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Hard-cooking eggs is so easy! Or is it?
To hard-boil eggs, place them in a pot and add enough cold water to just cover the tops. Salt the water well to make peeling easier, and bring the water to a boil.
At this point, two methods will work. You can continue to boil the eggs, uncovered, for 10 to 15 minutes, depending on their size. 
But I prefer the way my mother, a former home economics teacher, does it.
When the water boils, continue to cook the eggs uncovered for 3 minutes. Then simply cover the pot, remove it from the heat, and let the pot sit for 20 minutes or until you get around to remembering it. I've been cooking eggs this way for 20 years, and you'll get a perfectly hard-boiled egg every time.
I’ve heard complaints over the years that hard-cooking eggs this way causes the outermost part of the yolk to darken, and I guess that’s true. But for me it’s a worthy tradeoff not to have to stand there and time the cooking. So how do you like to hard-cook eggs?
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Comments
Prick the eggs at the tip with a clean needle.
Gently drop into boiling water. Cover. Turn off heat. Let ‘em sit for about 10 minutes.
Drain.
Run under cool tap water. Remove shells.
Boogie!
This is a new one! What is the significance of the hole in the top?
I also use the pin-prick method (in the broad end of the egg). What it does is allows the air inside the shell to escape instead of cracking the shell when the boiling water heats it and also makes peeling easier.
However, I like to use a slightly different cooking method:
Bring the water to a boil.
Add the pierced eggs VERY GENTLY!
Lower heat to keep water boiling gently and continue cooking for 11 minutes.
Wash eggs in a collander with cool water.
Hard-cooked eggs will keep in the fridge for up to three weeks.
This is from Barbara of Bradenton, Fla., via email:
“I make my hard boiled eggs by covering them with cold water, I bring to a boil and set the timer for 15 minutes and then let them just simmer for the 15 minutes - remove - run under cold water. Never have a problem peeling them and they always turn out perfect - I don’t like them really hard. But your way sounds good too. I’ll try it. Thanks.“—-Barbara
I do the pin-prick method, too (and they actually make little gadgets just for this purpose). Why? Well, because my mother did it that way! But I like the reasoning mentioned here. I boil for about 12 mins, mainly because I’m always worried they won’t be done all the way through. But I’m sure all the methods are good ones.
Made them this morning and they came out beautiful with perfect yellow (no darkening) yolks: Bring water with the eggs to a full boil. The water covers the eggs by an inch. Boil for 1 minute, then turn off heat, and cover for 15 minutes. Interesting how our times vary.
P.S. to above comment…after 15 minutes, I carefully lower the hard boiled eggs into a large bowl of iced water (with several ice cubes).
Who would ever have thought that a simple boiled egg could have so many different incarnations? Maybe the truth of the matter is that it’s just not that hard and boiling an egg is really pretty simple stuff? Thoughts? (The best thought is to try out some great egg salad….check out our flexible recipe….bet there are some thoughts about variations for that out there!)
I just purchased something called “VEGENAISE” at Whole Foods and plan on tying it in place of mayonnaise the next time I make egg salad. My sister-in-law swears by it and says that it’s healthier and better tasting than mayo. Ingredients: Canola Oil, Filtered Water, Brown Rice Syrup, Apple Cider Vinegar, Soy Protein, Sea Salt, Mustard Flour and Lemon Juice Concentrate.
I just heard Michael Jackson’s person chef on TV this morning talking about what she fixed for him and his family and she mentioned Vegenaise. So now I am REALLY interested in trying this. I’m sure I can find it at Whole Foods, but what about a regular grocery? Anybody else cooked with this stuff?
Not sure…I haven’t looked anywhere else, but Whole Foods has 4 or 5 different “flavors/kinds” to choose from…I just bought the basic…but let me know what you find out.
Vegenaise is a vegan mayo. It’s a good product and I use it for some of hubby’s sandwiches.
Hi Beverly,
I’m new to your web-site.
Just a little comment.
There are hard boiled eggs and then there are “hard boiled eggs”.
The perfect HB egg has no darkening around the yoke, is solid but not rubbery. the two methods I’ve used over the years are: the pin hole and my favorite, place in cold salted water, bring to a boil then simmer uncovered for 12 min for mediums, 15 for large, & 18 for extra large. Rinse under cold water(twice)and your good to go. I take my digital timer and just put it in my pocket(don’t have to watch them then). One last bit; if your eggs are not very fresh they have a tendancy tend to darken around the yoke too, so when you place them in the cold water look to see if they are standing up on end. If so your egg(s) aren’t fresh. Fresh eggs lay on their side. PS; sounds strange but no one has disproved it..yet.
Thanks, Jim
Obviously, there are many ways to boil eggs. The bottom line is what works best for you. I use a bulletin board, stick pin (the ones with the colored, plastic tops)to puncture the bottom/big end of the egg, cover eggs with cold water in a sauce pan, add 1 teaspoon salt and slowly bring to a boil for 4-5 minutes. Remove pan from heat source, cover sauce pan to continue cooking for about 15 minutes. Cool by running cold water into pan then adding ice and let stand for about 10 minutes. The result is eggs cool enough to eat and to work with for slicing ,chopping, etc.
This works for me: use heavy pan with tight-fitting lid.
To Cook: place eggs in *cool water to cover. Bring to boil; cover pan IMMEDIATELY and remove from heat. Let stand 25 min. Rinse in cold water and peel immediately or:
To Peel: Drain, Rattle eggs in metal pan to thoroughly crack shells. Shells will fall off! Perfectly peeled eggs w/completely yellow yolks. Sometimes I let the eggs stand in the cold water for 5-10 minutes before rattling them.
*I add some cider vinegar to the water not sure why except that’s what my mother always did…