How to Hard Boil an Egg

Eggs

Few ingredients are as simple to make as hard-boiled eggs, but it's very easy to overcook them. By following these steps, you will learn how to hard boil eggs without that gray-green tinge, or cracked shells.

Things You'll Need

• eggs
• saucepan

Instructions

1. Put the eggs in a pan just big enough to hold them in a single layer.

2. Cover the eggs with cold water. The water should cover the eggs by one inch.

3. To make the hard-boiled eggs easier to peel, add a pinch of salt to the water. Cover the pan.

4. Bring the water to a rolling boil over medium heat.

5. Cook for one minute, then remove the pan from the heat.

6. When the water has cooled enough that you can put your hand inside (about 20-25 minutes), run cold water over the eggs.

7. Remove the eggs and peel them.

Tips & Warnings

• To make peeling the hard-boiled eggs easier, use older eggs. Eggs stored as little as one week in the back of your fridge are perfect. You can also chill the eggs in ice water immediately before peeling them.

• Adding a bit of salt to the water makes the eggs easier to peel.

• You can also add a bit of vinegar, rather than salt, to the water to make them easier to peel. Be careful not to add too much vinegar to the water, though, or your eggs will smell like vinegar.

• Overcooked eggs have yolks that are pale yellow, with a green band around the outside, and give off a sulfurous odor. If you keep the eggs at boiling temperature, you risk over cooking the eggs. This is why it's important to remove them from the heat after one minute of cooking.

• If you heat the eggs too rapidly, the shells of the eggs could crack and leak white and yolk out into the cooking water. Be sure to use medium to medium-high heat to avoid heating the eggs too rapidly.