Boiled eggs will peel much easier if you add 1 thing to the water – not vinegar
This is often a very fiddly task, but it doesn't have to be difficult, as one kitchen staple added to the water makes it so much simpler.
Boiled eggs are a nostalgic favourite that always hit the spot. Whether you're serving them runny with soldiers or preparing them to put in a healthy salad, they're a good source of protein, and the cooking method doesn't involve any oil either.
However, the one downside to boiled eggs is how hard they can be to peel. The shell is notorious for coming off in tiny pieces, making the process irritating and time-consuming - especially when you're hungry. There are a few ways to make this easier, and there's one you might not have heard of, which involves putting one ingredient in the water as you boil your eggs.
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The trick was shared on TikTok by Creative Explained, a content creator known for his handy tips and tricks on how to make life easier. He's racked up an impressive 7.2 million followers thanks to his simple life hacks that anyone can follow.
Many of his tips are to do with food, and he recently shared a compilation of 12 different tips that aim to 'help you save money and time' in the kitchen.
When it comes to peeling boiled eggs, one popular hack is to roll the boiled egg around a few times before peeling so that the shell comes off easier. While this can be effective, the pro has suggested putting one thing in the boiling water which can work wonders - baking soda.
Apparently, all you need is one teaspoon of this fantastic multipurpose ingredient for boiled eggs that peel much easier. Simply add it to the water as the eggs are boiling, and the expert says this'll make the process of peeling the eggs much smoother.
According to the culinary pros at Allrecipes, this is backed by science. They say that adding baking soda to water increases its pH level as well as the pH of the egg whites.
Fresh eggs have a pH level on the lower end of the scale, which increases over several days if you keep the eggs in the fridge. The higher pH of older eggs allows the whites to separate from the inner shell membrane, which makes them easier to peel. So putting baking soda in the boiling egg water aims for this same result.
Another step you can take for easy-peel boiled eggs is to make sure you're giving them a good dunk in cold water after cooking. 10 minutes should be enough, but you need to make sure the water is ice-cold in order for it to be effective.
And when you're placing the eggs into the ice bath, try gently cracking them against each other. This will create a small gap for the water to gently flow in and start separating the membrane from the shell, according to one budding chef on Reddit.
The baking soda tip has proved popular on the Cooking thread, with one person writing: "I add baking soda to the boiling water and they peel easily every time. I also immediately put them in ice water after boiling."
