the turbulence of boiling water. On the other
hand, the best guarantee of easy peeling is to
use old eggs! Difficult peeling is
characteristic of fresh eggs with a relatively
low albumen pH, which somehow causes the
albumen to adhere to the inner shell
membrane more strongly than it coheres to
itself. At the pH typical after several days of
refrigeration, around 9.2, the shell peels
easily. If you end up with a carton of very
fresh eggs and need to cook them right away,
you can add a half teaspoon of baking soda to
a quart of water to make the cooking water
alkaline (though this intensifies the sulfury
flavor). It also helps to cook fresh eggs
somewhat longer to make the white more
cohesive, and to allow the white to firm up in
the refrigerator before peeling.
Off-Center Yolks and Flat-Bottomed Whites
Well-centered yolks for attractive slices or
stuffed halves are easiest to obtain from fresh,