Wednesday, January 9, 2013

How To: Make Hard Boiled Eggs

Hard boiled eggs were such a mystery to me until about 1 hour ago.

They always magically appeared in our refridgerator the day before Easter. We would dye them all sorts of festive spring colors. Then we would smash the shells and eat them the next morning. Pretty typical, right?

Sometimes, when I order salads at restaurants, a few pieces of hard boiled eggs would be scattered about. Extra protein. Neat!

I don't know why I was so scared of making hard boiled eggs, but I was. I could just imagine my clumsy self putting some eggs in a pot of boiling water and being left with a broken shell, yolky mess. I don't think I could have handled it. I left well enough alone and never hard boiled any eggs.

After a few days of research, I finally just went for it. I was being silly. Hard boiling a perfect egg is SO simple (despite being so intimidating....were others intimidated during their first time?!) What's wrong with me?


Well, if you have been putting off hard boiled eggs due to fear, lack of knowledge, or any other weird reason, I'm here to help. If I can do it, I know you certainly can do it, too. Patience and technique is all you need! Below is the technique, I'll leave the patience up to you.

Here's what you need for Perfect Hard Boiled Eggs:

6 eggs, in the shell
1 5-quart pot*
1 large bowl
 Tap water

Here's what you do:

Gently place your eggs in the bottom of the pot. Fill the pot with enough cool (not hot) tap water so that there is about an inch of water above the top of the eggs. This is about the distance from the tip of your thumbnail to the first knuckle.


Place the pot on a burner and turn the heat to high. Bring the pot to a full boil.


This is not enough of a boil. You want it rocking and rolling...

Like this!


Next, turn the heat completely off (and, if on an electric stove, remove the pot from the hot burner). Cover the pot with a tight-fitting lid and set your kitchen timer for 17 minutes. Walk away and let the eggs do their thing.

17 minutes!

This is that whole "patience" thing

In the meantime, fill the large bowl with cold tap water. Add an ice cube or two if necessary to cool it down.

As soon as the 17 minutes are up, use your search and rescue spoon to CAREFULLY transfer the eggs into the cold water.


Let them sit for 10 more minutes or until completely cooled. Dry off the shells and store in the fridge until they are ready to be used (safest way to do this to make sure they don't crack is to re-use the original egg carton). 


Eggs are of course a wonderful breakfast option, and hard boiled eggs happen to go great with grilled kielbasa. You can also dice some up and toss them on top of your salad for lunch!


Check out this great new recipe that calls for a hearty helping of hard-boiled eggs! 

*Note: if you want to hard boil a dozen eggs, a 5 quart pot should still be fine. You just want to be sure the eggs have enough room to roll around without constantly smashing into one another.

19 comments:

  1. I hard boil eggs all in one pot. I place a dozen eggs in a large pot...fill the pot with cool water to just above the egg. Turn the burner on HI and bring to a rolling boil..once there I lower the temp a bit and keep them boiling for about 10 minutes. Carefully pour out as much of the hot water as you can and leave the pot in the sink and fill it with cold water - I do this a couple of times then I let them air dry on the counter before I put them in the refrigerator.

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  2. I tried it today! I, too, have been timid about making hard boiled eggs. I have messed it up in the past and hate wasting eggs. But I followed your steps and they came out PERFECT! Thank you so much.

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  3. Hard Boiled Eggs Smell Like A Bad Fart

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  4. I've boiled farm fresh eggs w/ no problem for years....UNTIL I just switched from electric to gas stove & last night every one of them was a sticking shell disaster (not good for making pickled eggs). So I decided I'd better look for gas-specific prep... can't wait to try this later (I cooked about 2 doz. so I'm gonna be burnt out on eggs for a bit, LOL)

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  5. YAY! Thank you! Perfect hard bolied eggs at last.
    Dana

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  6. is ju galima laisvai pasigaminti bezdalu,kiausiukus isvirus jau,isimt isvirtus trynukus,susmulkint arba ne,galima ir nesmulkintus trynukus.Uzdengt ir laikyt siltai,jau po kurio laiko ir bezdaliukai gaminasi is tryniuku.Kuo ilgiau laikoma tuo daugiau bezdaliuku gaminasi.Galima laikyt ir labai ilgai,atidengi inda ir bezdaliukai pasklinda,kiausiukai bezdosi jau.Kvapiazas mmmm,koks geras,koks kvapnus!

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  7. My first time using our gas stove, first time making hardboiled eggs, and these turned out perfect. SO easy to peel, and only a little stinky ;-) I followed the method exactly but let mine cool in the icewater a few minutes longer and added salt to both the boiling pot and the cooling bowl. Thanks for sharing!

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  8. nuo kiausiuku bezdama ir perdziama,tai yra gaminame dujas=bezdaus,ir tai labai gerai

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  9. Thanks for sharing recipe and instruction on hard boiled eggs. Can you please make a blog on soft boiled eggs because yolk of soft boiled eggs have their own perfect taste.
    how long to boil eggs

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