When it comes to boiling eggs, the biggest problem is that people can easily over-cook them, leading to a dark green color around the yolk and a somewhat sulphuric taste. Here’s my method for how to hard boil eggs so that they don’t get over-cooked. Did you know? Older eggs are easier to peel than fresh eggs. If you are planning to make hard boiled eggs for Easter and want to make sure that the eggs are easy to peel, buy your eggs at least a week ahead of time (two weeks even better, they’ll keep). If you’ve boiled a batch of eggs that you are now finding difficult to peel, try cracking the shells all around without peeling them and soaking the eggs in water for a while. The water often seems to seep in enough under the shell to make the egg easier to peel.
Video! How to Make Hard Boiled Eggs
How to Avoid a Green Ring
The dreaded grey-green ring around a cooked yolk is caused by sulfur in the yolk interacting with hydrogen in the egg white. This is either due to over-boiling the egg or using water with a high level of iron. This recipe cooks the eggs gently, avoiding overcooking and a green ring. If you have especially hard water, consider using filtered water to boil eggs.
Other Ways to Hard Boil Eggs
If you need easy-to-peel eggs and you have fresh eggs, you might want to try steaming the eggs for 15 minutes. Pour an inch of water into a pot and insert a steamer basket. Bring to a boil. Place the eggs in the steamer basket, cover, and steam for 15 minutes (more or less, check!). (Or if you don’t have a steamer basket, steam the eggs in a half-inch of water.) The steam penetrates the shell a bit making the eggs easier to peel. (You can also steam eggs in a pressure cooker!)
Need Ideas for Using Hard Boiled Eggs?
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Induction ranges come to a boil too quickly and retain too little heat for this method to work well. If you have an induction range, we recommend steaming your eggs, which will give you much more predictable results. The more eggs that are crowding the pan the more water you should have over the eggs. 6 eggs should be covered by at least an inch, 7 to 12 eggs, 2 inches. Or if you like your eggs not fully hard cooked, it can take a few minutes less. When you find a time that works for you, given your preferences, the types of eggs you buy, your pots, stove, and cooking environment, stick with it. I also find that it is very hard to overcook eggs using this method. I can let the eggs sit, covered, for up to 15-18 minutes without the eggs getting overcooked. Or, if you are cooking a large batch of eggs, remove them with a slotted spoon to a large bowl of ice water. Let them sit for a few minutes, or until cooled. The best way to store hard boiled eggs is unpeeled in a covered container in the refrigerator. Eggs can release odors in the fridge which is why it helps to keep them covered. They should be eaten within 5 days. Peeled eggs should be eaten within a day or two. Did you love this recipe? Give us some stars below! Some people like their eggs less or more hard cooked than others. If you want your eggs still a little translucent in the center, let them seep in the hot water for only 6 minutes or so.
