# ISO hard boiled egg basics



## radunn (Feb 16, 2013)

How much do you put in the pan?  I've heard 1" in the pan to covering them 1" above etc..  

When a recipe says bring to a boil with medium heat etc., does that mean a rapid boil or the 1st sight of a bubble?  

I sat an egg in a pan, it would not layout oblong, rather, it positioned itself with the wide end closest to the surface; what does this indicate about that egg?  In advance thanks!


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## Dawgluver (Feb 16, 2013)

Welcome to DC!

I just hard boiled 6 eggs.  If your egg is upright, it may have some age on it, which should be fine.  Young eggs are impossible to peel.

I put mine in a pan, cover with water up to 1/2 to 1 inch over the eggs.  Water on medium high, come to a rolling boil.  Remove from the burner and cover with a lid.  Set aside for 12 minutes (I use a timer.)  Drain the pot and flood with cold water with ice.  Store in fridge.


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## pacanis (Feb 16, 2013)

That's how I hard cook mine, too. It might even be the method in the red & white Better Homes cookbook.


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## msmofet (Feb 16, 2013)

I cover by 1" with cold water. Bring to rapid boil then lower to simmer for 7 minutes. Turn heat off and allow to sit in hot water another 2 minutes. Then drain and run cold water over till cold enough to hold in pam of hand without getting burned. Then peel and use or place in fridge in shell or out.


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## radunn (Feb 16, 2013)

Dawgluver said:


> Welcome to DC!
> 
> I just hard boiled 6 eggs.  If your egg is upright, it may have some age on it, which should be fine.  Young eggs are impossible to peel.
> 
> I put mine in a pan, cover with water up to 1/2 to 1 inch over the eggs.  Water on medium high, come to a rolling boil.  Remove from the burner and cover with a lid.  Set aside for 12 minutes (I use a timer.)  Drain the pot and flood with cold water with ice.  Store in fridge.


Thank you for the post.  Yesterday I tried this method but about ½" of the egg was above water; can this result in egg being undercooked?  Thanks


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## Dawgluver (Feb 16, 2013)

radunn said:


> Thank you for the post.  Yesterday I tried this method but about ½" of the egg was above water; can this result in egg being undercooked?  Thanks



Oh yeah.  Make sure the water covers it by at least half an inch.  Sounds like you didn't have enough water in the pan.


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## Andy M. (Feb 16, 2013)

*OH NO!  It's the Hard Boiled Egg Question Again*

Welcome to DC radunn.  No insult intended but this is a question that keeps popping up so I dug up the older versions on this topic to give you a quick start.

Please take a few minutes to read the contents of the three threads linked below.  It's more than you ever want to know on the subject.


http://www.discusscooking.com/forums/f22/how-to-make-the-perfect-boiled-egg-53851.html

http://www.discusscooking.com/forum...ons-for-the-pefect-hard-boiled-egg-45814.html

http://www.discusscooking.com/forums/f22/how-do-you-boil-an-egg-26432.html


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## msmofet (Feb 16, 2013)

BUT ................ Remember the the debate over boiling water?


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## Whiskadoodle (Feb 16, 2013)

Hey. Learning how to boil eggs is the 2nd lesson after boiling water.  

I fill the pan 3/quarters full.   pan size determined by how many eggs.  Add the eggs.  Bring to a rolling boil  Cover.  Let sit.  I don't time it , but it's in minutes, not hours.  Run up your water bill by cooling under cold running water.  

Now,  If I want an egg salad sandwich for lunch,  one egg is not quite enought,   2 eggs is too many.  I need to find a hen that lays one big egg and one little egg.  and how do you figure boiling time for that, if they even have such a thing.  I prefer brown eggs.


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## msmofet (Feb 16, 2013)

Whiskadoodle said:


> Hey. Learning how to boil eggs is the 2nd lesson after boiling water.
> 
> I fill the pan 3/quarters full. pan size determined by how many eggs. Add the eggs. Bring to a rolling boil Cover. Let sit. I don't time it , but it's in minutes, not hours. Run up your water bill by cooling under cold running water.
> 
> Now, If I want an egg salad sandwich for lunch, one egg is not quite enought, 2 eggs is too many. I need to find a hen that lays one big egg and one little egg. and how do you figure boiling time for that, if they even have such a thing. I prefer brown eggs.


  

Do brown eggs cook faster?


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## Whiskadoodle (Feb 16, 2013)

msmofet said:


> Do brown eggs cook faster?


 

Brown Eggs is my secret weapon making good egg salad.  

Having grown up with a Mother who was careless and easily distracted by sqabbling/ rambunctious kids and a school lunch lady who was in cahoots with her.    I need all the help i can get.  Starting with Removing All the egg shells before the mash up.  To this day, I  layer the sandwich with potato chips on top and before the lettuce.  Just in case.  LOL.


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## Snip 13 (Feb 17, 2013)

I add my eggs to cold salted water, bring to a boil. Simmer for 7 minutes and then run cold water over them to stop them from cooking further. The whites are cooked and the yolks just barely soft, just the way I like them.


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## Addie (Feb 17, 2013)

I never let my eggs come to a full boil. Once they come to a simmer, I remove them from the heat and let them sit covered. I don't time them. Only because I make hard boiled eggs for future use. 

It is the hard boiling on the water for an extended time that gives you the green ring around the yolk. BTW, it is the sulphur in the white of the egg that causes the green ring. Not the yolk. 

I very rarely eat an egg for a meal. Thus I keep hb eggs in the fridge for a snack only. Sometimes I will make egg salad with them. But I like the idea of just reaching in the fridge and taking a cooked egg and eating it as a snack. I do not peel them until I am ready to eat one.


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## Aunt Bea (Feb 17, 2013)

I also use the cover with cold water, bring to a boil, remove from heat and let sit covered for 15-20 minutes.

It works every time and gives a nice tender yet firm hard boiled egg.

My question is how long can I safely keep the unshelled hard boiled eggs in the refrigerator prior to using them.


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## pacanis (Feb 17, 2013)

radunn said:


> Thank you for the post. Yesterday I tried this method but about ½" of the egg was above water; can this result in egg being undercooked? Thanks


 


Dawgluver said:


> Oh yeah. Make sure the water covers it by at least half an inch. Sounds like you didn't have enough water in the pan.


 
It's hard to get an older egg with a large air pocket inside to stay underneath the water, no matter how much water you put in 

Radunn, that little bit of the shell poking up above the water surface won't affect anything. The egg inside will still cook. Just make sure you start with enough water so it doesn't evaporate away.


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## Andy M. (Feb 17, 2013)

The air pocket is why you poke a hole in the shell at the fat end of the egg.  It lets the air out.  Use a push pin to make the hole.


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## CWS4322 (Feb 17, 2013)

I caught a show on how to boil the perfect egg a couple of weeks ago.

Put the eggs in a single layer in the pan. Cover with cold water. The eggs should be covered by 1 " of water. Bring to boil with the lid off. Put on the lid, remove from heat. Let sit 8 minutes if you want a softer yolk, 10 if you want a firmer yolk. Drain, cover with cold water, let sit 10 minutes. Re: adding salt, vinegar, baking soda to the water. The water and eggs would have to boil for an hour to change the alkaline level. Re: Fresh eggs and older eggs, supposedly the above technique works. I plan on trying it later this afternoon with a dozen fresh eggs as I still have to make pickled eggs today.


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## Zhizara (Feb 17, 2013)

Adding salt to the water makes for easier peeling.  I don't know why it works, but it really does.


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## CWS4322 (Feb 17, 2013)

Zhizara said:


> Adding salt to the water makes for easier peeling.  I don't know why it works, but it really does.


According to the food sicentist on the show I watched, that is a myth unless the eggs are in the water for one hour or more.


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## CWS4322 (Feb 22, 2013)

I took yesterday's eggs (18), put them in a pan added cold water, 1" over the top of the eggs. Brought this to a boil. I removed the pan from the burner when the boil was "rolling" but not so much of a boil that the eggs were bouncing. I popped a lid on, removed the pan from the burner, set the timer for 10 minutes. I then drained the pan and added cold water + the cubes from 1 ice cube tray. Set the timer for 10 minutes. IT WORKS. The eggs peeled clean (I peeled them in the pan of water). No salt. No vinegar. No baking soda. Fresh eggs. No whites coming off on the shell. Now to pickle the eggs.


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## Addie (Feb 22, 2013)

It is the temperature of the water that cooks the eggs. A good simmer as to a hard rolling boil is the same temperature. So if you remove the eggs from the source of heat at the height of a good simmer and follow through with the rest of your procedure (however you do it) you will always avoid that hated green ring around the yolk. If you choose to use the pin on the large end of the egg, be careful you don't pierce the white lining that protects the egg. Then your whites will stay inside where they belong.


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## msmofet (Feb 22, 2013)

I never get the green on the egg. Sometimes the very center of the yolk is still dark yellow/orange but set not runny.


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## Addie (Feb 22, 2013)

msmofet said:


> I never get the green on the egg. Sometimes the very center of the yolk is still dark yellow/orange but set not runny.


 
Then you must be doing something right.


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