Hard-boiled eggs are notoriously difficult to peel.
Cooking Tips
Can a Viral Peeling Trick Beat Our Longstanding Method for Hard-Boiled Eggs?
There’s been lots of buzz on social media about how tapping a raw egg before boiling can make it peel cleanly. We put that technique to the test.
By Published Feb. 23, 2024.
Chunks of white get stuck to the membrane lining the shell, creating pits that mar the egg's surface—especially disappointing when you want flawless specimens for deviled eggs or for garnishing a salad.
A while back, Deputy Food Editor Andrea Geary solved this dilemma by eschewing the traditional approach of starting hard-boiled eggs in cold water. Her method: steam the eggs over an inch of water.
But there's a different technique making the rounds on social media: gently tapping a raw egg with a spoon before boiling.
While the results looked convincing, we won’t accept anything as truth without testing it ourselves. So, does it work?
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The Viral Approach
On social media, we saw people suggest that before plunging them in cold water, you should gently tap the wide ends of your raw eggs five or six times with the back of a teaspoon.
Tapping purportedly detaches the membrane (the clear film lining eggshells) from the shell, eliminating the sticking issue from the get-go.
Our Testing
When we tested this technique on a dozen eggs started in cold water, we found that it does work, though not as consistently as our steaming method.
Only eight of the 12 tapped eggs released cleanly. Meanwhile, our Easy-Peel Hard-Boiled Eggs method produced 12 out of 12 utterly smooth eggs.
Why Our Method Works Better
Unfortunately, tapping eggs is an inexact science.
In our approach, by adding the eggs directly to the hot steam environment as opposed to giving them a slow start in cold water, the outermost egg proteins begin to denature rapidly. They seize and bond together, which causes them to pull away from the membrane instead of sticking to it.
That means the egg shell slips right off every time.
Our recommendation: Stick with our method. Not only will your eggs peel cleanly every time, but they'll be perfectly cooked in 13 minutes with tender whites and moist yolks.