The PERFECT Boiled Egg

[ChixRule]

Okay, I FINALLY learned how to make the perfect boiled egg! Some of you probably won't have the "Eureka!!!" moment that I had. You've probably been boiling your eggs like this forever. But for those of you that are like me, and never knew how long to boil them, here ya go.
Drumroll please......

Bring the eggs to a boil, take them off the burner, cover them and let them sit for 10-15 minutes. Run them under cold water and peel. The shells practically FALL off. It's amazing!

Ta-DA! haha Thank you Rachel Ray!!!!

[not2late]

Yep, I learned how to cook hard boiled eggs like that from Julia Child.

[Lady_Hawke]

AWESOME!!!! I can't wait to try it! I am never sure how long to cook them so I usually let them boil for 20 or more! And yes some crack and they are terrible to peel!
Thank you so much for this post! :joy

[ChixRule]

AWESOME!!!! I can't wait to try it! I am never sure how long to cook them so I usually let them boil for 20 or more! And yes some crack and they are terrible to peel!
Thank you so much for this post! :joy

I used to boil mine for 15-20 mins also. Ended up throwing half of them away cause they were so darn hard to peel. Since learning the correct way.. I boil eggs all the time. Even volunteered to bring deviled eggs to my mom's for Easter dinner!

Woohoo!

[Dieselbud]

not-so-fresh-eggs will always peel better as well, but I like to use this method to avoid the grey yolks

[scott123]

Ummmm... how much water? What size eggs? How many eggs?

If you start this process with 1 large egg in 3 quarts water, after a 5 minute sit the yolk will be almost completely gray/green from overcooking.

And yet, if you start with 1 jumbo egg with 2 cups water, in 15 minutes you'll still have a runny yolk.

And nothing in this process relates to peelability. A very fresh egg treated in this manner will be impossible to peel.

I'm all for foolproof approaches to eggs, but without some clarification, this is definitely not the secret to perfect hard cooked eggs.

[Pau]

10 minutes is enough.
Put salt on the water and they won´t break.
And move them from time to time and the yolk will be right in the center to make perfect deviled eggs!

[Pau]

...

[MotherOfGizmo]

Even better yet, get one of these

http://www.shopping.com/xGS-Egg_Cooker~NS-1~linkin_id-3058336~

and take all the guess work out of it completely! I have an older model I bought about 10 years ago for like 12 bucks, its still going strong and I love it. I can make the eggs hard boiled, soft boiled, however I like them and not have to worry about timing them, it shuts itself off automatically when the eggs are the way I want them! :joy

[not2late]

I'm not sure if this link will work, but here it goes...

From Cook's Illustrated/America's Test Kitchen, "fool-proof boiled eggs"

http://www.americastestkitchen.com/recipe.asp?recipeids=705&iSeason=4

Their directions in a nutshell for 6 eggs. Put the eggs in a medium saucepan, cover with water (water level should be 1 inch above the eggs), bring to a boil over high heat. Remove pan from heat. Cover and let them sit for 10 minutes. In the meantime, fill a large bowl with water and ice cubes. Remove eggs with a slotted spoon and place them in the ice water. Let sit for 5 minutes. Peel.

The American Egg Board has similar instructions (and color photos!)

http://www.aeb.org/recipes/basics/hard-cooked_eggs.htm

[swag]

How does altitude affect peelability?

Home is Dallas (500'), and my eggs usually come out fine and peel easily. But I'm currently in Salt Lake (4500'). Water boils at a lower temperature here, right? Anyway, my hard boiled eggs here do not peel so easily... But what really got me thinking about this is at the ski resort today, I bought a couple of hard boiled eggs in the cafeteria (9000'), and peeling them was beyond difficult - it was a major mess.

Is this because they are boiled longer, because the water isn't as hot? Or is there some other altitude effect? Or is it just coincidence?

[not2late]

Altitude will affect the cooking time. But I'm not sure if it affects peelability.

[sadie147]

I find that Omega 3 eggs are really difficult to peel...i've actually thrown them ut cause i've made such a mess of them. Not sure what it is about them...i buy normal eggs for boiling and use te omega 3 for everything else.

[chickaDee59]

I add salt and vinegar to the water for easy peeling everytime.

[iwritedocs]

I was always told (and it seems to work fine) that immediately soaking the boiled eggs in cold, cold water until they are cool to handle is what makes the eggs easy to peel. Mine are always easy to peel when I do this.

It's the boiling time part I always question. So your suggestion for taking them off the heat and letting them sit sounds like a good one.