Making Perfect Hard-Boiled Eggs

By Ben Mims
For Cooking Newbie, a blog for beginner cooks

Hi, Cooking Newbie readers. I’m so happy to be joining the Special Fork team with this first blog post. In each post, I will aim to teach you an invaluable technique, along with a killer recipe, so that you not only can make my recipes easily, but you can become a better cook, in general.

With this first post, I only thought it best to begin with the most basic, yet delicious technique and recipe I know: making perfect hard-boiled eggs. I literally make these once a week on my days off for a fantastic and virtually hands-free, no-mess meal, which is my favorite kind.

To begin, place as many eggs as you want to serve in a saucepan big or small enough to fit them in one layer. Cover the eggs with enough cold water to come just over the tops of their shells and then place the pan over high heat. Wait for the water to come to a full, rolling boil, and when it does, immediately cover it with a lid and remove the pan from the heat. Set a timer for 8 minutes, and then just let the eggs sit and relax.

Once the 8 minutes are up, remove the lid, hold a large spoon or strainer on top of the eggs and drain away the hot water. Fill the pot about halfway with ice and then fill with cold water. Gently stir the eggs in the water so they’re evenly dispersed and let sit for 1 to 2 minutes, while you make some toast.

Drain away the ice water and carefully peel off the shells. Place the whole eggs on your plate or in your bowl, and when you cut into them, the whites will be perfectly firm and the yolk will be warm and barely firm, their most ideal texture, in my opinion. A simple sprinkling of coarse salt and cracked black pepper is all you need to finish off this most satisfyingly elemental of meals.

A key to success: Although there are hundreds of wives’ tales and tricks to getting the egg shells off a soft- or hard-boiled egg easily, the only real trick is to use old eggs. The longer an egg sits, the less strong the whites become, loosening their grip on the inside of the shell. Organic and free-range eggs arrive at your grocer the quickest so they are actually the least ideal, unless you’ve had them for over a week or two, which is the perfect time for hard-boiling them.

Note: This technique works best with eggs that have been refrigerated. If you keep your eggs at room temperature, they will be ready in 5 to 6 minutes.

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