Soft Boiled Eggs

[rdm_magic]

Hey guys,

So the place I work has to soft boil about 1000 eggs every week, with the prospect of that going up.

Currently we just boil them for 5 and a half mins, shock in iced water and peel them, but I'm wondering if there is any tips anyone has to speed it up, and make it easier (we're losing quite a lot when we peel them).

Cheers

 

[dwalker]

The one constant I've found with boiled eggs of any doneness is that they are easier to peel when done in a pressure cooker. I don't know if that is feasible for the numbers you are doing, but you might look into it. I've easily done 2 dozen in an instant pot at once at home. Even my hours old eggs from my backyard chickens fall out of the shell.

 

[erickso1]

Do you have the time and settings you use for the instant pot?

 

[Xenif]

I find much easier shell release when poking a pin hole on the bottom of the egg.

 

[dwalker]

Do you have the time and settings you use for the instant pot?

Hard boiled:

High pressure, 5 min cook, 4 min natural release, purge pressure, immediate into ice bath 5 min, peel.

Soft boiled:

High pressure, 3 min cook, purge pressure, immediate ice bath , 2 min if you want to eat warm, peel and eat.

 

[McMan]

I find much easier shell release when poking a pin hole on the bottom of the egg.

+1.
It's an old Jacques Pepin trick. Use a push pin to poke a hole in the fat end not the pointy end.

 

[dwalker]

+1.
It's an old Jacques Pepin trick. Use a push pin to poke a hole in the fat end not the pointy end.

I've tried this as well, not as reliable as a pressure cooker IME. I love boiled eggs and have tested every remedy for hard to peel eggs I could find. The only methods that are consistently effective for me are the pressure cooker or very old (2 weeks plus) eggs.

 

[Xenif]

I agree that pressure cooked is easiest to peel, but im not sure the op's volume allows him to use an IP.
The basic mechanism behind it is fresher eggs have more dissolved CO2 in it fizzy eggs) that more acidic egg white binds more tightly to the keratin in the membrane. Older eggs, had more CO2 escaped, thus less acidic (flat eggs), less stick.

 

[dwalker]

Surely, for 1k eggs / week a commercial pressure cooker able to handle the volume (143 eggs/day) is available. If not, 6 instant pots would do the job. Still cost effective if you have the bench space. That is cooking them all at once as well. If you were to devote 1 person and 3 hours to the task, you could get away with 2 or 3 instant pots. I cant imagine that a larger volume, more cost effective solution in pressure cookers isn't readily available.

 

[RonB]

You could also steam them in a covered pot. 12 min gives you hard boiled, but I haven't tried soft boiled. Follow this with 5 min in an ice bath for slightly warm. I have never tried this with a large amount of eggs though. Another tip is to peel them under running water. That helps remove the shell, and prevents those tiny pieces from sticking. Piercing the large end allows the air trapped there to be released as pressure builds and helps prevent cracking while cooking.

 

[Paraffin]

Easiest egg peel I've experienced is steaming in a pot with covered lid. An inch or two of water boiling in the bottom of the pot, then I put the eggs in a steamer basket and leave 'em for 14 minutes. Remove, dunk in cold (not iced) water and peel under running water. Shells come right off with no damage to the eggs. That 14 minutes is for what I'd consider a hardboiled egg with the yolk just barely firmed up, the way I like 'em. Adjust to taste.

There is something about steaming that moderates the cook enough to get the shells off easier.

I'm sure pressure cooking does it faster. For a production environment, steaming in pots may be easier to scale up unless you have commercial pressure cookers.

 

[Von blewitt]

I steam them in a stove top Chinatown style steamer for 6 minutes, refresh in ice water, tap to break the shell and return to the ice water for a few minutes helps to separate the shell a bit easier.

If I was doing 1000 a week I'd look into the pressure cooker

 

[S-Line]

A little vinegar or lemon juice is all you need. I cook them at work daily, drop eggs slowly in boiling water with splash of lemon juice or vinegar. Wait 6min and shock with ice bath.

You're welcome

 

[TEWNCfarms]

Hey guys,

So the place I work has to soft boil about 1000 eggs every week, with the prospect of that going up.

Currently we just boil them for 5 and a half mins, shock in iced water and peel them, but I'm wondering if there is any tips anyone has to speed it up, and make it easier (we're losing quite a lot when we peel them).

Cheers

Add salt and vinegar to the water and the shells will just fall off

 

[TEWNCfarms]

A little vinegar or lemon juice is all you need. I cook them at work daily, drop eggs slowly in boiling water with splash of lemon juice or vinegar. Wait 6min and shock with ice bath.

You're welcome

Yeah what s line said, I didn’t finish reading all the replies before I posted. I add salt too extra ease

 

[aaamax]

this is the ONLY sure fire way that I know. And over here in Swedass, we go through a lot of eggs!

...or very old (2 weeks plus) eggs.

 

[mille162]

You could also steam them in a covered pot. 12 min gives you hard boiled, but I haven't tried soft boiled. Follow this with 5 min in an ice bath for slightly warm. I have never tried this with a large amount of eggs though. Another tip is to peel them under running water. That helps remove the shell, and prevents those tiny pieces from sticking. Piercing the large end allows the air trapped there to be released as pressure builds and helps prevent cracking while cooking.

Steam perfect anytime (and any quantity). I stole this method from Cooking Illustrated.

Bring 1/2” of water to hard boil in a pot. Size of pot depends on # of eggs you’re boiling.

Place eggs into pan gently and cover with lid.

Steam for 6:30, then ice bath.

Room temp eggs give slightly custard yolk while fresh from fridge cold eggs give a perfect runny yolk. 6:35 sets the white too much, 6:25 has a hint of transparency still. 6:30 is perfect set white. Adjust time for your final needs.

If peeling multiple, i lay them all out on dish towel, give a light crack and roll all over and then try to get the shell off attached to the membrane in one peel. Running water sees to help with this too.


Original article & the science here: https://www.cooksillustrated.com/articles/77-foolproof-soft-cooked-eggs