In light of our recent peanut butter alternatives
post, I’ve been really thinking about other ways to get protein into my
kids at lunchtime, whether it’s school mandated or not. They’re
hot-and-cold on hard-boiled eggs, but I’m wondering if this fun little
doodad I just spotted might give them a nudge in the right direction.
You just pop a freshly hard-boiled egg into the Japanese Egg Shaper,
let it cool in cold water for ten minutes, and suddenly you’ve turned a
boring old egg into a cute fish, car, heart or star. And as any parents
know, if
it’s shaped like a star–whatever it may be–your kids will probably eat
it. –Liz
Find a selection of Japanese Egg Shapers and more lunchbox ideas online at From Japan With Love
And for more fabulous lunchbox accessories, see our back to school shopping guide.
Anyone got a great tip for removing the eggshell quicky and safely. Also any concerns about putting a very hot food into a plastic mold to cool?
I have these. And while I like the idea of them, it’s very difficult to get them to work. Jumbo eggs are way are too big and medium eggs are way too small. The perfect size seems to be somewhere in between large and extra large. I have egg cubers as well, which are adjustable to any size egg. It would be great to combine the two designs.
Thanks for the feedback Selfish Mom. Interestingly, our Facebook fans right now are telling us that they own it and have had good experiences with it. Maybe eggs are wonky in Brooklyn!
I’ve found that regular large eggs work just fine for us. I’ve made the mistake of using really big ones and they squeeze out of the side. And if they are a little small, my kids still think they are adorable and eat them up.
Charissa, I run mine under lukewarm water just to make them easier to handle and then crack/peel them while they are under water. The eggs themselves still stay pretty hot.
We love our shapers! I take cold eggs out of the fridge, peel them and dip them in a bowl of hot water for just a minute (use a slotted spoon). That gets the egg warm enough to mold. Then they go into the fridge for a few hours.
By the way – we use Archer Farms Large Eggs from Target and they fit close enough.
we’ve had the heart and star shaped ones for about a year now, getting very frequent use with the CostCo 5 dozen pack sized eggs fitting nicely. With 4 kids, we hard-boil 2.5 dozen at a time and just reload the little shaper every time it comes out of the dishwasher–even with a COLD egg, it seems to work fine.
Any other uses besides egg?
Cute, but not BPA free. Warm eggs are ripe for leeching of these kinds of chemicals.
I like these! I live in the Netherlands and have just ordered them.
@mom of 4: I think you could easily use these for rice too. Or maybe jelly?