make the eggs peel easier![;)]

Doug

Habanero Smoker · September 16, 2005, 11:51:17 AM

Occasionally this is what I do; I usually do this if I want the yoke to be in the center of the egg. Why[?] Just to make them look pretty[:)] when I slice them, but it also makes for a better deviled egg. Being as lazy as I am, I only do this when I want to impress someone[:D]

With a sterilized thumbtack, pin or needle (I generally sterilize with any brand of hand sanitizer), pierce the large end of the eggshell, and lay they horizontally in the pot you are going to cook them in for about 10 minutes before adding the water. This allows some air to escape, centers the yoke, helps avoid cracking and allows some water to enter which will make peeling easier.

Also I only bring the water to a boil, then remove from heat, cover tighly, and let them remain in the hot water for 15-18 minutes.

Oldman · September 21, 2005, 01:15:30 AM

Kool... I just told my wife about what you guys are doing... [^]

Olds

Habanero Smoker · September 21, 2005, 11:14:02 AM

I just hard boiled some eggs this weekend. I was using the method I described above, but had a hard time distinguishing which end was the large end on most of the eggs. I've never seen eggs like these. Most looked like miniature footballs [:)]

When I buy eggs I check for crack shells. Now I have to check for the shape also. Man, life is getting too complicated[:D]

Gordon · October 31, 2005, 03:33:36 PM

Hey Nero, you say that you lay them on their side (horizontally)? I am not sure how that would center the yolk. Any further tips? Thanksgiving is coming, and I wanna smoke some eggs, and any tips for making those things prettier will be needed.

Gordo

SMOKEHOUSE ROB · October 31, 2005, 11:01:10 PM

also when you boil your eggs add a piece of onion peel, it will turn the shel, light brown so when they are to be eaten later they are colored to let you know which ones are hard boiled,

Habanero Smoker · November 10, 2005, 04:29:39 PM

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Gordon
 Hey Nero, you say that you lay them on their side (horizontally)? I am not sure how that would center the yolk. Any further tips? Thanksgiving is coming, and I wanna smoke some eggs, and any tips for making those things prettier will be needed.

Gordo
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
Just got to read this message.

Eggs have an air pocket in them. When they are packaged in the carton the yoke and air pocket rises to the top (because the egg is packaged small end down, the air pocket rises to the "large end" of the egg. If you boil the egg without releasing the air pocket, it will cause the cooked egg to have a depression where the air pocket was, and the yoke will be very near the end of the egg. The first step is to poke a hole in the large end of the egg to release the air, then placing the egg horizontally, the yoke moves away from the end, and towards the middle of the egg.

Bassman · November 11, 2005, 03:28:32 PM

My wife makes the best hard boiled eggs. She boils them, lets them cool. Cuts them in half the long way. Takes out all the yokes, puts them in a bowl and mashes them, adds horseradish and other goodies. Then puts a spoonful back in the half of an egg.[:p]

Jack

jb9 · November 11, 2005, 11:12:32 PM

I agree with poking the hole. Just to add in one more thing to try, if you boil for X minutes instead of bringing it to a boil and turning it off, I have had luck taking the eggs out at the end of their boiling time and putting them in some water with lots of ice, then peeling as soon as they're cool. That's generally helped them come out of the shell easily. I have never gotten consistently great results from any technique, though, so I'm throwing this out there as a variation that folks may want to try.

Oldman · November 12, 2005, 12:21:47 AM

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">My wife makes the best hard boiled eggs. She boils them, lets them cool. Cuts them in half the long way. Takes out all the yokes, puts them in a bowl and mashes them, adds horseradish and other goodies. Then puts a spoonful back in the half of an egg[:p]<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

If I may suggest, try adding some smoked chicken to that mixture... [:D]

Olds

SMOKEHOUSE ROB · November 12, 2005, 12:47:45 AM

or some smoked salmon[;)]

Bassman · November 12, 2005, 06:16:03 PM

Olds, Smoke
They both sound great!Will definetly try that

Jack

MWS · November 12, 2005, 07:08:56 PM

I place the eggs in a pot of cold water and then turn on the heat to bring the water to a boil (lid off). Once the water boils, I turn off the heat, put the lid on and let the eggs sit for 10-15 minutes in the simmering pot of water. The eggs will heat with the rising water temperature and the shells won't crack. Next step, I pour out the hot water and refill the pot (eggs still in it) with cold water for about 30 seconds. The shells peel off perfectly.

Mike 

"Men like to barbecue, men will cook if danger is involved".
-John Wayne

JJC · November 13, 2005, 02:49:33 AM

I had no idea that something as simple as boiled eggs could generate such neat variations on a theme! I've now been inspired to try several of these ideas . . .

John
Newton MA