It should be dead simple to boil an egg and it is – to just boil it. Boiling a nice-looking egg with the yolk just the way you like it isn’t always so easy. Nature can be uncooperative and we wind up with eggs scarred and pockmarked from sticking to the shell. Sometimes we get the timing wrong and wind up with a yolk that isn’t the right consistency. Fear not! I can help. This is my tried and true technique for getting nice smooth boiled eggs with perfect yolks.
Ingredients
- eggs
- water
Instructions
- When boiling eggs, fresh is not your friend. Eggs that have sat longer have had more time for the inner membrane to separate from the shell. This allows the shell to come off much more easily during peeling. If you know you want to make many boiled eggs at once, it usually best to buy the eggs a week or so in advance.
- Though it isn’t completely necessary, allowing eggs to warm up on the counter just bit can discourage cracking in the water. 5 minutes is usually enough.
- Fill a pot with enough water to cover the eggs and bring it to a boil. Use a slotted spoon to place eggs in the boiling water. Take care as sometimes cold eggs will crack when they touch the hot water. Allowing steam to warm them a bit before submerging them can help prevent cracking.
- Adjust the heat so that the water is at a steady medium boil.
- For hard cooked eggs, allow them to cook for 12-13 minutes.
- For ‘jammy’ yolk eggs, allow them to cook for 6.5 minutes.
- For soft cooked runny-yolk eggs, allow them to cook for 5 minutes.
- Remove the eggs promptly and plunge into cold water. This will stop the eggs from cooking so that the yolks do not discolor. Allow them to cool for 2-5 minutes.The shells should come off easily without sticking to the white. On some occasions I will get a stubborn egg that refuse to cooperate, but by and large this will give you nice, smooth boiled eggs to enjoy as they are or in a recipe.
Forks, Lives and Spoons 