Hard Boiling Eggs

[R2elk]

I have always had good luck just putting ten day or older eggs in cold water and bringing them to a boil. At my elevation, I boil them for 15 minutes. Remove from the boiling water and immerse in cold water. Roll the egg on a hard surface to get the shell well cracked. When peeling, once you can get to the membrane, the egg pretty much just slides right out.

I kept reading about people having excellent results using an Instant Pot for the boiling stage and then immersing in ice water before peeling. I tried it and my results were that fresh eggs from that day still peeled as poorly as fresh eggs boiled the normal way. The difference is that the eggs only needed to be 3 days old for them to peel very easily.

For those that are getting green yolks, the eggs are being over cooked. Cook them for a shorter period of time and the yolks will not turn green.

 

[IamRainey]

For those that are getting green yolks, the eggs are being over cooked. Cook them for a shorter period of time and the yolks will not turn green.

I always thought that was simply a matter of aging. I know that the eggs we use last seem to have that particular "halo" when the ones we used more promptly were nice and golden. But then I guess overcooking them could have a similar effect...

 

[ChocolateMouse]

The secret is steam them then shock em in cold water. The steam pushes air between the shell and the egg and the cold water helps the malleable egg shrink away from the shell.

5.5 minutes for soft (flipped half way through), 10-12 for hard.

I promise you, steaming is the best way to deal with it they will peel like a dream and all you need is a $5 steamer basket.

 

[janiedoe]

My method: if I need 6 nice & neat boiled eggs, I cook 2 dozen. The dogs and chickens are very willing to eat the messy ones. The chickens don't even care if the shells are still stuck to them.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

The secret is steam them then shock em in cold water. The steam pushes air between the shell and the egg and the cold water helps the malleable egg shrink away from the shell.

5.5 minutes for soft (flipped half way through), 10-12 for hard.

I promise you, steaming is the best way to deal with it they will peel like a dream and all you need is a $5 steamer basket.

Thanks for that explanation, @ChocolateMouse! I always like to know *why* stuff works, as well as how. I was very pleased with my results yesterday!

 

[cbain0432]

Well, yesterday I tried a method I found on here and it worked really well for me! First let me say that normally I age my eggs about a month and they peel pretty well. My normal method was to start 'em in cold water, bring to a boil, turn off the heat, let set 10 min, then ice bath. But I was still getting a green coating around the yolk and I didn't like that.

SO. A lot of folks said I'd get rid of the green yolk AND could use fresh eggs and they'd peel easily if I STEAMED them instead. I was skeptical, but... So I tried it and it WORKED! Brought about an inch of water to a boil in my square Copper Pot (bc it has a rack). Put the rack in, put the eggs on top, put the lid on, turned the heat down to keep the water just at a boil, and set the timer to 12 minutes. Removed one at 5 minutes and enjoyed a LOVELY, perfect, soft-boiled egg! As for the rest, I dumped them into an ice bath at 12 minutes, let them cool, peeled them with no problem, admired the perfect yellow yolks! - and made egg salad. Yum! Will do it this way from now on.

The green coating is due to over cooking. 9 minutes is perfect every time. Being your water to a hard boil first. Add eggs. Set timer 9 minutes.

 

[R2elk]

The green coating is due to over cooking. 9 minutes is perfect every time. Being your water to a hard boil first. Add eggs. Set timer 9 minutes.

Boiling time is dependent on altitude. The length of time for boiling at sea level will be shorter than the time needed 5000', 7000' or higher. The higher the elevation, the longer the boiling time will need to be.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Boiling time is dependent on altitude. The length of time for boiling at sea level will be shorter than the time needed 5000', 7000' or higher. The higher the elevation, the longer the boiling time will need to be.

Thanks, @R2elk. This has always seemed backward to me but DH explained it to me.

 

[R2elk]

Thanks, @R2elk. This has always seemed backward to me but DH explained it to me.

It is really simple. The higher the elevation is the lower the boiling point of water is. At sea level, water boils at 212°F. At 5000' the boiling point of water is 202°F.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Ah, yes, so DH explained. So it takes longer to cook stuff. I will test my eggs at 9 minutes and see how they do. We are under 800 feet here.