How Do You Make Hard Boiled Eggs?
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Hard boiled eggs are easy to make and require only eggs, water, and a pot big enough to hold them. There are numerous recipes for and ways to prepare hard boiled eggs. Though many argue the finer points of making hard boiled eggs, there is really nothing simpler. To make hard boiled eggs, simply place eggs with unbroken shells into a pot and add enough water to cover them to one inch (2.5 cm). Bring the water to a boil, reduce the heat, and maintain a low boil for approximately 13 minutes.
When hard boiled eggs are done cooking, there are two ways to cool them. You can let them cool naturally in the pot until they are cool enough to peel, or you can speed cool them by draining off the hot water and rinsing them with cold water until they can be handled. Some cooks recommend speed cooling hard boiled eggs if they are going to be peeled and used right away. This is because the rapid cooling shrinks the egg slightly inside the shell, making it easier to peel.
In addition to Easter egg dying and eating, many recipes call for hard boiled eggs. They can be diced up for use in fresh salads, meat salads, and spreads, and they are also used to make the hors d'oeuvre deviled eggs. Deviled eggs are made by splitting hard boiled eggs in half lengthwise, removing the yolks, and mashing them with a combination of mayonnaise, mustard, and seasoning. The yolk mixture is then placed back inside the vacant hollows of the egg halves. There are numerous recipes for deviled eggs.
Hard boiled eggs are good eaten warm or cold. They are a healthy way to add protein to a green salad, and they are excellent diced up in potato salad. Hard boiled eggs are also frequently used when pickling beets. Many people like to drop whole, hard boiled eggs, along with onion, into a pickling mixture for beets.
Whatever your purpose for hard boiled eggs, be sure to cook them for at least ten minutes, as undercooked hard boiled eggs are extremely difficult to work with because the yolk is still runny. You can store unpeeled hard boiled eggs covered in the refrigerator for up to ten days safely. Peeled eggs should also be covered and eaten within three days.
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New: Discuss this ArticlePosted by: mentirosa
If you take eggs out of refrigerator and put it in boiling water, the difference in temperature is so tremendous that more often then not, the eggshell will brake because it can not withstand the sudden change in temperature.
Usually when I take the eggs out of the refrigerator I rinse them then with the help of a spoon lower them in boiling water, rather slowly. Very rarely do I get cracked shell. I do not have any scientific proof of this, but this is what I have figured out by trial and error. Posted by: malena
I heard that putting a few drops of vinegar in the water helps the shell peel more easily. Because it's so little vinegar in comparison to the amount of water, and because the egg is protected by the shell, you can't taste the vinegar when you eat the egg!
Editor's reply: That's an interesting tip! Thanks! I've also heard that the older the egg, the easier they will peel. I don't know if that's a fact or just an anecdotal observation, but it does seem to work. so if you're boiling eggs, use the eggs that are closest to expiring -- and of course, don't use rotten eggs!
Posted by: olittlewood
I find that putting eggs in lukewarm water reduces the frequency of broken shells. Also, by bringing it to a boil, then turning off the heat and letting them sit in the hot water for about 15 minutes, there isn't as much of a chance of the shells breaking in a rolling boil.
Posted by: anon5619
Sometimes when I place unbroken eggs into a pot of boiling water, their shell cracks open. How come?
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