How To Cut A Hard-Boiled Egg Without Slicing The Yolk

If you get crumbled yolks all over the place when cutting hard-boiled eggs, you need to try a surprisingly easy hack to fix the problem so there's no more jaggedly-cut whites — and all it takes is clever maneuvering with your knife and a good roll technique. With a little bit of practice with this cutting trick, any boiled and deviled egg frustrations will be a thing of the past. 

After you've boiled your eggs and peeled them, place one at the edge of a cutting board. Make sure to put your hands at the base of your knife. Lightly press, then roll the egg towards you and pull the knife back until it cuts all the way around. Rolling helps the white halves to split apart and to also leave the yolk in one piece. It's best to use a sharp chef's knife; a serrated knife is a good second choice, but it could leave marks in the white parts.

This trick works best with well-peeled portions, so if you struggle with peeling hard-boiled eggs, try soaking them in a bowl of ice water immediately after removing them from the stove for a few minutes. This will help the whites separate from the shell, as the cold water helps them contract. Also, older hard-boiled eggs are both easier to peel and easier to cut with this technique, so consider keeping them in the fridge for a bit before preparing them to eat.

There are plenty of hard-boiled egg tips and tricks that can make the process easier and quicker before you get to cutting them. For example, don't pull eggs from the fridge and cook them immediately. If you let them sit on the counter for about 20 minutes to become room-temperature first, they won't have to heat up nearly as fast in the pot, and a slower heating process will ensure your eggs cook more evenly, which can help prevent rubbery results.

The goal is to have your water and eggs heat up at the same time since a slower rise in temperature will help make it so that they are easier to peel. To that effect, you'll want to fill your pot with cool water and add your eggs while the water is still cold. When the water starts to boil, set your timer for 10 to 12 minutes, depending how you like your eggs. Boiling them for 10 minutes will yield a yolk with a bit of softness, and boiling them for 12 minutes will get you a classic hard-boiled egg with a lighter yolk. Preparing them this way will also help prevent cracking. 

If you plan to eat, and therefore peel, a ton of hard-boiled eggs, you can take a tip from chefs that peel a bunch of them at once. Fill a plastic Tupperware container or glass jar with cold water, then add your hard-boiled eggs, and shake them for a few minutes. The shaking will smash them together, shatter the shells, and wash the shells away and into the water.