How to Shell a Hard-Cooked Egg

Hard boiled eggs are delicious, but sometimes they prove difficult to shell. The following steps will walk you through peeling the shell off the egg. Just remember, don't crack the egg too sharply or you'll sacrifice some of the egg along with the shell.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Hard-boiled Eggs
• Spoons

1. Hold a boiled egg in one hand and a spoon in the other.
2. Strike the egg with the edge of the spoon.
3. Rotate the egg 90 degrees and repeat.
4. Continue until the egg is cracked all the way around.
5. Hit the side of the egg above the crack.
6. Slightly squeeze the egg in the middle.
7. With a slight twisting motion, lift off the shell's top.
8. Hit the side of the egg below the crack.
9. With the same twisting motion, lift off the shell's bottom.

Tips & Warnings

• Only squeeze the egg a little or you will crush it.
• You can also shell an egg by rolling it gently on a hard surface until the shell is cracked into many small pieces. Remove the shell.
• The fresher an egg is, the harder it is to peel. If you can't get the shell off, put the egg into the freezer for a few minutes and try again.
• Even though they are thoroughly cooked, hard-boiled eggs need to be refrigerated.