How to Boil an Egg
Restored from the Empower Network archive (2011–2017), lightly edited to meet our current advertising standards. Views are the original author’s.
How to Boil an Egg is one of the easiest things to do if you follow a few easy steps.
How to Boil an Egg Perfectly
The simple, classic Boiled Egg, is indeed 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.
While there are many ways How to Boil an Egg, we suggest below the directions for making eggs which are the easiest to peel and which will not have the dark green discolored coating on the yolk (see step 2 for tips to help avoid the green discoloration).
Extremely fresh eggs will not peel easily. In fact, an egg that is just a day or two old is almost impossible to peel. As eggs age, the shells will peel more easily. It is advisable that eggs used for hard cooking (including Easter Eggs) be at least 2 weeks old before cooking for easiest peeling. Hard cooked eggs that are cooked slowly over low heat (and not ‘boiled’) will be more difficult to peel.
How to Boil an Egg:
1. Place eggs in a saucepan with enough COLD tap water to cover completely by 1 inch. Bring to a ROLLING boil over HIGH heat. Once the water is brought to a rolling boil, PROMPTLY reduce heat to a lower medium boil and cook an additional 10 minutes for a “hard boiled” egg. For a “soft boiled” egg reduce the time by a few minutes.
2. Remove from heat and IMMEDIATELY place eggs under ice cold water or in a bowl of ICED water to chill promptly to help yolks stay bright yellow. Chill for a few minutes in the cold water until the egg is completely cooled. This is an extremely important step which prevents the greenish “ring” from forming on the surface of the yolk over time. If the egg is not chilled immediately after cooking an unsightly dark greenish ring will eventually appear on the outside of the yolk.
3. To peel…crack on all sides, roll egg between hands to loosen shell,and remove shell. Enjoy, with a light sprinkling of salt if desired.
To serve in egg cup, place egg in cup small end down, slice off large end of egg with knife or egg scissors and eat from shell with spoon.
Refrigeration is necessary for hard boiled eggs if the eggs are not to be consumed within a few hours.
Refrigerated boiled eggs, kept in the shell, can be kept for up to 1 week.