As part of my ongoing effort to improve my diet, we recently bought a colander to steam vegetables. Put it in a pot with some water, cover it, and bam! Steamer.

I've used it to cook broccoli  mainly, but the other day I used it for something unusual - eggs.

Previously I had been boiling them in water with a cap full of vinegar. To make them easier to peel I'd then shock them in ice water. I thought I was being smart doing that, that I was using the best technique - but I'm here to tell you we've all be STUPID.

STUPID!

The best way to cook an egg whole, soft or hard, is to steam it. After about 8-9 minutes of steaming they're just how I like them, solid white, with the yolk just partly done. After 10 minutes they're hard boiled nicely, none of that over done chalky garbage.

But the big revelation is that the shells are ridiculously easy to peel. Apparently, as steam the water can get through the shell. This loosens the shell from the egg, and the moisture then lubes it up when you shell it. F'ing AWESOME. (edit: It still helps greatly to cool and rest the eggs in a bowl of water before peeling. Just tap cold water, no need for ice, for ~10 minutes .)

I used to wonder how they processed all those pre-peeled eggs you can get at the supermarket. They're all perfect! Surely they're not done by hand! Some sort of enzyme or acid eats the shell away perhaps? Nope - they steam those suckers, has to be.