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Spring is officially here! It’s the season for colorful blooms, picnics, and light, spring-inspired dishes. When I think spring eating, I think artichokes, outdoor picnics with meat and spinach pies, lots of salad, and eggs. It’s something about Easter that makes me crave eggs, especially hard boiled eggs in salads.
Eggs are a convenient and inexpensive source of protein. With Perfect Hard Boiled Eggs on hand, it is easy to prepare breakfast, lunch, snacks, appetizers, or dinner. Let’s get cracking :)!
Perfect Hard Boiled Eggs
The Perfect Accompaniment to Any Meal
Hard boiled eggs are one of those kitchen staples I always keep in the fridge. They’re perfect for snacking on out of hand, adding protein to salads, forming a quick breakfast, and – with just a little extra effort – becoming deviled eggs, the perfect cocktail snack.
Hard boiled eggs are packed with protein and nutrients. They are low in calories and rich in many important vitamins, minerals and nutrients. While the yolk provides nutrients, fat and protein, the white is almost exclusively protein.
However, boiling eggs is a bit tricky since people can overcook them easily, resulting in a dark green hue around the yolk and a somewhat sulphurous taste.
Perfect Ways to Make Hard Boiled Eggs
If you search online for the best way to hard-boil eggs, you will find umpteen different methods claiming to be the best (many of which don’t even require boiling). Some claim to produce eggs with tender whites and moist yolks. Others claim they make them easier to peel.
After testing many methods, here are the best ways to make the perfect hard boiled eggs and some tricks for easy peeling.
Peeling Eggs Couldn’t Be Easier
Method 1: A Hot Start
This is my go-to method whenever I boil eggs.
First of all, you need to forget the “cold start myth”. This method is very successful with potatoes but not with eggs! Start with boiling water. This will make your eggs slip happily from their shell :).
Next, add some salt to the boiling water, set the microwave timer for 7 minutes, and let the eggs boil. Remove eggs from the pot when the timer dings. This way, they will have have perfectly set whites and slightly runny, slightly jammy yolks — The longer you leave them sit, the jammier they’ll become.
After that, fill a large bowl halfway with ice and water. Gently immerse the eggs in the prepared ice water for about 10 minutes.
Finally, tap the eggs with a spoon or tap the eggs on a hard surface to remove the shell. Rinse the egg in cold water to remove any shell fragments and pat dry.
Method 2: Use the Instant Pot
There’s a reason eggs are one of the first foods we recommend cooking in your Instant Pot. Hard-boiled eggs in the Instant Pot use less water than stovetop-boiled eggs, cook in less time, and are incredibly easy to peel. (You can easily make soft- or medium-boiled eggs by adjusting the cooking time and pressure.)
Our go-to method, known as the 5-5-5 method, is also simple to remember and produces perfect, foolproof eggs every time.
What Is the 5-5-5 Method?
The basic idea is this: Cook your eggs under pressure for 5 minutes, naturally release the pressure for 5 minutes, then cool the eggs in an ice bath for 5 minutes. The short time under pressure ensures they don’t overcook, and the pressure steaming makes them easy to peel.
Tender Whites and Moist Yolks
Method 3: Baking
Simply place an egg in each cup of a muffin tin and bake at 325°F for 30 minutes, then cool in an ice water bath and peel. This method is good for big batches and doesn’t require much attention. On the other hand, it takes more time than other methods.
Method 4: Steaming
Here are two methods that involve steaming and will result in easy-to-peel hard-cooked eggs.
The first is a simple stovetop steam, in which a few inches of water is brought to a boil before lowering an egg steamer basket into the pot. Steam the eggs for 20 minutes.
Pressure steaming is the second method. The eggs are cooked in a stovetop or electric pressure cooker using a steamer basket or rack.
In both cases, steam vapor enters the shell, loosening the membrane responsible for hard-to-peel eggs.
Frequently Asked Questions
When stored properly, hard-boiled eggs stay fresh for about 1 week. If the spongy yolk is brown or the slimy shell is red, the egg is most likely spoiled. Aside from its appearance, the smell of a rotten egg is a clear indicator of its badness, and if it smells bad, it is most likely spoiled.
The green ring around the yolk of a hard cooked egg occurs as a result of hydrogen in the egg white combining with sulfur in the yolk. The most common cause is overboiling the eggs for an extended period of time. A high level of iron in the cooking water can also cause the green ring.
Refrigeration is essential for keeping hard-boiled eggs safe and fresh. Hard-boiled eggs should be refrigerated within two hours of boiling and stored on an inside shelf rather than in the door. Wait until you’re ready to eat or cook with hard-boiled eggs before peeling them.
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Top Tips
- If boiling, use a proper sized pot for the number of eggs you’re cooking. Eggs should be placed in a single layer with enough space to move around.
- Use older eggs for easier-to-peel hard-boiled eggs. You can buy your eggs a week or two before you intend to boil them and store them in the refrigerator.
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Easy Peel No fail Hard Boiled Eggs
Equipment
- sauce pan
Ingredients
- eggs
- water , for boiling
- salt, a pinch
Instructions
- First, boil some water in a sauce pan and add a pinch of salt.
- Next, set the microwave timer for 7 minutes, and let the eggs boil. Remove eggs from the pot when the timer dings.
- After that, fill a large bowl halfway with ice and water. Gently immerse the eggs in the prepared ice water for about 10 minutes.
- Finally, tap the eggs with a spoon or tap the eggs on a hard surface to remove the shell. Rinse the egg in cold water to remove any shell fragments and pat dry.
Notes
- If boiling, use a proper sized pot for the number of eggs you’re cooking. Eggs should be placed in a single layer with enough space to move around.
- Use older eggs for easier-to-peel hard-boiled eggs. You can buy your eggs a week or two before you intend to boil them and store them in the refrigerator.
Thanks a lot. Tried your hot start method and it worked perfectly
That is the key! YAY~