The perfectly cooked and easily peeled hard-boiled egg is a goal anyone making deviled eggs or egg salad hopes to achieve. Since getting chickens a few years ago, I have tried various ways of boiling eggs to make this happen, and one of them has consistently worked the best: steaming the eggs in my Instant Pot.

Not everyone has an Instant Pot (electric pressure cooker), but I believe enough people have one in their kitchen these days to make this suggestion worth publishing. I always use my Instant Pot these days as it takes less time and requires less supervision – no worrying about pots boiling over! I also have the timing down for consistent results, which helps me in my busy kitchen. Even if you do not use an Instant Pot, the secret weapon for easy peeling seems to be the same no matter how you cook your eggs: the ice bath.

Steam those Eggs

Prepare your Instant Pot by putting the seal in the lid and the trivet in the stainless steel pot. Pour one cup of water in the bottom, then place one dozen (twelve) eggs carefully on the trivet. Put on the lid and make sure the release valve is closed. Hit the Steam button and set it for 5 minutes. Note that it will take longer than 5 minutes total as it takes time for the Instant Pot to come to pressure before the actual five minute cook time. Shut off the Keep Warm function.

Once the timer goes off, allow the eggs to stay in the pot and the pressure to naturally release (basically, don’t touch anything!) for another five minutes. Push the pressure release valve – be careful as HOT steam will shoot out – until you are able to turn the lid and remove it. Quickly cover the eggs is cold water and a few handfuls of ice. I keep my Instant Pot next to my sink and use to sprayer to fill it, then throw 4-5 handfuls of ice into the pot. Allow to chill for about five more minutes. This stops the eggs from overcooking.

Use tongs to remove the eggs and set them on a towel to finish cooling and to dry off. You can now put the eggs back in their carton and store in the refrigerator, peel the eggs and store them in an airtight container, or peel them to use right away in your favorite egg salad recipe (check back for my next blog post for an easy and delicious one!)

Note that I have used this ice bath method after boiling eggs in a pot as well. It definitely helped make them easier to peel!

Peeling Steamed Eggs

I have found that the easiest way to peel these eggs is to try to make a big crack across the width of the egg. More often than not I can pull half the shell off in one try. I have used this method with both store bought and farm fresh eggs; of course, results could vary depending on egg freshness and size, but this has worked consistenly for me so far!

I hope you will give this method a try and let me know how it turns out!