OT: How to hard boil eggs..

[ThreeMusketeers]

This is a silly question, but we only do this once a year and I never seem to remember.

I know I boil the water, but I always seem to burst the shell..what am I doing wrong?

How Do I hard boil eggs ? (step by step please!) LOL


Thanks,

 

[design_mom]

Here's how my mom taught me and it seems to work:

Put eggs in a large pot (single layer of eggs).

Put enough water in the pot so the eggs are completely covered, plus about 1" additional water.

Bring water and eggs to a boil.

Watch it closely. As soon as the boil starts "rolling" turn off the heat and cover the pan.

Let the eggs sit, covered, in the hot water for 20 minutes.

I think if you let them actually boil for very long the shells burst.

 

[Redwitch]

Fill pot with cold water.
Put in eggs.
Heat until it boils. (You'll hear it!)
Turn off heat; keep lid on.
Let sit for 30 -60 minutes.
Done.

 

[pamluvsdisney]

My Better Homes and Garden cookbook said:

Put eggs in pan. Cover with cold water. Put on lid. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a rapid simmer. Cook for 15 min with lid ON.

After cooking. submerge in ice cold water for 2 min. to make them easier to peel.

I made 6 dozen (for 6 children) in 2 three doz batches, and only one egg burst. HTH

 

[disneysteve]

Funny how we all do it differently.

We put the eggs in the pot and cover with water.
Bring to a slow boil and boil for 12 minutes.
Then we dump out the water and rinse in cold water while peeling them. If we aren't eating them right away, we just cool them and put them in the fridge.

FYI - The diference between boiling for 12 minutes or boiling longer, like 20 minutes or more, is that with the shorter time, the yolk stays bright yellow. If you boil longer, you generally get a greenish discoloration around the outside of the yolk.

 

[dizkids]

Mine just came out perfect! Bright yellow inside NO green color around the yoke (yuck)

Size Large eggs. Single layer. Cover in water plus about 1" extra like another poster mentioned. As soon as they come to a boil I put the microwave timer on for 10 minutes.

After 10 minute boile ...turn off the flame. Remove the pot and place in the sink..dump hot water and run cold water on them to stop the cooking process. I wait til the pot of water is cool and then i let the water run on low for a few more minutes.

 

[wdw_girl_18]

putting salt in the pot with the water and eggs will keep them from cracking.

 

[Humphrey Bear]

I use Emeril's "lucky 13" technique for perfect hard boiled eggs every time:

Place eggs in a pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and let boil for two minutes. Remove from the heat. Cover, and let sit for 11 more minutes. Rinse thoroughly with cold water.

Perfect hard-boiled eggs!

 

[Plantlady]

well, I have to chime in... yet one more way.

eggs, water, salt, pot...

bring to a boil. boil for THREE minutes.

Turn off heat, cover, wait 15 minutes.

Rinse with cold water. Perfect.

 

[DMRick]

For 40 years I have covered large eggs with cold water in pan. I bring to a hard boil. I then turn them off, and let sit for 10 minutes. I then run cold water over them until they are cool. The yolks are a nice bright yellow.

 

[strasfamily]

I also heard that putting some vinegar in the water makes them easier to peel.

 

[tink2dw]

Wow!! I like the yolk to be fully cooked with out a pocket of soft stuff in the middle of the yolk.

Here goes my Mother's way which is my way;

1" of cold water in the pan to cushion, sofly place eggs in water, in pot sized so a single layer of eggs FILLS the bottom, Fill with water to completely cover the eggs and salt water. Bring to a rolling boil, then turn down to simmer and Wait 20 minutes, then put the pot in the sink and let the cold water run over the eggs until the water in pot is cold, then allow the eggs to cool in the water.

For coloring place cooled eggs on paper towels to get dry, then the color will be richer. Remember to refrigerate the eggs over night before placing them in Easter baskets. Then return them to the refrigerater to keep till ready to use.

 

[Maybelle]

According to Martha Stewart on her show a few weeks ago, she said they had done lots of research on the way to make the perfect hard boiled eggs. She said the best eggs were done by: Bring water and eggs to a boil. Turn off heat and let eggs sit for 13 minutes then take out of water.

Don't know how much I would trust a felon though!

 

[bellarella]

Actually what makes eggs easier to peel is the age of them. Older eggs peel easier than fresher eggs. If you get them right off the farm they won't peel at all. I always hard boil the older eggs in my refrigerator and there is a noticeable difference between those and ones that are right from the store.

 

[rockyroad]

If I am planning to make hard boiled eggs, not for Easter necessarily, If all I have are eggs that just came from the store, I let them sit out in the carton for a day before I dook them.

I learned to cook eggs from my mom...eggs in pan with cold water, meduim heat, turn off when starts to boil, wait 20 minutes and then I place the pan into the sink and run cold water in until the water in the pan is cold too.

Since Martha says 13 minutes, I'll try that.

Another thing I recently learned, from Southern Living magazine, is to keep the eggs in the pan and to shake the pan a bit, kind of like making popcorn. It loosens up the shells and makes them much easier to peel. Incredibly easier.
Of course, with Easter eggs the idea is to keep the shells on the eggs, so you wouldn't want to do that.

 

[KKB]

So use old eggs for easier peeling (salt & vinegar are old wives tales; shaking the pan would just crack them.... )

Totally cover eggs, bring to boil, remove from heat, and let sit...well, AT LEAST 11 min....up to 60, from what I read here.

It really depends if you like them soft boiled or hard. I find that after 15 min. it is still a softer cooked yolk, 20-30 and it is hard cooked (any longer than that and your water is cooling, so you are merely keeping the eggs warm; it is certainly easier to peel cooled eggs, though this can be sped up by simply rinsing in cold water and allowing eggs to sit a few).

My mother always BOILED the eggs...thus the green tinged yolks. Taste fine. I have used this method my adult life, and Rachel Ray's latest mag listed the same technique. (boil, heat off, sit 15-20 min.)

Seems most of us have a variation on it...

Happy Easter!

 

[Bibbidi]

I just tried the Emeril's "Lucky 13" recipe I found right here in this thread. It worked like a charm! I covered a single layer of eggs in a pot with cool water (about an inch over the top of them). I let the water come to a full boil, boiled for 2 minutes and then let them sit for the 11 with the lid on (and off the heat). These eggs were perfect. The yolks were perfectly hard, but not dried out. There was not a single speck of the dreaded green ring. I saved this recipe and it will be the one I use from now on. Thanks to the OP for asking the question, it was on my mind this morning!

 

[Maggimus]

We all certainly boil eggs differently

Put eggs in pot-- enough to cover the egg-- bring to a rapid boil. Then, place the lid on the pot and leave on the eye it was boiling but turn the heat off-- set timer for 15 minutes-- then rince in cold cold water and you've got yourself a nice boiled egg!!

 

[Diz-Mommy]

Don't know how much I would trust a felon though!

Not sure what my husband did last night, but he called his mother and well...most of them are cracked. I'll have to file away this post, so I can try again next year.

 

[alikat99]

This is how my mom taught me, and they've always come out perfectly. Put eggs in a pan with water, just over the eggs. Put the lid on and when they start to boil, boil for 5 minutes covered. Then, turn off heat and let sit for 5 minutes with the lid still on. Then, immediately put them in cold water and some ice to stop the cooking process. Then, when they are cold, I am able to peel them very easily!