Boiled eggs are a classic breakfast food and can be incorporated into salad or other dishes, particularly for a protein boost, but one of the most tricky parts of making eggs this way is peeling them.
However, Kerry Whelpdale, known online for her recipes and travel and fashion content, has shared an easy hack. She posted a video on Instagram showing what she uses to remove egg shells with ease and it all comes down to adding one ingredient.
The content creator, whose recipes have been featured in BBC Good Food, starts by adding one teaspoon of baking powder to a pot of boiling water. Then she carefully places her eggs in and puts a lid on the pot.
Once the eggs are boiled she takes them out one at a time, cracks them on the edge of the pan and easily peels off the shell with her fingers. The results are perfect boiled eggs with no stubborn pieces of shell left on them.
In the caption of Instagram post she wrote: “Who else hates battling with boiled eggs that just won’t peel? Here’s the ultimate hack: add 1 tsp of baking powder (or bicarb of soda) to the water when boiling, and the shells practically slide off.
“Simple. Genius. Life-changing.” The clip has garnered thousands of views and a number of likes and comments. One user said: “Game changer.”
Another added: “Wow [I] need to try this, you clever clogs.” The type of eggs you choose are also thought to have an impact on how easy they are to peel.
Eggs that are a few days old are known to be easier to peel than farm fresh ones because they have a less acidic pH level so the egg white is less likely to stick to the inner shell membrane. There are other hacks for easy-to-peel boiled eggs, including placing them in ice water.
Chef Christopher Kimball, co-founder of America’s Test Kitchen and Cook’s Country, and head of 177 Milk Street, a magazine, podcast, TV show, and cooking school, previously called ice water the “holy grail” for perfectly peelable eggs.
In a TikTok video, Kimball explained: “The trick here is a big ice bath for three minutes. Get the inside of the egg to get smaller, pull away from the shell and now it’s going to be easy to peel.”
He went on to add: “There we go, finally the holy grail is boiling them for eight minutes for 40 seconds and put them in a big ice bath for three minutes. And every egg, not 80 percent, not 90 percent, every egg is going to be easy to peel.”