How to Shell Hard Boiled Eggs Without Breaking or Damaging Them

Hard-boiled eggs are one of the easiest and most versatile preparations in the kitchen: you can eat them on their own but you can also use them in countless recipes and preparations, all you have to do is cook them the right way and pay attention to the cooking times. And, of course, shell them once they are cooked. This is usually the most unpleasant part and not only because the eggs are boiling hot: to avoid hurting yourself or in a hurry to remove the shell you often end up taking away part of the egg white, or in any case breaking and ruining your egg. Precisely for this reason today we want to suggest some very easy tricks that will simplify your life by allowing you to peel your hard-boiled egg perfectly and without damage.

1. Immersion in Cold Water and Ice

The quickest and most effective way to quickly shell a hard-boiled egg is to immerse it in cold water and ice as soon as you remove it from the pan in which you are cooking it: the cold prevents the egg from continuing to cook and ends up ruined, and the shock will allow the shell to separate, making it easier to remove. What you need to do is immerse the eggs for a few seconds, then remove them and beat them lightly on a work surface, cracking the shell, then repeat the operations in sequence until the shell has come off completely. With this method you will obtain a hard-boiled egg that is perfectly intact inside and completely shelled.

2. Cooking With Lemon, Salt or Vinegar

Another method that makes it easier to remove the shell without ruining the egg is to add an acidic element to the cooking water in which you immerse the eggs: in particular lemon juice or vinegar, or even a handful of salt, can soften the shell because all three act on the calcium present inside it and make it softer. Just be careful not to overdo the doses: a teaspoon is enough, otherwise the egg could slightly absorb the flavor of the lemon or vinegar, or become excessively salty.

3. Add Baking Soda to The Cooking Water

Equally easy and effective is the method that involves adding a pinch of baking soda to the water in which you cook the eggs. Baking soda is a real all-rounder in the kitchen, useful from many different points of view, and in this case too it is a great help: a teaspoon is enough to make the water more alkaline and allow the egg membrane to soften, with the result that it will come off in a few seconds and above all without breaking the egg white.

4. Use the Jar Trick

Let's move on to practical tricks: have you already cooked the eggs and need to shell them? Get yourself a simple empty glass jar, one of those we all have at home to store sauces or jams. Place the egg inside the jar, add a little water, close it with the lid and shake it all up as if it were a cocktail shaker: in a few seconds, small cracks will start to form on the surface of the shell and will gradually detach from the egg.

5. Use a Spoon

To shell a hard-boiled egg you can also use a spoon, it is a valid help but you need to do a bit of practice to perform the maneuver correctly without breaking the egg white and yolk. Once the egg is cooked you have to beat it lightly on the tip and remove a piece of the upper part, then you have to delicately insert a spoon between the egg and the shell and lever until the shell has come off completely. Be careful not to reach the tip of the spoon to the egg white, so as not to ruin it.

6. Blow on The Egg

This method may seem rather strange to you, but try it and you will discover that it ensures an excellent result. All you have to do, once the egg is cooked, is remove a small part of the shell from the base and the tip, place a bowl under the egg and blow into one of the two openings: the egg will "slip" out from the opposite side, perfectly intact and clean. Try it and believe it!

7. Roll The Egg

As unusual as the practice of blowing, egg rolling might surprise you, but it is a very simple and quick way to shell eggs. All you have to do, once they are cooked, is roll them on a surface, applying light pressure with the palm of your hand. When the hard-boiled eggshell comes into contact with the hard surface, it will begin to crumble, gradually separating from the egg white.