Perfectly Boiled Eggs

My wife & I LOVE boiled eggs and for years we struggled with inconsistent results. That was until I decided to quit screwing around and work through the entire process methodically. What follows is what I do EVERY SINGLE TIME and it gives me consistent results.

What is perfect?

• Easy to peel. The shell comes off smoothly without pulling off the white.
• Consistent yolk. As soft or as hard as you like, through and through.
• Appetizing. None of that ugly gray outer coating on the yolk.

First, start with eggs that are at least a week old. Set them on the counter and let them come up to room temperature.

Put them in a pan where they all can touch the bottom.

Add a teaspoon of baking soda, a teaspoon of salt, and 2 tablespoons of white vinegar (note: it will fizz on contact with the baking soda.).

Add enough water to be an inch above the eggs.

Put on the stove (uncovered), turn up to high, and bring it to a boil.

Watch the pot. (Yeah, I said that. Believe it or not, it will boil even if you watch, regardless of what your mother told you about watched pots…)

Set a timer for 1 minute and start the timer as soon as the pot reaches a rolling boil.

When the timer goes off, remove it from the burner and cover it.

HERE’S THE TRICK:

How long you let it sit depends on how done you want your eggs. Set a timer immediately:

3 minutes: very, very soft almost runny yolks
5 minutes: soft but firm yolks
7 minutes: firm but soft yolks (yes, there is a difference)
8 minutes: hard boiled

HERE’S THE NEXT TRICK:

While your eggs are sitting, get another pot and fill it half full of water.

Pull out one or two trays of ice (depends on how many eggs you’re cooking. I do 18 at a time and it takes 2 trays).

When there is 1 minute to go on your timer, put the ice in the 2nd pot and grab a ladle.

When the timer goes off, start transferring the eggs from the cooking pot to the cooling pot.

Let them sit in the ice bath until they are cool.

Once cool, dry them off and transfer to whatever you want to keep them in. Since I do a carton at a time, I just put them back in the carton they came in (and mark the carton Hard Boiled so that they won’t be confused with ones that aren’t…)

So, there you have it. This is what works for me. Experiment and find out what will work for you!

NOTE: Some people are under the impression that the ice bath is what makes the eggs easier to peel. While that may or may not contribute to ease-of-peeling, the ice bath’s primary purpose is to arrest the cooking process.