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I prefer my eggs hard boiled. But sometimes I end up with boiled eggs that have runny yolks, either due to my own carelessness or the overeager nature of the house help. Is it okay to boil eggs after they have been completely peeled? Will the results be close to a normal hard boiled eggs? Will I face any issues like the egg opening up and leaching the liquid parts into the boiling water?

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I poach eggs, remove and chill them in an ice water bath to stop the cooking and then 'reheat' them in the simmering/boiling water right before getting ready to nap them with hollandaise and then serving them. (to aid in creating mass quantities of eggs benedict to be served at the same time)

I suspect that you can further cook your under-cooked hardboiled eggs with no adverse effects (even AFTER peeling) in the simmering/boiling water. Hope this helps.

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I believe that cooking unpeeled eggs would be fine, as I found multiple sources, including here on Cooking SE, which indicate additional boiling to an unpeeled egg is fine. However, reboiling any peeled egg(s) is unlikely to turn out as you are hoping.

The reason boiling them, which is a rather violent process in itself, works so well initially is that the shell is there to protect the relatively delicate egg matter inside. Without that protective shell during the second boiling process, I believe the egg would begin tearing apart under the rigorous movement of the water. In my experience, boiled eggs are easily chopped, broken open, or even macerated.

My suggestion would be that next time, you could peel and check one of the eggs in the batch for done-ness, and if the are undercooked, the others could be finished while still in their shell.

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  • Anyone out there with an embarrassing "yeah, I tried that" story to back up Paul's hypothesis?
    – PoloHoleSet
    Oct 6, 2017 at 15:03
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    It shouldn't be necessary to actually boil them. You're only trying to reach a temperature of 180. If you had a sous vide machine, it would probably work just fine. Failing that, a simmer should suffice. So while I don't know how well it would work to expose the egg to water again (how well the proteins transmit heat, what has happened to the yolk), it should at least be possible to avoid the problem of a rolling boil.
    – Joshua Engel
    Oct 6, 2017 at 15:08
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    Joshua, I would agree; sous vide or low simmer would be perfect for this. When I answered, I was sticking to the question being asked, which specifically states that the OP wants to know if they can be boiled a second time. However, my thought would be to provide that answer as well to the OP -- that way, there is more than one avenue to pursue to fix the issue at hand. :)
    – Incorporeal Logic
    Oct 6, 2017 at 17:41
  • This can;t be right. Simmering the egg would be fine and is a recommended technique for poached eggs with soft yolks, which are surely more fragile than boiled eggs. During the first boil, you need the shell because the inside of a raw egg is a liquid; that isn't the case for an egg that's already been cooked.
    – David Richerby
    Nov 27, 2018 at 19:28
  • @DavidRicherby This answer is not talking about simmering, but boiling, per the OP's question. Simmering is not, by definition, boiling. As such, my statement about boiling stands as a valid point. See the comments of Joshua and myself above for further clarification regarding our agreement of simmering being fine.
    – Incorporeal Logic
    Nov 28, 2018 at 18:01
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I would think that you could simply boil water, turn off and slip the peeled egg(s) into the still water and let sit for a few minutes to bring to temp. That way avoiding any violence perpetrated by the roiling boil. Just a thought.

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  • Simmering would be fine and is a recommended technique for poached eggs when you need a lot of them.
    – David Richerby
    Nov 27, 2018 at 19:29

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