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plllog

Hard Boiled Eggs Redux

plllog
3 years ago
last modified: 3 years ago

So. We've discussed how to make peelable eggs many times. I finally found something that really works and a corollary that works even better but at some cost.

The eggs I buy aren't straight from the hen, or straight from the farm, but they're more likely to be fresher than factory eggs that sit in warehouses. Even when they linger in the fridge for way too long, they're not old enough to peel nicely. In fact, they're a PITA. None of the other tricks worked for me. I accidentally found out what does. Sloth.


I should say, before I tell you how, that I have always made eggs in an electric egg steamer. My father's uncle, who loved gadgets and puzzles, gave one to my parents as a wedding present. It was all metal, had a removable cord which was easy to replace when necessary, and a fancy plastic measuring device attached to the top that made it look like a spaceship called Poindexter. That broke off fairly early, and broke altogether when I was little, so my father showed me how much water to put it in by eye. It made perfect eggs. Which were also easy to peel. I could never find one for my own kitchen. The only one on the market was made by Krups and I just can't deal with Krups. (Now everybody makes them.)


Voilà! Onto the market came Henrietta Hen! An egg shaped, chicken decorated, seven passenger egg steamer that clucks when it's done! It's cheap junk, but cute, and made good eggs. It also had a peeling coating on it's heat floor (I figured the shells protected the eggs) and you had to kind of guess how much water filled to the correct level. But it made good eggs until it broke just when Amazon said, "Whatever, dudes." I have boiled eggs in a pot, in a finjan (coffee pot) and steamed them in the combi-steam oven, but they're a bother! So I found a cute little cheap junk, non-clucking, steamer on Amazon, which looks a little like a Jetson's era flying saucer, and pushed the button. It only took a week to get here, which was a miracle. It's petite and lightweight, but still holds seven passengers, plus it has a little measuring cup with a proper line, and a piercer in the bottom, that's not so breakable.


Anyway, it's up to you to adapt the secret, if you so choose, to your own way of cooking them.


DO NOT CHILL THEM until they're completely cool.


Yeah, I know. 2 hour rule, yada yada. But they're eggs. They're self contained. They've just be sterilized and haven't been handled to add new bacteria, even to the outside. They're fine.


It works! I've been making hard boiled (steamed) eggs once or twice a week since February. I've done it on old eggs left over from when nothing got baked months ago, and new from the store eggs. It works. It works, it works, it works!

Snoopy Happy Dance, it works!


The NewFO did a new trick too, that was a lot line Uncle C's steamer, that brought it full circle. It hums when it's done. Uncle C's just shut off. Unlike Henrietta, the hum on the NewFO cannot be heard from the next room. Last night the eggs were still hot, and it was still humming, at least half an hour past when they were ready. I think the heating element was still on though the water was all gone. Oh, no! Nobody likes overcooked eggs! I was peckish, anyway, so I opened one. You can't peel a hot egg, right? It peeled pretty easily! And it wasn't really overcooked. A little maybe, but not so's you'd complain. Yay!


Well, this morning, I had another for breakfast. The shell practically fell off, with no membrane to peel. That was was a little over. Must have cooked a little more in its own heat. Not badly over. The white wasn't nasty, but there was a bit of a ring around the yolk. For devilled eggs, which need to be pretty, and are a mess to eat if the white is too soft, this amount of cooking might be perfect! The ring and potential dryness of the yolk would be lost in the mayonnaise, and the shells slide off like Cinderella's slippers.


QED!

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