Thing One and Thing Two

[prillalar]

Thing that most makes me feel like a failure: Peeling hard-cooked eggs. They fall apart in my hands almost every time. I see videos on YouTube of people blowing the whole shell off in one go. And then there's me, the Great Egg Mangler.

Thing that most makes me feel like a success: That time I got linked on Slashdot.

Thing that gets me through the day: Coffee and my iPod and the pretty boy in the next cubicle.

Thing that I want: A pic of Maggie Simpson and Kaoru-chan playing blocks together.

Thing that I have: Peace and love.

Thing that I love: Cheese and robots and you. In that order.

Thing that I am: Late! As in, for work. Not as in the Late Great Hal.

Comments

[barkley.livejournal.com]

Oooh, I think you may be part of the problem with the hard cooked eggs. Did you know that there are ways you can cook them so you too can be part of the Great Peeling Elite? I forget what they are, and I too am a mangler, but they exist and it's all on the cooking side where things go awry!

[telophase.livejournal.com]

I researched ways to peel eggs without mangling them, and I apply all of them, and my eggs turn out 95% mangle-free. I don't know if it's one or if it's all of them in combination, but I'm not going to mess with a good thing.

1. Use older eggs. Not ones fresh from the store, but a week old at least, and two weeks is better. Reason: the innards shrink away from the shell a bit as they age.

2. Put a bit of salt and a splash of vinegar in the water you use to boil them. I suspect this may be placebo, but I'm not going to argue with success. It doesn't flavor the egg.

3. Bring the eggs to a boil, boil for precisely 17 minutes.

4. Drain the hot water, cover with cool water.

5. Take an egg. Crack one end on the counter. Crack the other end on the counter. Place it on the counter on it's side and give it one good roll, so it cracks around the circumference. (If you roll too hard, you end up cracking the insides. Takes practice. XD)

6. Peel egg, starting from either the wide end, or from wherever the shell is hanging off the egg. Hold it under running water frequently: every time your fingers get too hot, or every time the shell seems reluctant to come away from the innards.

As I said, I've got a 95% success rate now. :)

(And ignore everyone who says just "Mine come out perfect every time. The secret is to peel from the wide end." Uh, the secret is something in addition to peeling from the wide end, because I have always peeled from the wide end and before I developed the above overcompensation, most of my eggs ended up mangled.

[michalyn.livejournal.com]

The salt and vinegar help by raising the boiling point of the water so your egg cooks faster :D

[telophase.livejournal.com]

Except that there is nowhere near enough (http://www.seed.slb.com/qa2/FAQView.cfm?ID=1112) of either in them to raise the temp by enough to make a practical difference. :) It's, like, half a teaspoon salt and less than a tablespoon vinegar.

I suspect I'd get the same results with leaving them out, but I'm superstitious enough to leave them in for now. (If I were properly scientific, I'd start taking elements away one by one in test batches until I'd narrowed it down enough.)

[michalyn.livejournal.com]

Oh wow I guess that really is a placebo effect. LOL

[telophase.livejournal.com]

:D I suspect it's using older eggs and running it under the tap while peeling that's the true key. XD

[oneminutemovies.livejournal.com]

Using older eggs is the one that makes a big difference, I've found.

[prillalar]

The older eggs is a good one -- I haven't been paying attention to that. I do peel them underwater and I peel them soon after cooking b/c if leave them til the next day, I might as well not even bother.

[prillalar]

I knew I must be failing at *something* there. It's just sad that people are so quick to judge someone based on their egg peeling technique.

[michalyn.livejournal.com]

The trick to peeling eggs perfectly is to crack the egg once or twice (don't crack it so that the shell is in many pieces) then peel while running the egg under cold water. You should then have perfectly smooth egg :).

Oh, and I should add: Don't throw the hot water away. I usually dip the peeled egg in there once it's "naked" to get it nice and hot again since I was running it under cold water to peel it.

[prillalar]

Sadly, I already do this. I'm starting to think it's genetic, like good cheekbones.

[love_archived]

Thing that I want: A pic of Maggie Simpson and Kaoru-chan playing blocks together.

This makes me almost want to Photoshop it.

[prillalar]

I tried that and it didn't go so well. But now I don't need to. :)

http://alice-and-lain.livejournal.com/219684.html

[shikishi.livejournal.com]

Hal.

[alice-and-lain.livejournal.com]

Coffee and my iPod and the pretty boy in the next cubicle.

Oh my god, ain't it the truth. Coffee and good tunes are a source of life. Unfortunately, I don't have a pretty boy in the next cubicle to me. There is a pretty girl, but she ignores me pretty hardcore. She's somewhat whiny, though, so it's not loss. The closest pretty thing I have is a good twenty feet away.

A pic of Maggie Simpson and Kaoru-chan playing blocks together.

*laughs* I'm sure someone will draw it for you. Hell, I might this weekend, if I get sufficiently bored.

[prillalar]

The boy is not only pretty, he's sweet too, so that's extra-good.

♥ for you and the super-cute pic!

[illuminations.livejournal.com]

The egg is going to be mush in your stomach anyway, so you're just being efficient!

[prillalar]

Hee! The problem is I peel them in advance to take to work. And a container full of egg mush is too embarassing to eat at my desk.

[illuminations.livejournal.com]

Oh. Then I don't know what to tell you. I've actually never experienced such tragic egg-peeling incidents.

[squidlet.livejournal.com]

I do this for bento, so you can imagine ruined eggs go straight into my mouth - cholesterol at 10pm yum.

After boiling the egg just leave it to sit around until it cools. Hell, chuck it in the fridge and go take a long shower. When the egg is chill to the touch, drop the bugger on the countertop and roll it around until the shell is cracked all over. Start at the broad end where the air bubble is, and voila.

[prillalar]

Maybe I'm not leaving them long enough after cooking. Hmm.

When you do them for bento, do you ever use moulds to shape them? That seems like it would be really cute.

[squidlet.livejournal.com]

The problem with using moulds is that the eggs have to still be soft - which is what is causing massive egg ruinage in the first place.

But car/bear eggs would be soo cute.

[histoirede.livejournal.com]

Maybe French eggs are different because it's quite rare I actually ruin eggs while peeling them. Most of the time when it doesn't work, we always assume it's the egg's fault here anyway.

[prillalar]

I think you're just a superior human being. :)

[histoirede.livejournal.com]

Well, this possibility exists too.

[postingwhore.livejournal.com]

When were you linked on slashdot? :OOOO

[prillalar]

It was nearly ten years ago. And something unassociated with my fandom identity, so I won't say what it was.

[postingwhore.livejournal.com]

I figured it was not fandom associated. That's really cool!