Perfect Easy To Peel Eggs

Want to learn the secret to making perfect easy to peel eggs? Don’t boil them- steam them! Whether you like your eggs runny, jammy, hard or somewhere in-between, steaming is the best way to get them exactly how you like them!

I love steamed eggs and keep a bowl of them peeled and ready to eat in my fridge at all times. They’re the perfect quick breakfast, a convenient and nutritious mid-day snack and a great addition to just about any salad. Until about a year ago I was boiling my eggs like most of us do and- like most people- I would run into some common problems:

• They were either undercooked or overcooked
• They’d crack while cooking, letting a stream of egg white leak out into the water
• PEELING….oh, the drama of trying to peel a clingy shell that doesn’t want to let go!

Steaming is a method that pretty much takes care of all of those issues- and it couldn’t be simpler!

Is Timing Really Everything?

With steaming it’s easy to get your eggs exactly how you like them because the timing starts the second you put them into the steamer basket. But timing isn’t the only thing that can affect your egg outcome. There are other factors to think about:

• The starting temperature of your eggs
• The size of your eggs

It only makes sense that if your eggs are straight-from-the-fridge-cold they will take a little longer to cook than eggs that have been sitting on the counter for 20 minutes. And it also makes sense that smaller eggs will cook a little faster than larger eggs. When I make these eggs I use large eggs and I take them out of the fridge right when I start- so they’re still pretty cold.

Adjust accordingly for your egg situation.

The photo, above, is of eggs taken out of the pot at different times. My go-to for a jammy egg is 8 minutes and for deviled eggs I like 13.

The Importance Of An Ice Bath

When you steam eggs, placing them straight into an ice bath is a very important step. It not only stops the cooking process, but the shock of going into icy cold water directly from the hot steam loosens the egg from it’s shell. This means easier peeling for you!

When Ugly Eggs Happen To Good People

It’s happened to us all…ugly eggs. I mean, they don’t START OUT ugly. But once you begin peeling them that’s when it happens.

Ever notice how some egg shells slip right off while others seem to be holding on for dear life? It’s frustrating and time consuming and we’ve all been there.

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Well, there’s a reason for this and it has to do with how fresh your egg is. Egg shells become more porous as they age, allowing more air inside. The additional air loosens the grip of the membrane that lays between the egg-white and the shell. This increasing air gap makes for easier peeling.

This is why some people choose to set eggs aside for a week or two before hardboiling.

So, How Do You Know How Fresh Your Egg Is?

Unless you’re buying your eggs directly from the source, it can be difficult to know exactly how old they are.

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Here’s a quick way to tell. Fill a glass with water and put your egg inside. Because older eggs have more air inside the shell one of three things is going to happen:

• Does it sit on the bottom? You have a very fresh egg
• Is one end touching the bottom but the rest drifting up? It’s not as fresh but it’s still perfectly good
• What if it floats? Throw it away!

The nice thing about steaming eggs is that even very fresh eggs will peel much more easily! I get my eggs directly from the farm and have used this method with eggs that are literally just a couple days old and it works like a charm!

Of course, you can always set some eggs aside to “age” for a week or so before steaming for additional easy-peel-insurance 🙂

What Equipment Do You Need?

• A pot (big enough to hold your eggs) with a tight fitting lid
• A steamer basket (that fits inside the pot)
• A slotted spoon
• A bowl (large enough to hold all of the cooked eggs covered in ice water)

How To Steam Eggs

1. Fill your pot with a few inches of water, you’ll want the water level to be just below the steamer basket.
2. Place the steamer basket in the pot, cover with a lid and turn on the heat. Let it go until the water is boiling and it’s producing steam.
3. Carefully lay your eggs inside the steamer basket in a single layer using the slotted spoon (remember the steam is VERY HOT). Put the lid back on and start your timer immediately (from 6-13 minutes, depending on how you want your eggs cooked).
4. Just before the time is up, fill the bowl with ice and a few inches of water (this is your ice bath).
5. As soon as the time is up, use the slotted spoon to move each egg from the pot to the ice bath. Let the eggs cool in the ice bath for 15-30 minutes before peeling.

That’s it!

Oh! And remember how I mentioned eggs cracking while they cook and the whites oozing out of their shells? Often that’s caused by eggs bumping into each-other when they’re moving around in the boiling water. With steaming that doesn’t happen!

How Many Eggs Can You Steam At A Time?

I prefer a single layer of eggs, so however many will fit in the steamer.

You CAN stack them if you want to make more, but increase the cooking time by a minute.

One of the great things about steaming is how quickly the water will come to a boil since you’re using less of it. This means cooking eggs in batches goes very quickly.

Tips For Easy Peeling

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Once you’ve let the eggs cool sufficiently in the ice bath there are a couple more things you can do to make peeling easy:

• I like to gently tap each egg on the counter on all sides so that the shell is cracked all over.
• Once it’s cracked all over, gently roll it back and forth on a towel to further loosen the shell. If your eggs are soft boiled you’ll want to be extra gentle with this step (or skip it all-together)
• Start peeling from the wide end (this is usually where you’ll find an air pocket) using the side of your fingers rather than your finger tips.
• If the shells are still sticking, peel them under running water or in a bowl of cool water.

Storing and Using Your Eggs

I prefer peeling my eggs before I store them. It just makes it that much more convenient to use them. And peeled vs unpeeled makes no difference to how long they’ll be good. Seven days in the fridge either way.

Want perfectly centered yolks for your deviled eggs? A few days before you plan to cook them, put them in the carton as you normally would and use rubber bands to hold the carton closed. Lay the carton sideways in the fridge for a couple of days and the yolks will center themselves!

If you’ve made some jammy eggs and they’ve been chilling, you’ll want to put them in a small bowl and cover them with warm water for a few minutes to bring the yolk back to it’s delicious, creamy consistency.

Here are just a few other ways to enjoy your steamed eggs

When I was a kid my mom would chop up warm hardboiled eggs, mix them with a bit of butter, sprinkle with salt and pepper and serve them with toast. It was my favorite before school breakfast!

Or try one of these delicious ideas:

• Salmon Salad with Green Beans and Caesar Dressing
• Avocado Toast with roasted tomatoes, microgreens and jammy eggs
• Steak Salad with Jammy Eggs
• My Mom’s Eggs Goldenrod

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We also love them straight from the fridge, sprinkled with a little flaky salt and maybe a dash of hot sauce- so simple and so good!

What’s your favorite way to eat them? Let me know in the comments or tag me @breathingandcooking on fb or instagram!