Easy to Peel Hard Boiled Eggs

I love hard boiled eggs. I’ll eat them with hot sauce or flaky salt. I love egg salad and deviled eggs too. And I love a hard boiled egg in a salad wrap. Because of that, I’ve boiled a lot of eggs!
I’ve tried all the gimmicky approaches short of that kitchen gadget that pops the egg out of its shell in one shot. I’ve boiled them with baking soda, I bought that timer that goes in the water, and I’ve tried the old fashioned way that covers and uncovers the pot for some reason. This method is the one I like best, and that’s because it always works.

This recipe is admittedly a little fussy, but for me, hard boiled egg girl, it’s worth it. The eggs are tender and accurately timed, and best of all, easy to peel.
If you want to know the why’s behind this approach, take a look at the recipe notes. If you just want to eat tasty eggs, head on down to the recipe. This method can be used for any boiled egg cooked for any number of minutes.
Fair warning: there’s no rushing this approach. The eggs must rest for at least 2 hours in the fridge after cooking in order to peel easily.

This post was updated on 4/17/23, and was previously titled “7 Minute Jammy Boiled Eggs.” There is only one change to the previous recipe, which is refrigeration for 2 hours after the ice bath.

Recipe Notes

Why warm the eggs before boiling?

The purpose of this is to prevent the eggs from cracking when they hit the boiling water. If they’re very cold, the temperature change will cause cracks.

Sometimes even when the eggs have been warmed they crack anyway, and if they do, it’s really not a big deal. A little egg white will come out and cook in the water.

Often when I boil eggs I’ll do it when I’ve just brought the eggs home from the grocery store and they’ve had a little time to warm up already. 

Why put the eggs into hot water?

Pictured above: This is what the water looks like when I lower in the eggs.

Eggs lowered into simmering water will cook differently than eggs that are covered with cold water and then brought up to a simmer. Starting the cooking already at a simmer will yield a more tender egg, because it cooks more quickly.

What’s a high simmer/low boil look like?

The temperature of the water will likely fluctuate throughout cooking. These pictures were all taken during cooking, and are all good levels of heat.

Eggs at a simmer.

Eggs at a high simmer/low boil.

Eggs at a boil.

What’s a spider?

A spider is one of my favorite cooking tools. I love it for frying, but it’s also great for scooping large quantities in and out of boiling water like pasta, vegetables, and eggs. It can hold 6-7 eggs at a time! That’s the best part really, how much it can hold, because getting the eggs into the water all at once means they’re all going to cook the same.

If you don’t have a spider, use a mesh strainer or a slotted spoon.

What’s with the ice bath?

An ice bath is a bowl of ice and cold water.

It stops residual heat from continuing to cook the egg after its been removed from the water, preventing the eggs from overcooking.

If you don’t have ice on hand, move the eggs into the bowl and put the bowl under cool running water until they’re cool to the touch. Then let them sit in the cold water until they’ve cooled completely.

As a bonus, the ice bath also cools the eggs down quickly so they can get into the refrigerator and start their easy-peel cool down ASAP.

Which part of this process makes the eggs easy to peel?

The resting period.

After a lot of trial and error, I’ve concluded that it’s the resting period of at least 2 hours in the fridge that makes boiled eggs easy to peel.
My theory is that during that time the membrane just inside the shell releases from the egg. Maybe from condensation inside the shell? Maybe because the egg contracts from extended exposure to the cold? I don’t know, I’m not a scientist, I just know it always works for me.

If peeling is attempted just after the ice bath, the eggs might peel easily OR they might be a mess. I’ve experienced both situations, and I think it depends on the particular batch of eggs themselves.

The rest of the recipe is just the process that I think makes the tastiest, and most accurately timed boiled eggs.

If you were to use a different approach to boil eggs and then rest them in the fridge for at least two hours, I would hope the resting period would make those eggs easy to peel, but the truth is, I don’t know for sure! If you try a different boiling method, please report back.

The peeling process

This is the best approach to the actual peeling part that I’ve found.

The wide end of the egg is usually (but not always) where the air pocket is. Start tapping and cracking here for the area that’s the least likely to have membrane-stick. (That’s what I call it when the membrane of the egg is stuck to the egg white and it all comes off with the shell in a chunk.)

Then continue to tap little tap-taps all over the egg to create lots of little cracks. The smaller the cracked shell pieces are, the more flexible they will be on the membrane when peeling away from the egg.

That flexibility means they won’t dig into the delicate egg white.

After peeling, I like to rinse the eggs and pat them dry. Those little eggshell pieces are hard to keep track of, and it’s better not to crunch down on one.

Easy to Peel Boiled Eggs Recipe