Nov 14, 2011

Hard time with hard boiled eggs

Not sure about you but I have always had tough time making hard boiled eggs. I understand it looks so simple and doesn't seem worthy of a blog post... But only I know what it feels like not being able to make the perfectly smooth hard boiled eggs!

Anytime I intend to make it, I am faced with a dilemma: Should I first boil the water then put the eggs, or put the eggs in the cold water and then bring it to a boil. Either way it has failed me...

Mom says "Count to 100". I have tried counting to 100 and even as much as five times that sometimes. But nope, it won't care. I have let it cool in the same pot or immediately rushed it to the sink for a run of cold water. Neither has helped.

Either it comes out undercooked or cracked or too difficult to de-shell. I would end up using spoons, fork, knife etc to pry open the shell which would result in an unsightly uneven egg.

Once for a summer get together I volunteered to bring hard boiled eggs. I thought it would be a breeze than making an elaborate dish. We had bought 5 dozen eggs and cooked it in 3 or 4 pots. This time I was extra cautious and didn't rush through the process. Gave enough time to cook, cool and clean. Believe it or not, not even a single egg came out with smooth surface!! Worse yet, we were two hours late for the get together ...

I was beginning to shun away from recipes that called for hard boiled eggs. We were satisfied scrambling them or frying them as omelets or bulls-eye... Then I found an egg cooker that perfectly made it for a while - seven at a time. These days it is also giving me a hard time.

 Tips for hard boiled eggs anyone?

P.S: This is a repost from August 2010. This is what @A and @Bikram had suggested then.

@A: 1. Take cold water a pan
2. Add salt
3. Add eggs
4. Boil for 20 min

@Bikram:
No high flame!


9 comments:

adithyasaravana said...

egg cooker, Haven't heard anything like that.. but the photograph seems to be perfect.. yummy..

Amrit said...

Queen,

Boiling egg is something that I can also do. Put this way, that is the only work I can perform in kitchen. :)))

Are you adding enough water and what kind of eggs do you buy? I only boil four eggs and fill the pan with water completely - just enough so that it does not spill. It always works for me.

Also maybe I missed a step. After boiling for thirty minutes leave turn off the heat and don't touch for 15 minutes. Then drain hot water and cool them with cold water and then break....

Try with 2 eggs this evening.

Mangala said...

Boil water with a tbsp of vinegar in it. Once it starts to boil, add the eggs slowly by the side. Turn them over so that the yolk settles in the center. Boil for 12 minutes. Try this. This is what we learnt in Food Science Class and this is what I follow.

Kavita Saharia said...

Very useful tips shared in the post as well as in comments .

anilkurup59 said...

Ha , interesting. More often the hard boiled eggs displayed on the table looks badly mauled. The chicken would never love such treatment.
Check with "Melange" on blogger, she , sure will have the right mode for you.
Until you discover make , omelette , scrambled, and even bulls-eye.

Bikram said...

Well did you take the advice then .. :)

Still say slow flame and dont let the water boil too much cause that makes the eggs to jump tooo :)

Bikram's

deeps said...

only once have i tried it, and it came perfect...i guess i did it the right.. almost like you have mentioned it there...

Felicity Grace Terry said...

Now hard boiled eggs I can do, its soft boiled that I fail at miserably.

Here's how I do them:

Boil electric kettle (its quicker than heating water on the hob).
Carefully add eggs.
Bring water back to the boil before simmering until cooked (at least 15/20 minutes) OR until smoke alarm goes off as I've forgotten the eggs and the pan has boiled dry.

Jyothi said...

Hmm... Never really given it so much thought. But yeah, I have had issues with peeling off the shells. Sometimes it comes of smoothly and sometimes its impossible to remove it without disfiguring the yolk.

Put the eggs in normal temp water. Just enough water to cover all the eggs. Add salt so that the shells don't crack. Bring to a boil , reduce flame and cook for 10-15 mins. Leave it in there to cool. Works perfectly for me these days. :)

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