What's the secret to making a perfect hard-boiled egg?

[BookstoreEscapee]

Anyone got the secret? I tend to overcook them, which is better than undercooking, I suppose, even if it does turn the yolks kinda greenish. I made some the other night and they actually came out pretty good, but a couple of them didn't want to come out of the shell. It's very frustrating.

So, how do you do it?

[CaroPhoenix]

Follow these directions from incredibleegg.org I have used these directions before and the eggs come out perfectly every time! Good luck!

[1756GR2]

Mom taught us to put a hole in the big end before putting them in the salted water to cook. I still use her Special Hard Boiled Egg Pin - a regular fabric pin that has bandage tape wrapped around the shaft, leaving just the right depth of point exposed so you don't go too far into the egg and pierce the membrane. Instead of the air pocket at that end being trapped inside the egg, potentially expanding enough to crack the egg, it comes out the pin hole.

In its own macabre way, sometimes the air squeeks coming out, and it sounds like little peeps. Unnerving.

[RetailWorkhorse]

How I learned to make HB Eggs.

Dad's Hard Boiled Eggs.

Grab a Pot. No, not that one, the other one.

Put in eggs. How many do you want? That many? Okay, okay, just put them in the pot.

Fill with water. An inch above the eggs will do.

Put on the stove. Light the stove.

Bring to boil. Put on a LID. Yes, the one that fits the pot. Okay, now QUICK TURN IT OFF TURN IT OFF!

Put 10 minutes on the timer. No, ten MINUTES, not seconds.

Okay, good. Is the ten minutes up yet? Good.

Put the pot in the sink. The whole thing. Just put it in the sink. BECAUSE.

Okay, now run cold water into the pot. The cold water doing into the still hot water will keep your eggs from freaking out. Because eggs can freak out, too.

Pull them out of the now cooled water, dry 'em off, crack 'em open, and eat.

[BethB]

The mother-in-law swears by adding salt to peel the egg perfectly

[BookstoreEscapee]

I usually do put salt...now that you mention it I'm not sure I did this time...


RW's instructions are certainly the most entertaining, but 1756GR2's appeals to the morbid/scientific side of my brain...

I may have to make a few batches of egg salad...

[Nurian]

I put a little vinegar in the water. It keeps the shells from cracking.

[teller]

salt water a pot with a controlled heat(trust me on that one some times i used other one one egg won't cook.)
never over fill the water like list above on inch should do it.
boil the water with eggs in it.(i know at least one person who boils the water first its good for runny yokes if you like that)
once the water reach the boil remove heat or it will over cook.
for easy shell removal drain the water then dump the eggs into ice water do not let them cool.

salt an pepper and enjoy.

[SengaKitty]

I'll admit, Sir made hardboiled eggs for me the other night. Yes, I know how to hard boil eggs, but he wasn't doing anything anyway, and I'd just gotten two dozen farm fresh eggs from a lady at church, and one dozen were the CUTEST LITTLE EGGS EVER They were just friggin tiny, and I love to eat hardboiled eggs as a snack... So yeah...

Anyway RW's directions made me giggle cause that sounded just like my mother..

[RetailWorkhorse]

Anyway RW's directions made me giggle cause that sounded just like my mother..

Actually, that's my Dad's ACTUAL instructions from when he taught me how to bubble up some eggs.

He reteaches me every year.

Because I cannot retain that kinda information.

I cook eggs like that once per year.

Dad cooks them about every other week.

[JLRodgers]

One thing I've always hated about eggs from my own experience in having to cook them: they never cook the same way every time. Once I put them in cold salted water and warmed to a boil and turned it off for 10 minutes -- they weren't cooked all the way through. Did it again and they were overcooked. So now I just "wing it". Cook them for like 10-15 minutes and hope.

[crazylegs]

Make sure your eggs are at room temp already before plonking them into the broiling water.

Use a slotted spoon when putting them into the water

As soon as your time is up (I go for 8 mins as I like my eggs gooey in the middle) remove NOW and place into cold tap water, leave a couple of mins then peel.

Hmmm, eggs....

[CaroPhoenix]

Now I'm hankering for some hard boiled eggs to eat.

[digilight]

Well since I've been having to subsist on eggs for the last couple of weeks (had gastric bypass and there is a period of time when you can only have soft mushy foods and eggs is on that short list).

My method for doing the eggs.

Place eggs in pan, add water to about half an inch to a inch over the eggs, salt the water (the salt eliminates the chance of the water boiling over and changes the density of the water so the eggs tend to stay under the water and cook more evenly.

Bring to boil, allow to cook for 5-10 minutes (I don't turn the heat off like everyone else, I keep it boiling). About 8 minutes or so seems to be perfect.

I pull the eggs out and put in a smaller bowl and place in sink and fill with water. Keep changing the water to cool the eggs.

Peel as you need them and enjoy.

To peel them, gently crack all the way around the egg to break the egg to the membrane, the shell should peel off easily this way.

Also, do not use fresh eggs for this, you want eggs that are close to their date or have been in the fridge for a couple of weeks at least, if you can't do that leave them out of the fridge for a few hours to age (out of the fridge eggs will age about 1 refrigirated week for every day left out or so) so I would do about 4 hours.

I don't know why the older eggs work better, they are so much easier to peel.

[lordlundar]

A tea kettle with a flip top lid and flat heating element. I'm serious.

Put the eggs in and cover them and an additional inch with cold water. Turn it on and let it go. The element will stop heating when the water hits a boil and the water is now at boiling temp without rolling and possibly damaging the eggs. Wait 15 minutes and they should be done. Drain the hot water and refill with cold to let them cool off for peeling.