Steaming Eggs

I have had some trouble hard-boiling eggs.  Eggs that are relatively fresh can be hard to peel.  One solution is to age them, but then they lose nutrients.  My solution for years has been to hold them for a while, then boil.  So far, I haven't had any go bad, but I have had a couple float.  I have tossed those.

One solution that I've seen a few places, such as The Prairie Homestead, is to steam them (I used to have an electric egg cooker that did the same thing; my parents had a Jurassic one that probably dated to the 1960s).  Generally the instructions for stovetop steaming call for atmospheric steaming for 20 minutes (i.e., non-pressurzied, although The Prairie Homestead has directions for pressure cooking them in the shell via Instant Pot, too).

I decided to give this a try.  I got a set of steamers cheap off Amazon, then loaded the eggs into the pot.  I was able to make them in the same pot with the same quantity that I usually use.

I had a hunch that they would need less than 20 minutes; Jill Winger is at over 6000 feet in elevation.  However, for the first try, I steamed them for 20.

After boiling, I typically quench them with cold water, to which I have added ice.  That was still doable, although ice cube placement was more tricky with the steamer.

The verdict:  early indications are that it works as well as advertised.  The first half dozen peeled beautifully, although the yolks were a bit over-done.  I eventually determined that 10 minutes at under 1000 feet of elevation worked fine. Nine minutes is okay, too, but some of the yolks are a little doughy (which can be good or bad depending on what you like).  This should've been obvious at the outset based on the data from atmospheric steam canning: steam times are the same as boiling times (a point also made by Lisa Steele recently at Fresh Eggs Daily). I had settled on about 8:45 for boiled eggs after experimentation.

Steaming does not guarantee success.  Some eggs still are hard to peel (though not many, about ten percent in my limited experience so far), and I have had one egg break while steaming--though this happens with boiling, too, with about the same likelihood (so far I have had 1 of 35 or so break).

So steaming definitely seems superior to boiling in most respects.  It'll be the method I use going forward.