We Tried the $7 Gadget That Hard-Boils Eggs Without Their Shells

The hardest part about making hard-boiled eggs may be getting them out of their shells. Unless you’ve hard-boiled your eggs just perfectly, and you did so when they were at the sweet spot between fresh-and-not-so-fresh, peeling them can be a total pain! You’ll either struggle with teeny tiny shell shards or you’ll peel off chunks of the whites, leaving you with a sad-looking plate of pocked eggs.

But what if there were a way to forego the peeling process entirely? Egglettes promises to make perfect hard-boiled eggs and eliminate the need to peel an egg ever again. Could this gizmo actually work? I decided to find out.

Buy: Egglettes Egg Cooker, $6.50

One Egglettes package comes with four separate silicone egg cookers. The idea is that you crack one egg into the well of each cooker, screw on the lid, and put the whole thing into a pot of boiling water until the egg is cooked to your desired doneness. You can also make medium- and soft-boiled eggs, and the package comes with a timing chart to help. You can even make tiny, single-egg omelets by beating up the egg and adding mix-ins, like cheese and herbs, before pouring it into the cooker.

I was pretty excited about the idea of a mini omelet, so I decided to start there: I whisked up two eggs, added some finely chopped spinach and shredded cheese, and poured the mixture into two of the egg makers. I placed them into the water and when my timer went off, I slipped the eggs out of the cookers (you squeeze the silicone and they come out super easily!).

The result: The spinach had basically separated from the egg and the “egg” was a weird shape. They tasted fine, but looked bizarre. 

Next, I wanted to make soft-boiled, medium-cooked, and hard-boiled eggs. I cracked one egg each into three of the Egglettes, screwed on the lids, and placed them into the boiling water. I followed the enclosed timing chart and took one out for soft-boiled , the second for medium-cooked, and the third for hard-boiled.

The result: The timing was spot on for all three — they all cooked perfectly. I seasoned the soft boiled egg with a bit of salt and pepper, and ate it right out of the cup. It tasted great (no funny taste from the cooker) and the consistency was just right.

The medium- and hard-boiled eggs popped right out of the containers incredibly easily (again, just squeeze) and were also delicious. Like the “omelets,” they did look a little weird: Instead of coming out nice and egg-shaped, they both had one totally flat side.

If you’re looking to use these cookers to make a tray of deviled eggs, I say pass. No one wants a platter of misshapen eggs! Egglettes would be perfect for making egg salad, but you only get four cookers in a pack (most egg salad recipes call for at least six eggs). My favorite way to use Egglettes was for soft-boiled egg, but my overall recommendation: Just cook your eggs in the shells and don’t bother with buying more stuff for your kitchen.

Have you tried Egglettes? What’d you think?