Kitchen Challenge: Hard-Boiled Eggs, Part III

Welcome back to the third week of the grand hard-boiled egg experiment! In the previous two installments, I endeavored to test three experimental egg cooking methods that would yield easily peel-able and beautifully presentable hard-boiled eggs. My control eggs, also known as the way I've been doing it for decades, consists of placing the cold eggs into the pan, filling it with cold water so that it covers the eggs by about an inch or so, bringing them to a boil, boiling them for one minute, then moving the pan to a cool burner and placing the lid on for eleven minutes.

While none of these methods have changed since the last two posts, I was hoping that by this third installment, the control group would be easier to peel because of the age of the eggs (yet another theory I am testing). The theory is that as the eggs get older, the membrane between the shell and the albumen begins to break down. With this breaking down of the membrane, the resulting hard-boiled egg should be easier to peel. How did this week's eggs fare? Let's find out!

As always, we start with the control group:

Control Group

6 cups of cold tap water
Time to come to boil: 11 minutes, 55 seconds
Time boiling: 1 min
Time sitting off heat: 11 minutes
Time cooled under cold water: 3 minutes

Control group ratings:
* Ease of peeling: 6
* Outer appearance: 6
* Texture: 10
* Taste: 10

As an entire group, this week's control was easier to peel, two of them still gave me considerable trouble while the third was a total breeze (easily a 10 on its own). Two of the eggs were potmarked with missing albumen, but the third was perfect. While this was an improvement over last week's control eggs, they still didn't beat the first week's numbers.



Commercial Egg Cooker

Time in the egg cooker: ~16 minutes, 30 seconds
Time cooled under cold water: 3 minutes
Water adjustment: - 1/2 tablespoon

Commercial Egg Cooker ratings:
* Ease of peeling: 10
* Outer appearance: 10
* Texture: 9
* Taste: 10

As it has consistently done so far, the Egg Cooker from Cuisinart has produced easily peel-able eggs with a flawless appearance. Clearly this is emerging as the front-runner for those wishing no-fuss peeling and visually perfect eggs. As for the second 9 in a row for texture, the egg is just about perfect, but not quite as ultra-tender as when I cook it using a non-automatic method. We're talking shades of gray here. For most people, it would rate a 10.



Baking Soda In The Water

6 cups of cold tap water
1 teaspoon Arm & Hammer baking soda (sodium bicarbonate)
Time to come to boil: 11 minutes, 45 seconds
Time boiling: 1 min
Time sitting off heat: 11 minutes
Time cooled under cold water: 3 minutes

Baking Soda In The Water group ratings:
* Ease of peeling: 9
* Outer appearance: 9
* Texture: 10
* Taste: 10

The trick to getting these eggs to peel easily was to get underneath the membrane. Then, the shell separated easily from the albumen. This time around, there were just a few very minor blemishes. Almost a 10, but not quite.



Salt In The Water and Egg Pricked

6 cups of cold tap water
2 tablespoons kosher salt (sodium chloride)
Time to come to boil: 11 minutes, 50 seconds
Time boiling: 1 min
Time sitting off heat: 11 minutes
Time cooled under cold water: 3 minutes

Salt In The Water and Egg Pricked group ratings:
* Ease of peeling: 10
* Outer appearance: 10
* Texture: 10
* Taste: 10

Once again for a second week in a row, the "salt and prick" method comes out with perfectly peel-able and presentable eggs.


The astute among you will notice that the time it took to bring the water to boil (as well as the time it took the egg cooker to complete its cooking cycle) was noticeably less than in previous weeks. While it is certainly possible that the humidity levels and atmospheric pressure changed in my apartment, the more likely culprit is that I bought a room fan to help circulate the air and was able to raise the ambient temperature of my living space by several degrees. I will make sure not to change the thermostat before next week's final installment and see if the "bring-to-boil" times match this week's results.

In terms of overall peeling and presentation ratings, the Cuisinart Egg Cooker continues to excel at its uni-tasker ability. That being said, the "salt and prick" method has now scored a second week of dual 10's and is quickly becoming the favorite non-uni-tasker method for getting consistent easily peeled and flawless hard-boiled eggs. After this week's installment, I could begin to make some generalizations, but I will wait until the final post, next Friday, to enter the results of the final installment of this grand "eggsperiment" and look to draw some conclusions. Until then, happy egg peeling!