Easy Peel Hard Boiled Eggs

Okay, so in this case "hard boiled" is a bit of a lie. These are "hard cooked" eggs. And why it's easy to peel them is because we're cooking them in a pressure cooker. If you think that's crazy . . . then you're crazy. 'Cuz this is a friggin' miracle for the hard cooked egg lover, the egg salad lover, the deviled egg lover, and that rare and mystic creature . . . the sauce gribiche lover.

Now don't start with that, "But pressure cookers scare me!" Stuff it! Pressure cookers are awesome. You can tell your fear to suck it.

Not only do pressure cookers save a tremendous amount of time (short ribs in 25 minutes?!?! AMAZING), but, if you're a hippie, they save a lot of energy by taking less cooking time and putting less heat out into your home/apartment/garret.

You might see this method out there on etherwebnet (it'll likely be an article about or post by Laura Pazzaglia, pressure cooking goddess, at Hippressurecooking; her Cracked! Soft, Medium, and Hard "Boiled" Eggs in the pressure cooker from whence this method has become popularized is well worth visiting for this and many, Many, MANY more recipes). Mrs. Pazz uses a pressure cooker with a low pressure setting option (6 - 8 psi). Mine doesn't have that setting, it's only high pressure (12 - 15 psi) as probably most of the less expensive pressure cookers sold out there. My 8 quart Presto (all stainless, not aluminum) was in the $50 or $60 dollar range.

If you want the multiple pressure option you'll probably be paying in the $100 ballpark. A 6 quart Fagor on Amazon is right at $100, the 10 quart version is near $150. There are aluminum ones out there, but I'd stick with stainless as aluminum can possibly react with acidic foods.

It's not really necessary, at least not for the hard cooked variety. Just adjust your cooking time for soft boiled, medium, and hard. Maybe half the time for soft and somewhere in the middle of that and hard boiled for medium.

Look at the egg anatomy picture. See that big air sac at the bottom of the egg? This is the reason why this works. This is the natural explanation of this miracle: as the pressure builds in the cooker the trapped air is pressed and forced between the inner and outer membrane, separating them quite nicely.

You'll need a pressure cooker.
You'll need a number of eggs.
You'll need a strainer basket. Either the one that came with your pressure cooker or like the one I have.
You'll need one cup of water.
You'll need one timer.
And you'll need a glass of wine. Don't say, "No, I won't." YES, YOU WILL!

It's simple.

1. Put the steamer in the pressure cooker.
2. Put the eggs in the steamer.
3. Put the water in the pressure cooker.
4. Close the lid.
5. Turn on the heat to high.
6. When the pressure builds and the steam is coming out full bore, turn down the heat to produce a steady mellow stream of steam.
7. Start the timer, set for five minutes, the moment the pressure is up to full and steam is coming out.
8. Drink some wine. In fact you should have been drinking it while waiting for the pressure to build.
9. Once the timer goes off, remove the cooker from the heat.
10. Run cold water over the cooker to quick release the pressure.
11. Immediately open the cooker, put the eggs in a bowl, and run cold water over them to cool them off.
12. And then . . .

This is the easiest part. Look at the pictures where the shell came off in two whole pieces (pics 2,3,4). Easy as pie. Easy as punch. Piece of cake. Man, I'm hungry.

Go forth and cook eggs. This I command.