With these tricks, peeling an egg becomes child’s play!

Fresh or older eggs

How easy it is to peel an egg depends on how fresh the egg is. The ease with which the shell comes off depends on the strength of the bond between the coagulated protein and the eggshell with membranes. For example, a fresh egg (about three days old) is more difficult to peel because the protein is still close to the membrane and the membrane is also still close to the shell.

An older egg (five days or more), on the other hand, is much easier to peel. This is because air forms between the egg white, shell and membrane as it ages. The protein is released much faster in this air.

An egg’

A hard-to-peel egg can therefore cause a lot of irritation. Luckily, there are several tricks you can use to make the shell come off more easily.

1. Scare the Egg

This trick may sound familiar to most people. If you hold the eggs under cold water immediately after cooking to cool them, the egg will be, so to speak, shocked. This is due to the temperature change that suddenly occurs, causing the protein to shrink slightly and thus detach from the shell. This often makes peeling much easier!

2. Shake the pan

What also often helps make the shell peel off more easily is shaking the pan they’re in after cooking, draining them, and scaring them away. This causes the shell to crumble into small pieces. Then rinse everything with cold water and you will see that a large part of the skin comes off. This trick works best if you’re cooking multiple eggs at once.

3. Blow

Blowing is also a good way to ensure that the shell separates from the egg. After cooking and scaring, break the bottom of the bowl and blow on it. This way some air gets between the shell and the protein, which is therefore beneficial for an easier peeling process.

4. Trick with the spoon

Also, it works well after cooking and scaring to cut off the egg cap and then move it under the membrane between the egg and the shell with a tablespoon. If all goes well, the skin will come off almost in one motion.

Other tips:

• Add vinegar to the water. It’s a trick we come across often, but there’s no evidence yet that it really works. However, you can use vinegar well when making a poached egg. The vinegar ensures that the protein solidifies well.
• Place the hot hard-boiled egg in a glass of ice water. Then place your hand on the glass and shake vigorously. After a few seconds, the shell should slip out of the egg. It’s actually scary and shaking all rolled into one, but on a smaller scale.
• It would also be helpful to add half a teaspoon of baking soda to the cooking water in which you cook the eggs. This ensures that the shells will come off the eggs in larger pieces. Worth a try, right?