Cooking hard boiled eggs

[imoldernu]

Time to get down to the serious stuff. DW thinks I can't cook, so I'll show her.
With a hankering for hard boiled eggs, I decided to make them myself... by going to the experts to find out how long to cook them. (She says 15 minutes).

So I googled "How long to cook hard boiled eggs". With over 4 million results, the top recipe called for 12 minutes.

https://goodhousekeeping.com/food-recipes/cooking/tips/a19189/cooking-perfect-hard-boiled-eggs/

Ah yes... but the second choice was "how to cook perfect hard boiled eggs, and the recipe time was 6 to 8 minutes.
deliciousmeetshealthy.com/how-to-make-perfect-hard-boiled-eggs

Then I went to my old friend Martha Stewart, for her recipe. Yeah.. 12 minutes off the burner, after the boil.
https://marthastewart.com/354061/perfect-hard-boiled-eggs

Who do ya trust?

So I did the Martha Stewart thing, and disaster... Not fully cooked, and impossible to peel.

So much for "perfect". This venture not only cost $1.38 @Aldi's, but now I have to go back to get the replacements. Worse yet, Jeanie giggled at the mess.

Tossing the question to the experts, here on ER... Surely 50 or 60 years of cooking hard boiled eggs means experience that can be trusted.

Your thoughts?

 

[RobbieB]

I steam them for 12 minutes.

 

[LOL!]

This ought to be good.

I put eggs in pot in water. Turn on stove. Water boils (with eggs in). Leave boiling for about 8 minutes. Turn off stove and let sit for another 8 minutes or whatever. Note that eggs could keep cooking. It doesn't really matter how long you leave them as they are sterile and cooked.

It should be obvious that the total time that the eggs cook is more than 8 minutes.

Then pour off water and run cold tap water over eggs. Add ice to chill them. Store in fridge so they are cold when you decide to peel them.

BTW, it helps not to use freshly bought eggs. They should age in the fridge for about a week first. In this time, they lose water and thus shrink on the inside away from the shell which makes them easier to peel.

The chilling / ice makes the hard yolks stay yellow inside instead of getting a green tint. This is important if making deviled eggs.

 

[Clone]

I hope figuring out the correct time to boil eggs is less controversial than the proper time to take Social Security!!
I wish we could figure out a method. Sometimes they peel very easy and come out perfect, the next time they are impossible to peel and you end up with lots of chunks torn out.

 

[RobbieB]

I'm looking forward to my first half dozen on the induction as it boils so fast.

I'm going to put the eggs (cold) in the steamer basket with less than an inch of (cold) water in the pot, cover and rip 2500 watts into the pot. I'll watch until the steam escapes and then turn it down and give it say 11 minutes.

The old way was get up to steam, load the eggs and then go 12 minutes. Sometimes they cracked.

The induction is so fast the eggs will warm up slower and cracks shouldn't happen.

 

[Moemg]

I make hard boiled eggs a lot . Put eggs in a pot with water turn on stove and set the timer for 15 minutes . Always perfect. Run under cold water and peel .

 

[RobbieB]

You just run at full on heat the whole time?

 

[samclem]

I put the eggs in the pot with cold tap water.
Put in a of salt (4 TBSP?). This is not for flavoring, but to make the water boil at a higher temperature. This is supposed to make the eggs easier to peel, and I think maybe it works.
Put on high heat, and let 'em cok for about 10 minutes after the water boils.

Let them cool down on the stove in the water (winter) or out on the porch (summer) until they can be comfortably handled, then into the fridge.


Folks here have said the Instapot pressure cooker makes eggs that are very easy to peel.

 

[MooreBonds]

So I did the Martha Stewart thing, and disaster... Not fully cooked, and impossible to peel.

Did you let the pot come to a true, rolling boil? (with the large sections of the water moving, about the size of the egg....not just starting to simmer little tiny bubbles on the bottom of the pan). If it was a true rolling boil, then you took them off the pan, it should have worked. Also, you reference an entire dozen egg price from Aldi - did you try boiling ALL 12 of them at once?!! Did you use a large pot where they are in a single layer? If you are doubling them (or even tripling), then you need to have a good amount of water covering the top layer. I'd say at least a good 1" of water covering the top egg.

If you cook 12 at once, you need a good amount of water in the entire pot to contain enough heat to properly cook all of those eggs. Just think about the relative heat for a moment: you have 12 eggs at about 38 degrees. If you only have twice as much water (for example) as you do eggs, the average heat energy won't average high enough to cook the egg. You need a good 3x-4x (at least) in terms of volume of water to volume of eggs.

 

[Scuba]

After many attempts, some of which worked better than others, I now buy already cooked hard boiled eggs at Costco. They come in a package of 32, packaged in 16 packets of 2 and they are absolutely perfect! And at less than $10, they are cheap enough that I’m willing to pay for them, albeit they are more costly than DIY.

 

[TromboneAl]

Important tip: Use older eggs. They will be easier to peel. At least two days old, older is better.

Better tip (highly recommended):

 

[Bestwifeever]

Martha Stewart’s method of bringing cold water and large eggs to a full rolling boil, turning off the heat, and letting the pot stand for 12 minutes is taken from Joy of Cooking (which also adds or subtracts a minute or two for larger or smaller eggs). I trust the Joy. No rubbery whites, no green purple around yolks. The Joy also suggests a method to peel them. I follow the cooking method, but to peel them, I pour off all the water, put the lid back on and shake the pot back and forth until the shells are well cracked. When I then fill the pot with cold tap water, the shells almost fall off on their own. Sometimes really fresh eggs are the devil to peel, though, regardless of cooking method.

You can also save yourself the trouble and buy ready-to-eat cooked shelled hard boiled eggs in most grocery stores.

Eggs are a zero point “free” food on Weight Watchers now so there is a lot of discussion about them on WW websites.

 

[Moemg]

You just run at full on heat the whole time?

Yes ,I set it and forget it until the timer rings

 

[Moemg]

After many attempts, some of which worked better than others, I now buy already cooked hard boiled eggs at Costco. They come in a package of 32, packaged in 16 packets of 2 and they are absolutely perfect! And at less than $10, they are cheap enough that I’m willing to pay for them, albeit they are more costly than DIY.

Try my method . It always works . I grew up on egg salad sandwiches so I know how to cook eggs .By the way soft boil is same method but 11 minutes .

 

[cathy63]

I like Jacques Pepin's method:

- boil water
- if you care whether or not the big end has a flat spot, prick eggs with a thumbtack (i.e. deviled eggs = prick, egg salad = don't bother)
- add eggs to boiling water
- cook 10 minutes, keeping at a low boil
- drain and shake the pot to crack the eggshells all over
- add ice and water to the pot and cool for 15 minutes
- peel

This gives a firm white with a creamy but not runny yolk and no green ring. If you like the yolk to be more cooked, add a minute or two to the boiling time.

 

[street]

I have not boiled an egg in my life. LOL I have eaten boiled eggs but I would not have known for how long to boil.

 

[RobbieB]

Another reason I will never join costco. 32 HB eggs? I cook 6 and I may have to toss 1 or 2 in the trash.

With Kirkland I'll toss 2 dozen in the trash.

 

[GalaxyBoy]

Steam them in an Instant Pot! Cook for 5 minutes on high pressure, let sit for 5 minutes before releasing steam, then plunge in ice water bath for 5 minutes.

Not sure what the times would be for a standard pressure cooker. I feel that the ice water plunge might be necessary for easy peeling, but I'm unsure.

Also, start peeling from the fat end of the egg, which is where the air bubble is.

 

[davebarnes]

Steam them in an Instant Pot!

Bingo!
And, auto corrects for altitude.
5+5

 

[JP.mpls]

Bestwifeever,
I bring eggs to a full boil, turn off heat, cover, and let sit for 15 minutes.
Then they get rinsed in cold water. Turns out good, and peels good.

JP

 

[cooch96]

I own chickens and have become a bit of a snob when it comes to preparing eggs.

For hard-boiled eggs use older eggs. At least 5 days old, a week is better; it makes them much easier to peel.
Get the water to a rolling boil. I like to salt the water to make sure it’s hot enough. Drop the eggs in gently. Boil 8 minutes minimum, or a bit more. Not much more or the yolks get chalky.

Have a container with a bit of ice water in it. Dump the eggs in harshly to initiate cracking and roll them around to chill quickly. The shock of the ice water helps with the cracking and makes peeling easier.

The boiling time will change a bit depending on the size of eggs as there is quite a bit of difference between medium and jumbo, but this will get you in the ballpark. I prefer my yolks medium: solid albumen and yolks like soft Brie. Hard is okay but never chalky; a hard yolk should be stiff like play doh, but still a bit plastic.

If you like dry, chalky yolks, then probably boil them 10-12 minutes, or simmer for 15.

 

[Midpack]

I bring eggs to a full boil, turn off heat, cover, and let sit for 15 minutes.
Then they get rinsed in cold water. Turns out good, and peels good.

Thats exactly how I’ve always done it. Start with 1-2 eggs and cold water in pan, bring to a vigorous boil (I don’t cover the pan), turn off burner and let the pan sit on burner for 15 minutes. Rinse in cold water, peel, and eat. Peeling varies some, but always manageable. Has worked perfectly every time.

 

[Helena]

.

I put the egg in cold water with a little salt [salt helps with peeling.] Bring to a boil, then turn down heat and let simmer for about 8 minutes [not more than 10.] Put egg in cool water and let sit for a few minutes. Lightly crack the flat end of the egg which should have an air bubble, then peel from there.

 

[EastWest Gal]

Steam them in an Instant pot or similar pressure cooker. I do 6 minutes. Release the steam then plunge in ice water. Every single egg peels perfectly. And if an egg cracks during cooking, there is no leakage due to the pressure. So sometimes the egg is already peeled!

 

[braumeister]

Folks here have said the Instapot pressure cooker makes eggs that are very easy to peel.

It's incredible. I can sometimes get the shell off in one piece, but usually two or three. If my Instant Pot had no other uses, I'd still be happy with it just for the hard boiled eggs.