How to Make Hard or Soft-Cooked Eggs

How to Make Hard-Cooked Eggs

Take eggs directly out of the refrigerator and place in a single layer in a saucepan. Cover the eggs with cold water. Put a lid on the pot and bring to a boil over high heat. Remove from heat. Let stand 12 minutes. Immediately drain off hot water; place eggs in a bowl of cold water with ice cubes. Quickly crack each egg shell at the large end and return to the ice water. When all eggs are cracked, remove the shells completely.

Hard-cooked eggs will keep in the refrigerator up to a week. Store in a covered container.

Try some of these delicious hard-cooked egg recipes:

• Zippy Devilled Eggs
• Pickled Eggs
• Egg & Spinach Salad
• Eggstremely Good Dip

How to Make Soft-Cooked Eggs

• Place eggs right from the refrigerator into a single layer in a saucepan.
• Cover with at least 1 inch (2.5 cm) cold water over top of the eggs.
• Cover saucepan and bring quickly to boil over high heat.
• Immediately remove pan from heat to stop boiling.
• Let eggs stand in water for 2 to 5 minutes for soft-cooked eggs.
• Drain water and immediately run cold water over eggs until cooled.

Tips:

• Use eggs that have been in the refrigerator the longest because the less fresh the egg, the easier it is to peel.
• Before cooking, prick large end of eggs with a pin to prevent them from cracking.
• Cool eggs quickly once the cooking time is up by placing in ice cold water. Rapid cooling helps prevent a green ring from forming around the yolk.
• Peel eggs soon after cooking and cooling.
• Keep a supply of hard-cooked eggs in your refrigerator for a breakfast on the run.
• To determine whether an egg is hard-cooked, spin it. If it spins round and round, it is hard-cooked.
• Use hard-cooked eggs within one week.