How To Steam Eggs for Perfect Peeling
Ohmygosh, y’all. This is a post that will forever change your egg peeling life (not even close to kidding!).
Are ya ready?
Let’s go!
Steamed hardboiled eggs?!
Let’s talk about this for a hot second, shall we?
Steamed eggs are the way to go, not only for ease of peeling, but for ease of cooking.
No fiddling with pots of boiling water = I’m in.
Steaming hard boiled eggs!
I’m so stinkin’ excited to divulge the secret to easy peel hard boiled eggs.
Except it’s not a secret – cause HELLO! – Internet! – it’s steaming eggs!
I don’t know about you, but I’ve never had luck peeling fresh hard boiled eggs (until now).
Look at ’em – those eggs are a dream, aren’t they?
Why not to hard boil your eggs in a pot of water.
Is it just me or is everyone on the Internet telling you how to make the perfect hard-boiled egg?
Which is why I laughed when I made a batch of hard-boiled eggs and they told me to SUCK IT! (i didn’t really laugh till I thought it would make a funny post. I mostly cursed a blue-streak)
Exhibit A of hard boiled eggs gone wrong:
Even Dexter was giving those eggs the side-eye.
Exhibit B of hard boiled eggs gone wrong:
Is it so hard to give me gorgeous eggs JUST ONCE?!
Sheesh.
For the record, I think most hard-boiled eggs turn out like this and I wanted to keep it real and show you just how these badboys one-upped me by refusing to release their blasted membrane.
Things I’d rather do than peel a hard boiled egg that hasn’t been steamed:
- Brush my teeth with a twigs.
- Hang out with that one obnoxious neighbor that squirts you with the water hose as you walk near, but not on, their lawn.
- Teach the frog dissection part of a biology class (hurk!).
- Hold hands with a clammy-handed relative at an outdoor party during a humid summer.
- Eat supper with no dessert.
Seriously, it’s that awful and frustrating, right?
My hope is that one day, when you read a chirpy tutorial, and see the amazing pics that make you feel inadequate, you’ll know what really happens more often than not.
Except for THIS chirpy tutorial!
No. Really.
Show of hands: who struggles with getting a perfect peel on your hard-boiled eggs?
Who prays over the pot of boiling eggs, asking that they release their shells – just. this. one. time.
Who gives up in disgust when the peels openly mock us and STICK WITH ALL THEY GOTS?
EVER’ONE!
The struggle of the perfect peel is real, yo!
Y’all – until I discovered this new-to-me method, peeling hard boiled eggs was a fight to the death!
I have never had luck peeling fresh hard boiled eggs.
Never.
Ever.
You know that Internet meme: pics or it didn’t happen?
Yeah.
Again – the hard proof of my eggs pretty much ever’ danged time I tried to make deviled eggs.
That’s EXACTLY how they looked upon peeling, every danged time.
Dem eggs is mocking me.
Ain’t no one asking me to bring the deviled eggs to any holiday meal. Nuh-uh. Nope.
Nightmare provoking, I tells ya.
It didn’t matter what super-guaranteed Internet method I had tried before, I’d end up with eggs that look like they had been in a bar fight and lost.
I see ya nodding; you understand.
You have been where I once was.
You have never been asked to bring the delightful deviled egg to the show.
Nobody wants that on their table.
Worst club ever.
So, what is the deal to get your eggs to look like the first pic of smooth as silk eggs?
Do you stand on one foot? Do you do the hokey pokey? Do you throw in seasoning? What kind of eggs should we use?
What is the danged secret?!
Steam. Egg.
Let’s start with the eggs themselves.
Do you need to use older eggs when steaming?
Did you notice I used the word “fresh” in the intro above?
Basically, there is a school of thought that states you must let your eggs age for a week or so, in order to let the membrane that surrounds the egg to loosen its grip on the shell.
That sticky membrane is the culprit for shells that don’t want to come off cleanly.
Those folks say, if you desire easy peel hard boiled eggs, let the egg age a bit.
And whatever you do – don’t use fresh eggs.
NOT TRUE!
While you can use older eggs, and they’ll do great, you can also use the dreaded fresh, harder to peel, eggs.
Where do you find a fresh egg?
Obviously, farm fresh eggs are the freshest.
Know any farmers with chickens? Get thee to the coop!
But, the eggs you get from the grocery store (or backyard chickens, if you’re a lucky duck) are also fairly fresh (just not from the chicken’s budunkadunk fresh), especially if you use within a few days.
Fresh being a relative term for grocery store eggs.
Who lol’d?
Fresh schmesh.
You and I know that we buy eggs and sometimes don’t use them for months.
KIDDING!
The fact is: the older the egg, the easier they are to peel once hard boiled.
Grocery store eggs go through a wash before packaged and that allows air to cross the shell into the egg, causing the membrane to shrink away from the shell, thus allowing an easier to peel egg.
Age has the same effect.
SCIENCE!
While, I have bought fresh eggs and let them age a week or so before boiling, hoping to get smooth eggs, they still mocked me as I tried to pull the shell away from the membrane in a pattern that didn’t resemble a scalping.
YOU CAN’T HAVE OUR SHELLS, WOMAN!
NEVAH!!!
Nothing ever seemed to work.
Which brings us to the not so secret, secret: steaming your eggs to a hard boil.
How to steam eggs in a steamer.
…or as I heard in my head: how to steam eggs in a steamer, Steamer McGee.
So. Much. Steam.
I had never ever heard of steaming eggs to achieve the perfectly peeled hard boil, and even as I read through the directions on how to get the perfect hard boil, I side-eyed the article.
Why?
Steam.
The method utilizes steam.
WHAT?!
Anyone? Has anyone among you heard of this method?
I didn’t think it would work, but steaming eggs seemed like a fun experiment, so – why not.
Steamed Eggs
Ingredients:
12 raw eggs
Instructions for steamed eggs:
- In a covered pot that holds a steamer basket, bring a couple of inches of water to a boil.
- Once water is boiling, place eggs in steamer basket.
- Cover pot and steam eggs, at a full boil, for 15 minutes.
- Once done, immediately place steamer basket with eggs into a large bowl of ice water.
- When the eggs are cool, crack and peel those bad boys.
These are the eggs I peeled on my first try:
Steamed Eggs in steamer are steamy dreamy!
I kid you not.
~i die~
The heavens parted and the angels sang: I had perfectly peeled hard boiled eggs for the first time in my life!
They were almost too beautiful to eat.
Almost.
I couldn’t believe how easily they peeled. How perfect they were.
Also, it is no egg-zaggeration to say that I wanted to go door to door in my neighborhood, showing off what could be – what is!
Look at these eggs! LOOK AT ‘EM!!! Aren’t they gorgeous? Don’t you wanna know how I did it?! You, too, can have beautiful eggs!
You’ll be relieved to know I didn’t, cause that’s just weird, but I totally wanted to.
Even now I wanna stop people everywhere and ask them if they’ve ever tried hard boiling their eggs with steam.
Again. I don’t.
Even OMT! has her limits.
DOES SO!
I will forever be grateful to the lowly steam pot and am now ready for the requests to bring the most perfect deviled eggs worthy of a holiday table, to any and all celebrations.
I know you come here to learn new things, so don’t doubt me on this lovely lesson.
Get yer perfectly peeled hard-boiled eggs on, y’all!
It’s a new day!
Thank you Internet and your weirdo articles that I side-eye, yet try. You’ve changed our deviled egg making ways.
I don’t know why you’re still reading.
Go!
Steam!
Perfectly peel!
Then take pics like I did and get to writing a proper thank you note.
Miss Manners would be so proud.
Happy Perfectly Peeling, Y’all!
How To: Steam Eggs for Perfect Peeling
If you're looking for how to get perfectly peel hard boiled eggs, look no further. You're about to make the most photogenic eggs you've ever seen. Thank you cards welcome!
Ingredients
- 12 raw eggs, in shell
Instructions
- In a covered pot that holds a steamer basket, bring a couple of inches of water to a boil.
- Once water is boiling, place eggs in steamer basket.
- Cover pot and steam eggs, at a full boil, for 15 minutes.
- Once done, immediately place steamer basket with eggs into a large bowl of ice water.
- When the eggs are cool, crack and peel those bad boys.
Notes
Keeping the temp high and the water boiling for the full 15 minutes of cook time has never failed to give me perfect eggs.
Recommended Products
As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1 eggAmount Per Serving: Calories: 85Total Fat: 5gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 186mgSodium: 71mgCarbohydrates: 3gFiber: 0gSugar: 0gProtein: 7g
Originally posted February 13, 2017. Updated January 17,2023
If you’re interested in having the Top 10 OMT! Recipes in one place (no searching!), click anywhere on the image below ▼
Rest yer weary fingers.
Except to click on the image.
You still have enough strength for that.
COME ON!
YOU CAN DO IT!
If you liked this how-to post, you might like these:
How to Clean Your Microwave, Volcano-Style!
How much fun is this tutorial! So fun!
How To Add a Jet to Your Bed Jet!
Our sleeping world changed the day we added the bed jet to our bed.
Truly a sleep-changer.
How To Cut a Copper Pipe
Long story short: We used the Autocut copper pipe cutter.
You should too.
Thank you for coming and ready how to steam eggs for perfect peeling.
Let me know how it works for you!
Trish
Wednesday 1st of June 2022
Have you ever tried using an electric steamer? I love mine and steam all kinds of things in it, so I'm going to give it a whirl.
Patti Tucker
Thursday 2nd of June 2022
I never have. Let us know how it goes!
Jean | Delightful Repast
Saturday 23rd of March 2019
Patti, I've been thinking about trying the steam method for a while but have never gotten around to trying it. Thanks for motivating me! And the "secret" is definitely not the ice bath because I've been doing that for years, with mixed results, as you replied to commenters. Will let you know how it goes! #PrettyPintastic
Patti Tucker
Saturday 23rd of March 2019
Yep, that danged ice bath is not reliable. I hope it works for you. I've been using it as my only method and for the most part (there's always a stubborn egg or two), I get beautiful eggs.