Peel an Egg

Removing the shell from a hard boiled egg can be painstaking work, but with this simple process it will take you less than three seconds every time.

Steps

 * 1)  Prepare a hard boiled egg in salty water and let it cool. Soaking in ice water is a good way to speed up this process. Deliberately cracking the shell after boiling when still hot will promote having the egg pull away from the shell during the cooling process.
 * 2)  [[Image:IMG_1098_edited 1.jpg|250px|right]]Crack the shell at each end by firmly tapping the egg onto a hard surface such as a counter.  Do one end, and then the other.  There is an air bubble in the wide end of the egg; you want to crush this.
 * 3)  [[Image:IMG_1099_edited 1.jpg|250px|right]]Place the side of the egg on a counter and roll forward for one revolution with your palm firmly down on the top of the egg.
 * 4)  [[Image:IMG_1103_edited 1.jpg|250px|right]]Submerge the egg in a bowl of warm water and slip the entire shell off in less than a second.

Alternate Methods

 * When eggs are done boiling, pour off boiling water, cover eggs with cold water, cover pan with snug fitting lid and shake pan vigorously. When you open the lid, the shell will be broken into hundreds of tiny pieces and simply rinse off the eggs.  This is very quick and easy.
 * Slide a spoon in between the egg and the shell, and pop it out. This works rather fast, but it is tricky. Be careful not to damage the egg during the process, and the egg has a tendency to fly all over the place sometimes.
 * Try using a clean pin to puncture the shell at the wide end of the egg, which will let air out of the pocket that exists there. This will help minimize the chance that the egg will crack when boiled.  You'll want to leave the membrane intact, so just puncture the shell.
 * Boil the egg; when done (10 minutes for hard boiled), quickly dump the boiling water. Refill the pot with very cold water from the tap; the egg will contract and the shell will peel off without ripping the egg white. Be careful to do this only if your pot can withstand the rapid temperature change! A better method is to use a ladle or small strainer to remove the eggs to a bowl of ice water.
 * Put a tablespoon of vinegar in the water to help with the peeling.
 * Cover cold eggs with cold salty water. Bring to a full boil. Turn off the heat and cover the pot and leave alone. The heat in the water will continue to cook the eggs as it slowly cools.

Tips

 * If you are making egg salad, let the peeled egg dry for ten seconds. If you don't, the thin covering of water will not mix properly with the mayonnaise.
 * Don't over-boil the egg. If you do, the shell will fracture into hundreds of very small pieces and not peel easily at all. Worse, the interior of the shell may stick to the egg, and you will end up peeling part of the egg away with the shell.
 * Put salt in the water before boiling. The eggs will be easier to peel, the salt stops the egg from leaking out if the egg cracks while boiling and adds to the flavor too.
 * Older eggs are easier to peel. If you can avoid boiling the eggs on the same day you buy them, do it!.

Things You'll Need

 * Hard boiled egg
 * Bowl of warm water

Related

 * How to Hard Boil an Egg
 * How to Boil an Easy Egg
 * How to Poach the Perfect Egg Without an Egg Poacher
 * How to Cook a Poached Egg