How to Successfully Hard-Cook Eggs

How to Successfully Hard-Cook Eggs

• The fresher the egg, the more difficult it is to peel.
  • Use eggs within the Best Before Date which is stamped on the end of the carton but use up the older ones first when hard-cooking OR let eggs sit out at room temperature for a few hours prior to hard-cooking.
    
    
• Eggs should not be hard-boiled.
  • Eggs should be tender, not tough and rubbery.
  • Put eggs in a sauce-pan, add water covering the eggs at least one-inch above the top of the eggs. Put a lid on the pot; once the water has reached the boiling point (bubbles breaking on the surface), keep the lid on the pot and turn down the heat to low or shut off the element entirely. Let the eggs simmer in hot water for 10 minutes (large eggs).
  • When the time is up, immediately drain the hot water and submerge eggs in an ice bath (cold water with ice cubes). This stops the cooking action and avoids the grey-green ring from forming around the yolk.
  • Crackle the eggs at the large end (where the air cell is) and remove the egg shells from the egg.
  • Egg shells can be dried on paper towels, ground up and used for garden plants.
  • Hard-cooked eggs can be stored for up to a week in the refrigerator.