hard boiled eggs wont peel cleanly.

[richard p]

im having trouble with hard boiled eggs, the eggs are max 3 days old, placed in cold water brought to the boil and boiled for about 5 mins then left to cool in cold water then kept in the fridge for a day or two . trouble is i cant peel them properly, the shell is sticking to the white and impossible to remove cleanly. the surface of the egg ends up looking like a chicken has been pecking at it. what am i doing wrong?

[oldherbaceous]

Dear Richard p, i think the answer is in that they are only up to three days old.
I have had the same problem with fresh eggs in the past..
I'm not sure how old they have to be before this stops happening, i'm sure someone will be able to let us know, or you could just keep leaving them for an extra day until you get them peeling cleanly.

[Geoff]

Hard boiled eggs are an abomination, that and scrambling them is a waste of good eggs!

[richard p]

oh, my gut feeling is that freshness is involved somehow
geoff, theres nothiong like munching half a dozen hard boiled eggs at the airport and on the flight to annoy the teenage kids at the start of a holiday whilst i agree poorly cooked scrambled eggs are dire, done well they are hard to beat, we had some this morning.

[Chantal]

Blimey Richard, I'd not want to sit next to YOU in an enclosed space after that little lot.

[Catherine]

I dont peel my eggs. I put them in cold water and bring to the boil then boil for 1 minute switch the heat off and leave in the hot water for 7 minutes then put into cold water for a short while till you can handle them. Then I slice the top of the egg off and spoon out with a teaspoon (a bit like you would eat an boiled egg with toast). and chop finely to make my sandwiches. It works well for me.

[Belinda]

One thing you could try - when they are cool gently tap them on a surface and then roll along, crumpling and cracking the shell all the way round, but not breaking it too much. Then when they go back into cold water the water finds it's way between the surface of the egg and the inside of the membrane lining the shell, making them easier to peel.

[Beryl]

I agree with OH fresh eggs hard boiled don't peel well. Use eggs at least a week old. Test by putting in a saucepan of cold water and if the egg stands on its point its stale and will peel. To avoid the black ring round the yolk don't over cook - 6-7 mins should be ample even for a large egg.

Beryl.