Egg shelling

Not a very egg-citing subject but I think a useful one. At work every Monday I shell 24 eggs, on tuesday I do the same it can be time consuming when your egg is not co operating and it seems every little bit sticks and you just can’t find the membrane to peel the shell off cleanly.

If I’m hard boiling eggs for sandwiches or salads etc I don’t time them, I put them in a pot of cold tap water until they are covered. I don’t add anything else only the water.  When I think they’ve been rapidly boiling for 5-10 minutes (depends on how big the pot is and how many eggs as to how long it takes) I take them off the stove.

Straight away I tip out the boiling water leaving eggs in the pot. Popping the pot in the sink I let cold water run over them while I crack the shell of each egg, about 2 o’clock with the pointy end being 12. Crack on the side of the sink or a flat surface not a sharp edge. Pop that egg back into the pot with the running water until all eggs are done.

Once all the eggs are cracked and back in the pot I turn off the running water and start peeling off the shells. They should slip off so easily as the water into the cracked shells seems to lift and separate. They don’t have to be really cold to be shelled.

Either use straight away or pop into a lidded container for a couple of days, for me 3 days is the maxi I’d keep them.

Don’t crack the shell into tiny pieces this makes the process harder.

I’ve found shelling them straight away  also stops the greyish sulphur ring forming around the yolk.

There are exceptions but 99.9% of the time this method works. Egg age makes a difference. If eggs are not totally boiled hard can make a difference. I’ve never used bi-carb or salt in the water to ‘help’ the eggs peel.

Let me know how you shell an egg.