# Perfect Hard Boiled Eggs Everytime



## ItsMillerThyme (Jun 15, 2010)

Easy way to cook hardboiled eggs and have them cook perfectly everytime. Place your eggs in a sauce pan and cover eggs with cold water. Be sure not to over crowd eggs in pan. After you cover tops of eggs with cold water put pan on stove on high heat. Bring water to a boil and remove from heat. Cover the pan and allow to sit for 15-20 minutes. You will now have perfect hard boil eggs. Now you just have to carefully peel the shells off.  

They are great for breakfast, in salads, for snacks, deviled eggs and of course egg salad. 

Hope this helped.


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## babetoo (Jun 15, 2010)

that is how i cook them also. put in ice water bath when they are done. this will make them easier to peel. a hint for peeling, crack a bit. then turn teaspoon upside down. put between peel and egg and off it comes. i think someone here said to do that. very cool.specially if you have a lot to peel.


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## bakechef (Jun 15, 2010)

That's how I cook eggs as well.  If I don't need them to be pretty for deviled eggs, I will take my big chef's knife and chop them in half through the shell, then take a spoon and slide it under the shell, the egg usually just pops out.

You would think that the knife method would shatter shell all over, but it works quite well, very little shell debris to deal with!  I got this tip from Martha Stewart.


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## CharlieD (Jun 16, 2010)

15-20 minutes? Why? Brings the eggs to boil, boil for 3-4 minutes, done. Works perfect every time.


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## ChefJune (Jun 16, 2010)

ItsMillerThyme said:


> Easy way to cook hardboiled eggs and have them cook perfectly everytime. Place your eggs in a sauce pan and cover eggs with cold water. Be sure not to over crowd eggs in pan. After you cover tops of eggs with cold water put pan on stove on high heat. Bring water to a boil and remove from heat. Cover the pan and allow to sit for 15-20 minutes. You will now have perfect hard boil eggs. Now you just have to carefully peel the shells off.
> 
> They are great for breakfast, in salads, for snacks, deviled eggs and of course egg salad.
> 
> Hope this helped.


 
What you have described is NOT "boiled" eggs.  And that's the secret to hard-COOKED eggs.  Don't boil them.  Bring the water they're in to a rolling boil, then turn off the heat and let the eggs (essentially) steam in the water.

Then run cold water into the pan until all the water (and the eggs) are cold.


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## BreezyCooking (Jun 16, 2010)

While that's definitely true June, it's really just semantics.

Whether or not you say "hard-boiled eggs" or "hard-cooked eggs", it means the exact same thing to the majority populace.


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## Wyogal (Jun 16, 2010)

The reason I cook it this way instead of just boiling them for 3 or 4 minutes is that this method is rather fool-proof, getting great results every time, no worry about over cooking the eggs.


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## BreezyCooking (Jun 16, 2010)

Oh - absolutely no problem with the cooking method - I do them that way myself.

I just don't see a reason to make a frou-frou about whether they're called "boiled" eggs or "hard-cooked" eggs.  June seems to have a problem with the nomenclature.


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## Wyogal (Jun 16, 2010)

yep, I wasn't addressing that at all!!!!!  Just commenting why I don't just boil them for 3-4 minutes like another poster suggested.
and I call them hard-boiled, too!


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## bakechef (Jun 16, 2010)

Wyogal said:


> The reason I cook it this way instead of just boiling them for 3 or 4 minutes is that this method is rather fool-proof, getting great results every time, no worry about over cooking the eggs.



That is pretty much the same reason that I cook them this way, foolproof.  No gray ring around the yolks, no worry about dried up rubbery eggs.  You can do other things while they cook.


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## BigAL (Jun 17, 2010)

Wife boils eggs, I don't so this could be way wrong.  I thought I heard that if you add a tbs or so of vinegar they will peel easier?  I've read about it for crab and maybe I'm just all messed up.  Happens all the time.


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## Wyogal (Jun 17, 2010)

The vinegar will help coagulate any bits of the egg that might escape via a cracked shell. I find that old eggs are easier to peel; really fresh eggs are much harder to peel.


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## JohnL (Jun 17, 2010)

Yup, that's how I do it also. Bring to boil, cover, remove from heat and let set for 17 mins. Then drain off the hot water, cover with cold water and add a tray of ice cubes to the water. I'll have to try using the spoon trick for peeling


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## Andy M. (Jun 17, 2010)

There are a number of different ways to make hard cooked eggs come out just right.  I do them this way:

Use a pushpin to make a hole in the blunt end of the eggshell.
Place the eggs in a single layer in a pan.  
Add your hottest tap water to the pan to cover the eggs by an inch
Bring to a boil and boil for 10 minutes
Pour off the water and shake the pan to crack the shells all over
Fill the pan with ice cold water and ice or just run cold water into the pan for a few minutes.
Peel and enjoy


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## BreezyCooking (Jun 17, 2010)

I use the pin method too - when I remember - lol!  It was a Julia Child tip.

I used to use a push pin, but then discovered that the egg-slicing gadget I have (one of the few "gadgets" that I do find extremely useful - cleanly slices hard-boiled eggs in 4 different ways, as well as dices them for salad), has a built-in retractible "push pin" for performing just this task!  How handy.


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## suzyQ3 (Jun 17, 2010)

The "hard"-cooked method described here is easy and foolproof. Any boiling of eggs to achieve the same result can instead sometimes produce rubbery eggs or cracked eggs or unappealing looking eggs. 

Those electric egg cookers also work well.


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## Andy M. (Jun 17, 2010)

suzyQ3 said:


> The "hard"-cooked method described here is easy and foolproof. Any boiling of eggs to achieve the same result can instead sometimes produce rubbery eggs or cracked eggs or unappealing looking eggs.
> 
> Those electric egg cookers also work well.



The method I posted was from a food magazine in an interview with Julia.  She offered this method of hardcooking eggs.  Works for me.


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## suzyQ3 (Jun 17, 2010)

Andy M. said:


> The method I posted was from a food magazine in an interview with Julia.  She offered this method of hardcooking eggs.  Works for me.



That's great. The method described in the original post of this thread  and the one that I use also comes from many reputable sources. And it  works for me better than when I used to boil them. That's what makes the  world go 'round, Andy M.


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## Andy M. (Jun 17, 2010)

As I said in my earlier post.  There is more than one way to get to properly hard cooked eggs.  I am simply offering an alternative, not being critical of the original method.


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## PattY1 (Jun 17, 2010)

Everyone is testy over hard cooked eggs. Hang in there people, the weekend is coming!!


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## babetoo (Jun 17, 2010)

PattY1 said:


> Everyone is testy over hard cooked eggs. Hang in there people, the weekend is coming!!


 
lol patty, exactly what i was thinking. to silly really


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## Wyogal (Jun 17, 2010)

Looks like only one or two might be "testy." Hardly "everyone."


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## PattY1 (Jun 18, 2010)

PattY1 said:


> Everyone is testy over hard cooked eggs. Hang in there people, the weekend is coming!!




And one defensive.


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## suzyQ3 (Jun 18, 2010)

BreezyCooking said:


> Oh - absolutely no problem with the cooking method - I do them that way myself.
> 
> I just don't see a reason to make a frou-frou about whether they're called "boiled" eggs or "hard-cooked" eggs.  June seems to have a problem with the nomenclature.



If you reread the post you took exception to, you should see that she was not making a frou-frou at all. She was agreeing with the method but mentioned that it is hard-*cooked* and not boiled because it is exactly that difference that makes the process so simple and foolproof. She was not taking anyone to task for mislabeling, just using the word difference to support this way of cooking eggs.


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## bigdaddy3k (Jun 18, 2010)

Thats it! I'm turning this car around right now! You will all have to call grandma and explain to her why we are not visiting due to the fact that you cannot just agree that hard boiled and hard cooked eggs are one and the same and its all just a semantics issue. I'm sure she will understand that we are missing her 99th birthday for such an important issue.


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## BreezyCooking (Jun 18, 2010)

LOL!  LOL!!  LOL!!!  Naw, we won't be missing Grandma's birthday over it.  It's only important to "chefs" - we little folk really don't care what you call them.


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## Wyogal (Jun 18, 2010)

hahahahahahahahahahahaha! gonna have a hard boiled egg for lunch.


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## bigdaddy3k (Jun 18, 2010)

I was going to have one in my salad but then they couldn't tell me if it was cooked or boiled and so I threw my salad against the wall and fled in tears.


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## BreezyCooking (Jun 18, 2010)

LOL!!!  I know how you feel.  Even though I've been using the "bring the water to a boil & then turn off the heat" method for many years, I've still been calling them hard-boiled eggs for those same many years.  Just think - thousands & thousands of eggs going to their demise with an identity crisis.


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## Andy M. (Jun 18, 2010)

bigdaddy3k said:


> I was going to have one in my salad but then they couldn't tell me if it was cooked or boiled and so I threw my salad against the wall and fled in tears.



Yeah, I just talked to your Mom and she's very concerned with your emotional outburst.  She wants to know, "Just who you think is going to clean up that mess, mister?"!


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## buckytom (Jun 18, 2010)

lol, patty, big daddy and andy.

who woulda thunk breezy would be involved in another ruckus?


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## bigdaddy3k (Jun 18, 2010)

Actually, Mom was the one who yelled, "and you call this icewater!!!" and whipped her cup at the wall right next to my salad. Dad just sat there very confused. 

I don't think we will be invited back to that Aunt's house for quite some time.


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## Wyogal (Jun 18, 2010)

sheesh. thought maybe I'd give this site another try. nothing has changed.


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## kadesma (Jun 18, 2010)

How about we agree that how ever we get the egg to the stage we enjoy most is just fine and dandy. just because you hard cook it and hard boil it Does it come out tasting any different, does when chopped or mashed does it look different? How about how it tastes. Am I wrong for hard cooking it? maybe I should be banned from DC for hard boiling it? What difference does it make how I fix the darn egg in my home if my family and friend love the way I do it? You know and so do I we all have feelings and should be allowed to follow how our mothers and fathers have taught us ! It's rude and hurtful to tell another their way is wrong. Wear the coat and see if you like it. I think  not. You don't have to agree with me or I you but we can at least respect others points of view. I'm sorry but please knock it off and be the nice people I've come to care about.
kadesma


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## BreezyCooking (Jun 18, 2010)

Which is what I said several posts ago.  Amen already.


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## suzyQ3 (Jun 18, 2010)

BreezyCooking said:


> LOL!  LOL!!  LOL!!!  Naw, we won't be missing Grandma's birthday over it.  It's only important to "chefs" - we little folk really don't care what you call them.



Oh, I'm sure "Chef" June just said "Ouch.". Poor thing -- that'll teach her to agree with you anytime soon.

I think I'm going to stick with easy over and scrambled after this joke (or would that be "yolk") of a subthread.


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## suzyQ3 (Jun 18, 2010)

BreezyCooking said:


> Which is what I said several posts ago.  Amen already.



Here's my take: I don't give a you-know-what how anyone else cooks an egg. And I apologize to Andy M. for my snippy reply to him early on. I thought he was being unduly defensive with pulling the Julia card,  but I realize it was a fairly innocuous post.  

But no, BreezyCooking, you said nothing  several posts ago remotely related to kadesma's peace-making attempt. You continued, under the guise of "humor,"  to snipe at and ridicule Chef June for her informative remark, with your disingenuous "LOL!  LOL!!  LOL!!!  Naw, we won't be missing Grandma's birthday over  it.  It's only important to "chefs" - we little folk really don't care  what you call them."

Whoever said that some things never change around here was unfortunately right.


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## bigdaddy3k (Jun 18, 2010)

The more I change the more I have to wash clothes.


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## DaveSoMD (Jun 18, 2010)

Okay all, we tried humor, we tried compromise... let us get this back on track and on topic.


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## babetoo (Jun 18, 2010)

i think we should just all refrain from posting in this thread. this is my last. lol lol


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## Alix (Jun 18, 2010)

Good idea babetoo, I'm locking this one as I think everyone has said all they need to say. 

Hey everyone, head over to Dave's Virtual Ice cream sundae party! I think we'll all feel better with some cool sugar coursing through our veins.


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