How to cook perfect hard boiled eggs
The first thing to know about cooking eggs is that you DO NOT BOIL them. At higher temperatures, the protein in eggs can become very rubbery. Also, there is a greater chance of the “green ring” showing up around the yolk when the eggs are boiled. Here’s the best way to come up with a perfect hard cooked (“boiled”) egg.
1. Choose eggs that are at least a week old. They will be easier to peel. Bring the eggs to room temperature. Place in a saucepan in which you can cover the eggs with water.
2. Bring the water and eggs just up to a boil. (Simmer is when little bubbles appear rising from the bottom and a boil is when you see larger bubbles start.)
3. When the eggs just reach the boiling point, cover the pan and turn the unit off. Leave the pan on the unit to capture the residual heat.
4. For soft cooked eggs, leave in the water for 8 to 12 minutes, depending on the size of the egg. For hard cooked eggs, leave in the water for 14 to 16 minutes, depending on the size of the egg.
5. When they are cooked to your desired amount, drain the hot water and put the eggs into a bowl of cold water and ice. This will immediately stop the cooking, which will prevent the hydrogen sulfide gases from the egg yolk combining with the egg white which forms the green ring around the yolk.
6. When cooled, you can peel the eggs easily by breaking the shell and running the egg over the counter under you palm to get lots of tiny cracks. Then peel a piece of shell from the large end of the egg, getting the membrane along with it, and peel the remaining egg under running water at the faucet. Be sure to refrigerate what you do not immediately use.
An entire series of lesson plans can be centered around the egg. A good resource is http://incredibleegg.org/egg_facts.html and http://www.wikihow.com/Hard-Boil-an-Egg.
Come back tomorrow for my favorite egg recipe!!
Grammy Sheryl
