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Thursday, March 17, 2011

The Perfect Hardboiled Egg

I've been on a four-year mission to figure out how to cook the PERFECT hardboiled egg. My mom taught me to boil it for six minutes, cool it, then peel it - I love you mom, but you're WRONG. It's always ringed with green. Other sources said "Bring just to a boil, kill the heat, cover for 20 minutes..." - WRONG, WRONG, WRONG. They never turned out how they were supposed to, and my shells always seems to fuse to the egg (which I've heard has something to do with the freshness of the egg, but I don't completely buy it and I'll tell you why later).

Well today's your lucky day, because thanks in part to Rachael Ray and trial and error of my own, I have discovered the ONE TRUE WAY to cook a perfect hardboiled egg.

First - Put your eggs in a pot.
Second - BARELY cover with room-temp water.
Third - Place the pot over high heat (do not cover).
Fourth - Bring to a boil.
Fifth - BOIL ONE MINUTE. No more, no less.
Sixth - Kill the heat and COVER.
Seventh - Let sit for TEN MINUTES. No more, no less.
Eighth, and this is where it gets really exciting - Drain the hot water and shake your eggs around in the pot to get them all smashed up. This step is important, I promise.
Ninth - Cover eggs with frigid water.
Tenth - Allow to sit for FIVE MINUTES, replacing the water as it warms up.
Eleventh - Peel.

The importance of breaking the shells before cooling is this: The water gets in there and makes them easier to peel! So following these instructions will not only result in a perfectly cooked egg with no green:



It will also allow you, too, to do this with the shell:


Therefore, I firmly believe that the ease of peeling has more to do with cooking method than freshness of the egg. DO NOT CONTRADICT ME.

7 comments:

  1. AnnieMarch 17, 2011 at 12:43 PM

    You're a genius. What's your method for a soft-boiled egg?

    ReplyDelete
  2. kelseyMarch 17, 2011 at 1:15 PM

    I wouldn't dare contradict you. My method is pretty much the same, without the rolling around step. . . definitely trying that next time--- thanks!!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. JessieMarch 17, 2011 at 1:16 PM

    I'll let you know as soon as I live somewhere where the eggs don't terrify me, and where I have access to a toaster. It's been too long since I made one.

    ReplyDelete
  4. BridgetMarch 19, 2011 at 4:21 AM

    THANK YOU FOR THIS. I did it this afternoon for my kids' lunch and it worked great. I loved the part where the water made it easy to peel AND cooled the egg down enough so I didn't burn my fingers while doing so.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Christa KeeleMarch 19, 2011 at 12:55 PM

    Your nails look really nice in the pictures. Can you do a post on how to not have bendy nails? Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Amy @ Eggies CanadaAugust 29, 2011 at 11:10 PM

    You're a champ at shucking eggs. You managed to de-shell the egg into one strip.. i would have ended up with pieces all over the counter and one in my eye..lol

    ReplyDelete
  7. Liz - Chef BasketNovember 22, 2011 at 10:51 AM

    I don't think i'll ever accomplish peeling a hardboiled egg into one strip like you've done. I hard boiled some eggs yesterday and ended up taking chunks off the egg as I was peeling.

    ReplyDelete