Secret to Perfect Hard Boiled Eggs

OK, I admit it!   There was a time when I was baffled by the process of hard boiling an egg!  Seems like it should be simple.  Surely, I had conquered greater things in life!  But yet, each time my experience was different.  I would run through the same steps I had watched my mom do several times growing up.  Then with crossed fingers I would open the “tester egg”.  Sometimes all was good, but more often than not I had overboiled.  The annoying bluish ring would be staring back at me.  And then sometimes, worse yet, they were undercooked! Ugh.  So frustrating.  That is until a co-worker let me in on her secret!

Turns out I had been boiling eggs WRONG all my life!  My process worked (most of the time) but it was imperfect and unpredictable.  The last thing I really want in my kitchen.  This “new” way which was probably only new to me was amazing!  Perfectly cooked, yellow yolk only, hard boiled eggs EVERY TIME!  No longer do I need a “tester” egg.  No longer do I cross my fingers.

While its possible, I am the only one on earth that did not know this secret method, I thought I would share it with you all.  Its actually fairly simple.

Step 1.  Place a single layer of eggs in a large pot.

Step 2.  Fill pot with cold water, covering the eggs.  There should be approximately one inch of water over the eggs.

Step 3.  Place pot over high heat.

Step 4.  When water comes to a rolling boil (a simmer is not enough!), remove pot from heat and cover.

Step 5.  Set timer for 17 minutes.

Step6.  When timer sounds, move pot to the sink and run cold water into pot until water remains cold.  You may even want to add a handful or two of ice.  The goal is to stop the cooking process.  Once eggs have cooled, you are done.

You now have perfectly hard boiled eggs every time!

Good luck!  Let me know how this year’s Easter eggs turn out.