I feel so silly asking this...but what is the best way to hard-boil an egg that it is fully-cooked and the shells come off with ease? Every year, I struggle to get it right and I hate wasting so many darn eggs!!!!!!!!! THANKS FOR YOUR HELP IN ADVANCE!! :)
Thank you all for the responses! Finally I have made hard-boiled eggs that turned out on the first try. I used the recipe below as I'm a huge fan of America's Test Kitchen (didn't even think to look there). I also used the "spin test" mentioned to make sure they were done. Thanks again and happy Easter!
Make sure eggs are covered by an inch of water.
Place eggs in medium saucepan, cover with 1 inch of water, and bring to boil over high heat. Remove pan from heat, cover, and let sit for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, fill a medium bowl with 1 quart water and 1 tray of ice cubes (or equivalent). Transfer eggs to ice water bath with slotted spoon; let sit 5 minutes. Peel and use as desired.
My father is law makes the best easy to peel hard boiled eggs. Take a pot of cold water heavy salt place eggs in. Then bowl on high heat till it is really really boiling. Remove from heat cover and let sit for 20 mins. The shells should come off super easy once they are cool
Put your eggs in the pot and cover with cold water, about an inch higher than the eggs. Bring the water and eggs to a boil (I boil them for about a minute) and then simmer for ten minutes , you can simmer longer but the yolks will start to turn green. Then pour off all the boiling water and fill the pot with cold water and ice cubes. I usually let them sit for 10-15 minutes in ice water. It does help if your eggs are fresh.
I just put water with the eggs right away in a pot boil for 10 minutes, rinse them under cold water, sometimes let them stand a minute in the cold water.I wouldn't let the water run for 5 minutes ,that would be wasting water!!!!!
It always depends on the freshness of the egss how bad the shells come off.The fresher, the worst is the peeling.
Good luck!!
I do almost everything the previous post does except, I let my eggs sit in the cold water and heavily salted water, for a few minutes before I start to boil the water - once water boils, I simmer mine for closer to 15 minutes - I would start testing them at 12 minutes. You'll know when they are done when you take one egg out and it "spins perfectly on its side" without any wobbling. Definitely you want to do the ice cold bath at the end - dumping out all hot water, immediately rinsing the eggs with cool water in same pan, then ice cold/ice cube bath for a good 10 - 15 minutes. This helps avoid the green.
Don't forget the salt water because, if your egg cracks, the salt water helps to seal the crack and salvage the egg.
Don't feel bad for asking - every year I have to "review" the same method that I have been using for a long time and they come out great!
Happy Easter!
For all you fans of Cook's Illustrated and America's Test Kitchen, here are their instructions. I think it's almost exactly like the first poster, but I have added Cook's advice on peeling.
FOOLPROOF BOILED EGGS
You may double or triple this recipe as long as you use a pot large enough to hold the eggs in a single layer, covered by an inch of water.
Ingredients = 6 large eggs
Place eggs in medium saucepan, cover with 1 inch of water, and bring to boil over high heat. Remove pan from heat, cover, and let sit for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, fill a medium bowl with 1 quart water and 1 tray of ice cubes (or equivalent). Transfer eggs to ice water bath with slotted spoon; let sit 5 minutes. Peel and use as desired.
FOOLPROOF PEELING
1. Tap the egg all over against the counter surface, then roll it gently back and forth a few times on the counter.
2. Begin peeling from the air pocket end. The shell should come off in spiral strips attached to the thin membrane.
First i use cold water with some salt then when it starts to boil i set the timer for 10 min. after that you run them under cold water for 4 -5 min. The shell comes of easy then.
A couple tricks. First, the eggs need to be a couple days old in order for the shell to come off easily. Then you put the eggs in a large pot with enough water covering them over by 1-2 inches. Bring to a boil. Turn off the heat. remove from the burner and let sit in the hot water for 10 minutes. Then add cold water to the pan to stop the cooking and let them cool before peeling.
Put eggs in a pot of hot or cold water and bring to a boil, no salt. I have an electric stove, I turn off the heat, leave the covered pot on the "burner" for 16 minutes. Over the sink, shake the pot with the hot water, and eggs and lid in place. Lift the lid, dump out hot water add cold water and some ice cubes, let sit for 5 minutes and the now cracked eggs will peel with ease.
Got this from a friend 2 years ago when I had to make 120 deviled eggs for a fund raiser for cub scouts. Works every time.
I use the luke warm water from top and have the egg half merged in water, add in pinch of salt. Boil it @ low heat for 10 mins and let it sit for 5-7 mins in same hot water. (Note: you can increase boiling water time based on number of eggs 10 mins will be good for 3 large eggs.)
Take out the egg crack egg on the one side and roll on the counter with slight pressure to have the shell loosen up. Then place your finger on one of the crack and peel..there is a thin layer below the skin if you can grab that shell comes off like naval orange - very easily.
V.
The only thing I would add to the other posts is that I also peel the eggs in cold water or under the cold faucet. This seems to help the stubborn shell come off.
