Easy Peeling Hard Boiled Eggs

The perfect hard-boiled egg – It seems like it would be such a simple thing to prepare; yet many despair of ever getting it right. 

For easy-peeling hard boiled eggs, use the traditional method: place eggs in a pan, add water, boil, turn down heat, cook 12 minutes…but a few small details make the difference: fit them along the bottom of the pan and add water gently. After cooking, cook with tap water and ice. Refrigerate before peeling. 

If you’ve never been able to cook your eggs just right, read on! What makes this article different from the others is that I troubleshoot a few fundamental things you may have missed…

…and if, after reading this, it’s not “eggs-actly” what you hoped for, treat yourself to the perfect, little egg maker, which will do it all for you!

Table of Contents

• Choose Pan Size Carefully
• Don’t be Shallow, Now!
• Time to Get Cookin’ 
• The All-Important Cool-down Period 
• Take it Off – – Take it All Off
• Why Do Boiled Eggs Turn Grey/Green in the Middle?
• Why Can’t I Find a Boiled Egg Recipe that Works?
• Afterthought: Are Eggs Bad for your Heart?
• Resources for Further Exploration 

Choose Pan Size Carefully

There is no perfect number of eggs to cook, or perfect pan. Rather, choose a pan that will allow your eggs to line the bottom; without overcrowding or having so much space in between that they’re jostling around, getting broken. 

Don’t be Shallow, Now!

The pan needs to be deep enough to cover the eggs with an inch of water, without being more than half full. They must have room to boil, without boiling over. 

To avoid breakage, place the eggs, one at a time, into the bottom of the pan. Running water over them is another thing that may damage them. A better strategy is to pour the water over them using a cup or container. 

Be sure to start with cool water, such as that from the tap. 

Time to Get Cookin’

Place the pan over medium-high heat. My eggs seem to come out better when the pan is covered right from the beginning, and they do come to a boil much sooner; however, that boil can quickly become a boil-over, if you are not being very attentive. 

Either way, stay nearby, until it starts to boil. This is where a lot of people ruin their eggs; so you may prefer to boil eggs at a time when you are staying in the kitchen, anyway. After a meal, during cleanup, or earlier, when you are preparing a meal are times that work for me. 

Once they are at a full, rolling boil, cover and turn down to medium-low, just enough to keep the simmer going. Cook them for around 12 minutes. 

Twelve minutes is the perfect amount for my taste – The yolks come out evenly powder-yellow, with no trace of gold  or green ring…. but I encourage you strongly to cook only a few eggs the first few times, noting and adjusting this amount of time to your taste. 

The All-Important Cool-down Period

When the time is up, remove the pan from the heat. Set the cover aside, place the pan in your very clean kitchen sink, and run cold tap water – not too hard! – directly into the pan. 

Tip the water out, and refill gently; this time, adding some ice to the water. 

I find that the boiled eggs peel better after a few hours in the fridge. If you need them right away, change the ice water a few more times to chill them more quickly. 

Take it Off – – Take it All Off

To peel, gently rap the egg on a plate or on the counter; followed by rolling it back and forth while pressing down on it just hard enough to crackle the shell around the middle. 

Carefully pluck off a bit of shell with some of the membrane, to get it started. If it’s coming free easily, great!  If not, run water into the open spot, and peel under the tap, if that’s what it takes to get the shell off. You can always dry them afterward on a paper towel or clean kitchen towel. 

Why Do Boiled Eggs Turn Grey/Green in the Middle?

According to the good folks at the University of Nebraska extension:

A greenish-gray ring may appear around a hard-cooked egg yolk. It’s unattractive, but not harmful. The ring is caused by a chemical reaction involving sulfur (from the egg white) and iron (from the egg yolk), which naturally react to form ferrous sulfide at the surface of the yolk. The reaction is usually caused by overcooking, but can also be caused by a high amount of iron in the cooking water.”

University of Nebraska Extension

Why Can’t I Find a Boiled Egg Recipe that Works?

Simple – Because boiling eggs is not a recipe, it is a process. A new recipe will not fix it for you. Here’s the method that works, in a printable recipe format:

Poor Martha Stewart took an awful beating in the comments of her boiled egg article, because many blamed her for variables in this process, which were beyond her control, such as:

• Age of the eggs

• Acidity level of the water

• Starting temperature of the water

• Type of stovetop (natural gas, propane, electric, cooktop). Each of these cooks differently. 

• …and, of course, there are more variables ahead, when you cool down and store the eggs. 

These can all have an effect on the finished egg: how well it’s cooked, how easily it peels, and it’s flavor and texture. 

The secret to perfect boiled eggs is to start with the techniques listed here, trying just a few eggs; and tweak the method, until your eggs are done they way you like them. 

Afterthought: Are Eggs Bad for your Heart?

You’ll be pleased to learn that Harvard University has updated the science on that:

Research on moderate egg consumption in two large prospective cohort studies (nearly 40,000 men and over 80,000 women) found that up to one egg per day is not associated with increased heart disease risk in healthy individuals.”

Harvard School of Medicine

Resources for Further Exploration

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