I never have a problem peeling eggs.  I just boil them, then crack them under the cooling water so that water gets under the shell.  Once the water gets between the shell and the egg, the shell comes right off -- without spitting at the egg.  That may be ok if you eat the egg yourself, but what about others?  I may re-think eating someone else's egg salad or devilled eggs!  And I'm not being a germaphobe.  I do prefer to choose who I kiss!

I think raw eggs are much better (great in a milk shake!). And if hard-cooking them anyway, eight minutes is usually enough, so the 4 minutes of time you save you can use to peel them the old-school way.

But it's a nice trick though, and actually I'm going to try it once just for fun!

Eggs that aren't refrigerated peel a lot easier.

I remember that "eggstractor" thing on TV, BUT WAIT! IF YOU BUY RIGHT NOW YOU'LL GET TWO FOR THE PRICE OF ONE. LOL

It sounds like you've used it litihia so now I might go hunting for one :-) There's a Ross near me but I've never heard of Tuesday Morning.

Katie, you are right. Luci has been gone too long.

If you put a little salt into the water after it starts to boil, the shells come off pretty easy. I live in Ireland and eggs sold in the stores are not refrigerated. Coming from Texas, that was a culture shock. I didn't know that if I don't put them in the fridge, they will keep for weeks on the counter. As expensive as eggs are over here, I'm not sure I'm willing to test that theory.

We raise quail and supply fresh quail eggs to a local restaurant supplier. We eat the older ones (and this time of year, when demand is way down, we pitch way too many into the compost!)... usually hard-boiled.

One method of peeling quail eggs, which are tiny things, about a quarter the size of a standard chicken egg, or half the size of a bantam egg - is to soak them in vinegar. This softens the shell, making it "rubbery" and easier to peel.

Unfortunately, it also gives the egg itself an odd texture, it seems to me that it dissolves some of the calcium in the shell, and deposits it on the albumin. Instead of being entirely smooth, the egg white becomes a bit rough on the outside.

I haven't tried this method on chicken eggs, but those of you trying different things might want to try this one and see how you like it.

By far, my favorite method is to only hard-boil "old" eggs (2-3 weeks old or so).

I have my hen's eggs

So it is hard to peel and I used the hot water- cold water and running under water. nothing works.

except cracking the egg in half then

then scoping it out with a spoon.

It all comes out whole - in two solid pieces.

Wow - It gets very deep in here at times. I love the idea. I hate to stand over the sink and run water forever until I get all the shells off because there is nothing worse than sitting down and eating egg salad and finding a little sumptin sumptin in your salad. Thanks Doc. I love your sense of humor. Be Blessed.

Islander is right about the store bought eggs.  The reason is that eggs have tiny, tiny holes in them for air to pass through (I'm no biology teacher so this is the only way I know how to explain it).  The older the egg, the more air in the egg.  The best way to test the freshness of eggs is to put them in a large bowl or sink full of cold water.  If the egg lays on its side on the bottom of the bowl or sink, it is very fresh.  If it stands on its end it is still good but not as fresh.  If it floats to the top YUCK, throw it OUT.  This is how I determine which eggs I boil.  I have 3 hens that my kids collect the eggs from every few days and when I get a good supply of them I go through and check the eggs.  The ones I boil are the ones that stand on their end in the water.  And another thing, farm fresh eggs (or sub-division fresh eggs HAHA) do not need to be put into the fridge.  If they are collected and then put into the fridge you can't take them out without them going bad but if they are never cooled they will stay good out on the countertop for several weeks.  Hope this helps!!

Hi Folks,  About 2-3 years ago, there was an infomercial on the "Eggstractor". Same concept exactly but you don't have to blow (spit as some of you said) on the egg to remove it from the shell. You COULD wash the egg after blowing it out of the shell. I found the "Eggstractor" at BigLots for $3.00 and bought one for each person in the family. It works! I have also seen them at Ross and Tuesday Morning,  I didn't know about the baking soda but will sure try that.

What I have heard is that the sulphur smell (gray around the yolk) happens if you don't get the "boiling egg" into cold water quick enough to stop that process from happening.  I have had good luck taking one egg at a time out of the boiling water and cracking slightly on sink edge then immersing in icewater and peeling in the icewater or under running water then leaving the egg in the ice water till completely cooled.

any comments on the mechanics of that sulphur creation?

That is so totall