You don't need spoon, vinegar, or ice bath to peel the perfect soft boiled eggs. This is a FOOLPROOF guide for any newbie to peel smooth soft boiled eggs, that will not break or rip the egg whites.
00:00 Introduction
00:58 The quick (but not easy) method
01:56 Why ice water "shocking" is misleading
02:36 If you don't have an ice maker
03:39 Ice-free way to peel soft boiled quail eggs
04:13 The easy way, no water bath needed
05:25 Marinate the eggs for ramen or rice bowl
Related Videos:
Alkaline Ramen from scratch: • Kansui Ramen from Scra...
Stove-top No-Bake Creme Brûlée: • Stove top Creme Brulee...
Stove-top Single-serve Flan: • No-Bake Flan/Crème Car...
I tested out the myth, the half-truth, and the tried and true methods around peeling soft boiled eggs. To really get a hang of the technique, it is important to know what works, why they work, and to what extent each "hack" works.
The useless: spoon "hacks". You can eat soft boiled egg with a spoon, you can't peel one with a spoon. The peeling hack really shouldn't pass a smell test - spoons are of different sizes and curvatures, as are eggs. It literally doesn't make sense that there's one for all solution. It just sounds so good that we want to believe it's true.
The semi-effective: vinegar. Acid legitimately corrodes egg shells. Adding vinegar to boiling water will indeed make the eggshell thinner, which would make things easier if you're peeling while the egg whites are still tender. But brittle shell doesn't change the tenderness of the egg whites, which are still prone to ripping/breaking.
The effective, but unnecessary: ice water. Ice water bath works, if you understand why; they're not completely fail-safe if you're mistaking the mechanism in which they work. The reason ice water works is not so much that it "shocks" the eggshell - eggshells don't go through thermo shock the way glasses and stonewares do. Rarely (if ever) do you see eggshells shatter when dunked in ice water. If you think "shocking" the eggs is what does the trick, you may very well pull out the eggs before they're thoroughly chilled, which would render the ice bath ineffective. The reason ice water works is that it is much colder than tap water, and therefore more effective at cooling down the eggs fast. Cooled protein is more firm. I call this the "creme brûlée effect" - think how creme brûlée tend to be jiggly right out of the oven, but sets firmer as they cool in the fridge for hours or overnight. Take this reasoning a step further, you can achieve the same effect without any ice bath, if you don't have an ice maker attached to your fridge.
The simple & effective: repeated cold tap rinse until water no longer warms up, and surface of eggs are thoroughly cooled down (at least to room temperature). The center may still be a bit warm, and radiates heat to the egg whites a little, but if you wait until the surface of the eggs no longer warms up, the egg whites tend to be a little more firmed up compared to when they're piping hot.
The foolproof: cook the eggs for 7 min, dunk in cold tap to prevent cooking from residual heat, and refrigerate the eggs overnight. The throughly cooled eggs will be very easy to peel, without the need for vinegar, ice, or even a water bath. The egg whites will set even firmer than rinsed ones that are cooled to room temperature. They should peel almost like a hard boiled egg.
Note: super fresh eggs are harder to peel than slightly aged eggs. If you got premium organic farmer's market eggs, enjoy them sunny side up or scrambled. Use plain standard supermarket eggs for marinated soft boiled eggs. You won't notice the difference when the marinade soaks through and the eggs are served with brothy noodles.