Hard-boiled eggs are not that complicated to make; however, there are ample discrepancies regarding the proper way to boil an egg. There’s something disconcerting about cracking open an egg only to find a discolored yolk, or having to make six extra eggs for a recipe because you know at least that many are bound to break and ooze while boiling.
Here are a few tips to improve your egg recipes and make boiling eggs an embarrassing joke of the past. Some of the top chefs in America recommend adding a little salt to the water. Salt can help alleviate the unpredictable boiling that can occur with uneven stoves or pots that heat variably. A pinch of salt can help with this, while a handful will create a salty crust on the egg.
Avoiding Common Mistakes
Avoid the mistake of overcooking a hard-boiled egg. If you’re unsure whether your egg is boiled or not, spin it. An egg that spins smoothly on its axis is boiled, while an egg that wobbles off its axis is not. This allows you to avoid cracking open the egg only to find an unexpected result.
When boiling the eggs, start with an appropriately sized pot. Eggs crack and ooze during boiling when they bounce off each other or the sides of the pot as the bubbles begin to toss them around. To avoid this, eggs should have a little breathing room inside the pot. It’s not uncommon for one egg to crack from bouncing off the bottom, but you can significantly reduce the chances of cracking by giving them enough space.
The temperature of your water also contributes to the cracking and oozing problem. Eggs typically come out of the refrigerator before they are boiled. Asking them to adjust too quickly to a temperature change will ultimately lead to stress and cracking. For evenly boiled eggs, fill the pot with the eggs first, then add room temperature or cooler water. Let them sit for five to ten minutes before applying any heat, allowing their shells to warm up gradually. Then, slowly turn up the heat. Plopping eggs into boiling water is too stressful and encourages uneven boiling and shell cracking.
Medium-high heat works better than high heat because it allows the water to heat more evenly while giving the egg shells time to adjust. Once the boiling process is in full swing and the bubbles are bouncing the eggs around, lower the heat slightly to create a gentler boil. It’s common to fill a pot with water, drop in a few eggs, turn on the stove, and then go about your business, having no real idea how long and at what rate the eggs have been boiling. However, keeping an eye on your bubbling eggs will help you stick to the three-minute rule, which is actually accurate. It takes three to five minutes to boil an egg, depending on the temperature of the water at the start and during boiling.
Once the eggs have boiled, drain them and rinse them in lukewarm—not cold—water. Again, adjusting to extreme temperatures too quickly can create problems. It’s better to allow the eggs to cool naturally than to force them into the refrigerator or freezer to speed up the cooling process.
Hard-boiled eggs are not difficult to make. However, because they are simple, many weekend chefs don’t give their eggs the patience required to create an excellent result. This often leads to shells that stick to the egg, yolks that look off-color (they should be a firm yellow with a mildly dark outer layer), and eggs that have been over-boiled and dried out. A little patience goes a long way when boiling an egg.
