Food & Recipes, Kitchen Hacks

Hard Boiled Eggs Aren’t Hard

Perfect Boiled Eggs – way easier than you think!

Author: Tips used by Russ Parsons, LA Times

I was out to dinner last night with some girlfriends and for some reason, the conversation turned to how hard it is to cook and peel the perfect hard boiled egg. I have no idea where or why this discussion started. We were at an Indian restaurant, but everyone was complaining that it’s impossible to cook them perfectly and then there’s the peeling!

I have always hated them – they were very often dry, chalky, had a weird taste, green yolks… I love egg salad sandwiches and eggs in my salads, just not plain hard-boiled eggs. I, however, discovered the perfect “recipe” this spring when I needed a dozen perfectly cooked hard-boiled eggs for Passover at my house. I started where everyone starts when they are trying to find an answer- Google. What I found was that there are several, including Martha Stewart, similar recipes and videos on this very same subject.

Apparently, I wasn’t the only one with the issue – who knew. After trying this, I’m here to report that they were the BEST hard-boiled eggs I have ever eaten! The whites were actually white and shiny, the yolk was the brightest and creamiest yellow, they were absolutely not dry, chalky or any other complaint I’ve always had. In one word – they were PERFECT. Now I can have my favorite egg salad sandwiches anytime! Who knows, I might bring a couple of simple hard-boiled eggs for lunch now that I know they will be perfect every time.

Ingredients

Eggs, Water, and Fire!

Instructions

  1. They all start the same way – with old eggs (not really old but definitely not fresh) buy them a week before you need them and keep them in the refrigerator. Everyone agrees “old” eggs are easier to peel.
  2. Place the cold, old eggs in a single layer in a saucepan and cover with cold water – about 1”.
  3. Turn the heat to high and bring to a roiling boil.
  4. Boil them for 1 minute.
  5. Turn the heat off.
  6. Cover and leave the pan on the stove.
  7. That’s it!

There are several different opinions on how long to actually leave them cooling, with several recipes giving you exact times. I chose the one from the Los Angeles Times that said that they would be perfect with 15 minutes of “rest” or cooling time, but that they could be left for an hour and they wouldn’t ever turn into my childhood hard-boiled egg nightmares! This was for me, as I was in the middle of cooking a big family dinner and was NOT going to be watching the clock that closely just for some eggs – wasn’t going to happen. I actually left mine for over 20 minutes. Everyone has an opinion on how to peel them now that they were cooked but the common thread is to start at the fat end as that’s where the air pocket is. Lightly crack them at that point and start to peel carefully with the side of your thumb. Running water helps.

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