Perfect Hard-Cooked Eggs

How to cook whole eggs with no more than an everyday pot, water and a kitchen timer plus. of course, eggs still in their shells. This is Cook's Illustrated method for hard-boiled eggs. I've used it for years and never have trouble with overcooking or undercooking the eggs. The eggs are easy to peel and cook without green rings around the yolks.

Real Food, Fresh & Fast. Great for Meal Prep for Egg Salad, Deviled Eggs and On-the-Go Snacks. Weight Watchers Friendly. Low Carb. Naturally Gluten Free. High Protein.

~ Skip Straight to the Recipe ~

How to Avoid Common Problems with Hard-Boiled Eggs: Precise Timing

I wonder: how many people even recognize an old-fashioned egg timer? Anyone??

My mom kept one on a shelf above the kitchen sink. The fine sand streaming from one end to the other was a fascination ...

There are all kinds of tricks out to avoid issues with cooking whole eggs in boiling water, problems like eggs that won't peel, eggs that develop green rings around the yolks.

But here's my simple trick: just mind the clock.

I really do set the timer for each step and time after time, produce perfectly cooked hard-boiled eggs with golden-yellow yolks.

That's it! Timing is the trick! We have so many ways to easily set timers now, our phones, our watches, even our Alexa devices. No more excuses!

The Short Version: How to Hard-Boil Eggs

Bring the eggs and water to a boil and boil hard for exactly one minute. Cover the pot and remove from the stove. Rest off heat for exactly 10 minutes. Move the eggs to a bowl to cool for 5 minutes in ice water. Peel to eat while warm or cool eggs with their shells on to refrigerate for eating later.

Let's Bust the Myths About Hard-Cooked Eggs

• Fresh eggs are harder to peel. FALSE. With this method, use beautiful, just-laid farm eggs to weeks-old grocery store eggs. Whatever their age, the eggs will peel easily.
• It's impossible to prevent green rings around the yolks. FALSE. Overcooking causes the green rings. With this method, the yolks neither undercook nor overcook.
• It's just too hard to cook eggs. FALSE. With this precise method, you'll be producing perfect eggs like a champion!

So Many Ways to Cook with Hard-Cooked Eggs

Keep cooked eggs in the refrigerator, they are useful to have on hand and easy to use up. I love to add just-cooked, still-warm eggs to Spinach Soup but always cook a few extra too, just to have on hand.

• Egg salad, Mini Egg Salad Sandwiches with Rhodes Multi-Grain Rolls
• Deviled eggs, Estonian Deviled Eggs
• Potato salad, Mom’s Potato Salad
• A portable, on-the-run high-protein snack
• Impromptu salads, just slice or chop into the salad
• Dye Easter eggs! Or – more Easter fun – make some gorgeous Ruby Eggs!
• Looking for still more ideas? Cooked Eggs

You Might Wonder Be Wondering ...

Have another question? Ask away, I'll do my best to answer!

Do You Need a Special Pot to Cook Eggs With Their Shells On? No. Absolutely not. Some home cooks rely on their Instant Pots and pressure cookers for cooking hard-boiled eggs. But no special pot is necessary. I use a large pot to cook a dozen eggs and a smaller saucepan for fewer eggs, the idea is to keep them in a single layer without too much room to bound around in.

Do You Need to Use "Older" Eggs When Cooking Eggs for Deviled Eggs? No. There's a myth out there that hard-cooked fresh eggs are hard to peel. Not true, not when using this recipe.

What If You Discover an Egg Whose Shell is Cracked or Even Indented? Should You Still Cook It? No! As you put uncooked eggs into a pan for cooking, watch for cracks, nicks or anything that could allow "bad stuff" to get inside the protective shell. If you find one, throw it away! It's just not worth the risk of food poisoning. #ExperienceTalking

How Do You Store the Hard-Cooked Eggs? Leave the cooked eggs in their shells until ready to use and store them in the refrigerator. To avoiding mixing up the cooked eggs and the raw eggs, some times I'll add a drop of food coloring to the cooking water. Otherwise I mark cooked eggs with an X using a Sharpie, then store in an empty egg carton.

How Long do Hard-Cooked Eggs Last? Use up cooked eggs within a week. You might actually use that Sharpie to note the date, right on the eggs! If you crack open an egg and notice an "off" odor, throw it away.

Bookmark! PIN! Share!

How do you save and share favorite recipes? recipes that fit your personal cooking style? a particular recipe your mom or daughter or best friend would just love? If this technique for cooking eggs hits the mark, go ahead, save and share! I'd be honored ...

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PERFECT HARD-COOKED EGGS

Hands-on time: 5 minutes
Time-to-table: 30 minutes
Makes 1 to many hard-cooked eggs

• STEP ONE Place eggs in a single layer in a saucepan, cover with water plus an inch more. It's better to fill the saucepan so the eggs don't bounce around while cooking, which risks cracks. If you like, add a drop or two of food coloring so that later, in the fridge, it's easy to distinguish the hard-cooked eggs.
• STEP TWO Leave the pot uncovered and bring the water to a boil. Watch carefully, for once the water boils, boil the water for just one minute. Precision is important, set the timer!
• STEP THREE Turn off the heat, now cover the pot and let the pot rest for exactly 10 minutes. Don't risk distraction, set the timer!
• STEP FOUR Use a slotted spoon to lift the hot eggs into a large bowl of very cold ice water and let them rest there for five minutes – longer is fine too, the ice water stops the cooking process. No ice? Cold tap water works in a pinch, just be sure to keep the fresh cold water flowing over the eggs for the full five minutes.

The eggs will peel easily now, they're ready to eat. Or to save the hard-cooked eggs for later, leave the egg shells on and store in the fridge for a week or so.

Any cracked eggs? Use them up first, preferably

NUTRITION INFORMATION Per Large Egg: 71 Calories; 4g Tot Fat; 2g Sat Fat; 211mg Cholesterol; 70mg Sodium; 0g Carb; 0g Fiber; 0g Sugar; 6g Protein. WEIGHT WATCHERS Old Points 2 & PointsPlus 2 & SmartPoints 2 & Freestyle 0 & myWW green 2 & blue 0 & purple 0

I sure didn't figure out this technique on my own and am 99% sure it came from Cook's Illustrated (affiliate link).

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The Incredible Edible ... Yep ... Egg

more
~ easy egg recipes ~

• THE RECIPE How to Poach a Perfect Egg Step-by-step using Cook's Illustrated technique.
• ANOTHER TAKE Perfect Hard-Cooked Eggs Easy peeling, no green rings.

• THE RECIPE Fried Egg Quesadillas A fried egg sandwich with a tortilla.
• ANOTHER TAKE Green Chile Scrambled Eggs An easy, healthy breakfast.

• THE RECIPE Easy Green Chile Egg Casserole No bread! Just eggs, green chiles, bits of cheese and a surprising ingredient, cottage cheese.
• ANOTHER TAKE Easy Make-Ahead Breakfast Casserole Just eggs, hash browns, salsa, cheese. Then adapt!

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Seasonal Cooking: Late Winter & Early Spring Across the Years

Caraway Corned Beef with Red Potatoes, Carrot Chunks, Cabbage Wedges & Cheese Sauce Baked Chicken with Herb-Roasted Potatoes Skillet Cornbread Whole Wheat Soda Bread Lemon Pudding Cake Spinach Soup with Perfect Hard-Cooked Eggs Perfect Hard-Cooked Eggs Bacon-Wrapped Dried Apricots Last-Minute Pantry Pie

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