Well, that is good to know! Peeling hard boiled eggs is the bane of my existence! Thank you!!

Why not? I'm actually a very good dancer!

Have you tried to cook them with the sous vide gizmo? (I need a good name for that thing. Precision Controlled Immersion Circulating Cooking Apparatus is just too much!) I haven’t tried. I’m just curious how it would work. I don’t cook enough eggs to have a gadget just for that.

I know I've mentioned this before, but I do what I learned from Jacques Pepin - drain the cooked eggs and gently shake them around in the pan to crack the shells all over, then I cover them with cool tap water. The water seeps under the shells, and for any that still stick, I use a spoon to get under the shell and remove it.

I simmer, not boil, eggs 8-10 minutes to hard-cook them.

I have one of those. Need to try this...

I've used my immersion circulator for pasteurizing eggs. It works great.

Note: My finding is that cooling down naturally before chilling is what works, and for super slide off shells, cooked a little longer/harder. This is not inconsistent with the rest. of what you all are saying, except the running of cold water to cool them. I've tried that, and that makes the shells stick the worst for me...though I did it when I wanted the creamy yolk so that could also have been a not hard enough for slippy shells situation.

Years ago a caterer told me her method for hard boiled eggs. I swear (really!) it's worked beautifully for me for some 20 years. Bring the water to a boil and lower the (room temp) eggs in. When the water returns to a boil, lower the heat and gently simmer for 12 minutes. Pour eggs and cooking water into a colander, then run cold water over them to stop the cooking. Set the eggs in ice water for several minutes. Crack shells against the sink and peel.

IDK, I'm sure others have tried this or something similar. Maybe I have an egg fairy. :-)

BTW, the same caterer also mentioned this for deviled eggs...if you even care about the yolks being centered. I suppose a caterer might. I tried it once and it worked nicely but never remember to do it (or care enough!).

To center yolks in anticipation of making deviled eggs: place a rubber band around the carton of eggs, and set the carton on its side in the refrigerator for 24 hours before hard boiling the eggs.

bbstx

Just call it Susie ...

I name many of my gadgets. Drives SaraWMBO NUTS.

My monster garden shears - the loppers - are called Cindi.

She even knows what I mean when asked to 'go get the Cindis'.

[Cindi Lauper]

HA! Love Susie, but may need the alternate spelling Soozie. And the Cindis! Too funny!

Hm... I notice that a couple of you are peeling your eggs immediately. I want them in the shell in the fridge. It may be that getting that cold too fast is part of what makes the membrane stick to the egg. That would be consistent with both ways of doing it.

To be clear, what I've found works for putting the eggs in the shell in the fridge and peeling while cold.

I don't ever remember having any issue peeling hard boiled eggs UNTIL I read a post about it on here years ago. Then it suddenly was an issue! (I am sure I had just not noticed before.)

I have tried virtually every method I have read about and my current preferred method is steaming. I have the same steamer basket as tigereye. I used it just last weekend to hard boil eggs.

The steaming method doesn't always work but last weekend was one of the best batches I remember in ages. I didn't use ice water to cool but more room temperature.

I will have to try the steaming combined with letting them cool at room temp.

I'll give the cool at room temp a shot, too. No matter what I do, they're always hard to shell. Perhaps this is the answer!

I've always considered it physics. Cold boiled unpeeled egg from the fridge dipped in some warm water, cracking all the eggs and putting back into the warm water before peeling. expansion/contraction.

I've sometimes let the eggs sit in the ice water for an hour or so. If I do that, I'l just stick them in the fridge in the ice water. They're easy to peel whether I do that, or peel them after they've been in the ice water just long enough to cool down a bit (sometimes closer to room temp).

Since eggshells are porous, I figure leaving them to cool in water allows some water to seep underneath.

That makes sense, Carol. IDK...they always seem to be fine after the ice water, even for a shorter time.

Whenever I've tried cooling them in water, they get waterlogged, but just as hard to peel as ever, both right out of the water and after a time dry in the fridge.

Whatever works for you, but immediately chilling has been my downfall since it was pounded into me that that's what one "ought" to do. I'd blamed it on the organic brown eggs (they do seem to have a heavier membrane than the white eggs my mother buys). Now I know better. The slip right off shells are from the overcooked eggs. :) This is true both of the California eggs I prefer and the Texas eggs which are similar.