Foodie Friday -- Hard Boiled Egg

You're probably thinking that any idiot can hard boil an egg, and you'd be right. But most people over cook their eggs, cooking them until they get that greyish coat around the yolk and the white is rubbery.

If you look up how to boil an egg, the internet will say to place the egg in water and when it boils, cook it for 12 minutes. Personally, I don't want to sit around waiting for my stupid eggs to boil before I set a timer. Do you?

The reason I'm writing about this topic is because my 12-year old interrupted my walk the other day to ask me over the phone how to boil an egg. She likes to eat warm hard boiled eggs for breakfast. If a 12-year old can make perfect hard boiled eggs, so can you.

I will tell you the trick, which works very nicely for 1-3 eggs. I've never tried it with a larger amount of eggs like a dozen, but I would assume a wider stock pot would work the same. I also don't live in the mountains, so I don't know how the elevation aspect would effect this trick.

I've had one egg, out of all the dozens that I've cooked this way, crack and ooze during the process. I'm assuming it had a weak shell prior to being cooked.

I have never had a problem peeling any eggs, as the shells always peel easily from the whites. The yolk is always cooked and a beautiful yellow, no matter if the eggs are white or brown, newly laid or store bought.

As always, try it my way and if you need to adjust your times for a softer yolk or a longer time due to elevation, then change it, but use this as a starting point.

1) place egg(s) in saucepan.--make sure there is enough water around each egg to circulate. You don't want them jam packed in the pan.
2) add enough water to slightly cover the top of the egg--Use regular tap water, not hot, not cold. too much water and it will take too long to bring to a boil for this method
3) place pan on stove. Turn heat on high.--on my gas stove that would be '9'. Just don't put it on so high that the flames go around the pan instead of under it!
4) set timer for 20 minutes and walk away
5) turn off stove--ALWAYS turn off the stove before removing any pan. I could tell you the story of how the hubs set his shirt on fire. No one was hurt, but it was scary, okay, scary funny because I was at work when he called after all the hoopla was over with and he was fine.
6) Turn on cool tap water over cooked eggs as you pour boiling water down the drain--do this for about 20-30 seconds
7) fill the pan with cold water and then add a couple handfuls of ice. Let sit for about 30-60 seconds--trust me on this
8) when the egg is cool to the touch, gently whack all sides of the egg on the sink to crack the entire shell--did I really have to tell you this step? This will aid in removing the shell.
9) find the 'dimple' (air pocket usually in the fat end of the egg) and start peeling under lightly running water--the water helps rinse the egg and makes shell removal easier
10) ENJOY!

If you eat the egg at step 10, then the yolk will still be hot and steamy. This is point to refrigerate it in a ziploc-type bag if you plan to save it for later.

Try this method the next time you want a hard boiled egg. Let me know if it works for you.

If you want a softer yolk, subtract a minute or two and see how it turns out. I've never cooked soft boiled eggs, so I have no idea how many minutes you have to shorten the cooking time.