Post by my friend Valerie Jean Cudnick, posted with permission. Fresh eggs are hard to peel when hard boiled:
With Easter coming up the how to cook eggs posts are showing up again. When the topic came up last year, I did my own test:
Batch 1: added baking soda
Batch 2 added vinegar
Batch 3 steamed (steam for 20 minutes, then plunge into ice water)
Batch 4 started the water at a boil and plunged the eggs in all at once
Batch 5 old boil & cool method with nothing added to the water
***Results*** steamed won out by far. Eggs peeled very easily, even super-fresh.
Baking soda & vinegar additions peeled about the same (better than traditional method with nothing added to the water, but not much), but the baking soda eggs were rubbery.
Method 4 resulted in no difference in ability to peel, was just more trouble.
Granted I only did 4 of each method, 'cause that's 20 eggs.
With Easter coming up the how to cook eggs posts are showing up again. When the topic came up last year, I did my own test:
Batch 1: added baking soda
Batch 2 added vinegar
Batch 3 steamed (steam for 20 minutes, then plunge into ice water)
Batch 4 started the water at a boil and plunged the eggs in all at once
Batch 5 old boil & cool method with nothing added to the water
***Results*** steamed won out by far. Eggs peeled very easily, even super-fresh.
Baking soda & vinegar additions peeled about the same (better than traditional method with nothing added to the water, but not much), but the baking soda eggs were rubbery.
Method 4 resulted in no difference in ability to peel, was just more trouble.
Granted I only did 4 of each method, 'cause that's 20 eggs.
