The incredible edible egg! The simple and classic boiled egg, is one of the finest and easiest edible delights known on earth, with just 70 calories, and full of nature’s most perfect form of protein.
According to the American Egg Board, the terms “hard” and “soft-boiled” eggs are really misnomers, because boiling eggs makes them tough and rubbery. Instead, these eggs should be “hard” or “soft-cooked” in hot (still) water, better known as coddling.
To create your perfect Hard-Cooked (Boiled) Eggs:
How many times have you had a rubbery egg? Boiling an egg should be simple and it is! After reading different opinions I have discovered, through trial and error the following easy method that yields great results. Boiling an egg toughens the whites whereas coddling does not and it also gives the yolk a lighter texture.
- Start with eggs that don’t have any visible cracks.
- Do not add salt to the water. Salt raised the boiling point of the water making the egg whites rubbery.
- Use Eggs that are 3-5 days old. Fresh eggs are too hard to peel. The fresher the eggs, the harder it will be to peel because the white membrane will not release as easily from the shell.
- Check the sell-by-date on the carton to find out how fresh they are.
- Still not sure? A simple water test will answer the freshness question for you. Place the egg in a bowl of water; if it sinks to the bottom, it is very fresh. As it ages, the air pocket inside the egg grows, which buoys the egg up so it stands on one end. If the egg floats to the top and lays on its side, it is ready for the trash.
- The eggs that ‘stand up’ because of the extra air on one end. That is a better egg of boiling and for peeling.
- If you know you are going to boil eggs, buy them several days ahead of time.
- Now that you have the best eggs selected, place them in one layer in your pan and cover them completely (about 1 inch) with cold water from the tap.
- Turn burner on to HIGH heat, bring water to a rapid boil.
- As soon as the water reached a rapid boil, remove the pan from the heat and cover it tightly with a lid.
- Set a timer for 13 minutes for large eggs.
- After 13 minutes, remove the lid and drain off the water. This will stop the cooking process. Shake the pot back and forth to crack the egg shells.
- Then plunge them in enough cold water to cover the eggs until they cool down. The water will seep under the broken shells, allowing them to be slipped off without a struggle.
10.Let the eggs cool for at least 5 minutes in cold water, then drain.
11.To peel the egg start from the large end of the egg, which has an air pocket. This lets you get under the membrane without digging into the white.
NOTE: Remember to watch the cooking time carefully. Overcooking causes that ugly greenish gray layer to form around the yolk.
Check out my other blog post if you are not sure how long to keep eggs.
Tags: Boiled Eggs, Coddled Eggs, Hard Cooked Eggs, Living It With Lisa