How to cook hard-boiled eggs properly


How to cook hard-boiled eggs properly
A hard-boiled egg is properly cooked when: shell is not broken, white and yolk are firm, yolk is only yellow with no traces of green around it. Here are some tips to make this easy.
1.4M 3.5/5 based on 615 reviews
Grade this recipe:

Last modified on: November 4th 2013

Keywords for this recipe:
For 4 eggs, you will need:
  • 1 Egg 4 Eggs
  • Total weight: 200 grams

Change these quantities to make:
Times for this recipe
Preparation: 8 min.
Resting: 1 hour 10 min.
Cooking: 10 min.
All in all: 1 hour 28 min.
When should you start or finish this recipe?
If you start now, at , you will finish around : ?.Change start time
To finish around 7pm, you'll need to have started before: .Change end time

Step by step recipe


Stage 1 - 1 hour
How to cook hard-boiled eggs properly
First problem: how to prevent shell from breaking (as in this photo) and white spilling out into the water while cooking?

Egg shells break during cooking for two reasons:

1) Temperature difference, if they go straight from the fridge to boiling water, the shell always (or nearly always) breaks.

Solution: remove your eggs from the fridge at least one hour before cooking.

Note : Eggs don't need to be kept in the fridge.

Stage 2
How to cook hard-boiled eggs properly
2) Because in the bottom part of the egg, the broader end, there is an air pocket (in red on the diagram), and when cooking this air expands and eventually breaks the shell.

You will notice that the older the egg is, the bigger the air pocket, so the risk of the shell breaking is greater with an old egg than a fresh one.

Stage 3 - 1 min.
How to cook hard-boiled eggs properly
Solution: You need to pierce the air pocket so that the air can escape during cooking.

To do this you can use big needle or a small nail (as in the photo), push in it a few millimetres.

Stage 4
How to cook hard-boiled eggs properly
The aim is to just pierce the air pocket and to make a very small hole.

Stage 5 - 10 min.
How to cook hard-boiled eggs properly
Boil a pan of water, and lower in your pierced eggs gently, using a tablespoon.

Leave to cook 10 minutes, no more.

Stage 6
How to cook hard-boiled eggs properly
If eggs cook longer, yolks will became yellow-green (as in this photo), and develop a sulphurous taste and smell, and white will become rubbery.

Stage 7
How to cook hard-boiled eggs properly
To demonstrate the effect of piercing: on left a pierced egg (shell intact), on right an un-pierced egg (shell broken).

Stage 8 - 10 min.
How to cook hard-boiled eggs properly
Cool eggs immediately by putting them into cold water.

Stage 9
How to cook hard-boiled eggs properly
To remove the shell, tap the bottom of the egg on your work surface to break it.

Stage 10
How to cook hard-boiled eggs properly
Do the same with the top of the egg.

Stage 11
How to cook hard-boiled eggs properly
Roll the egg round with your hand to break all the shell.

Stage 12 - 5 min.
How to cook hard-boiled eggs properly
Then remove the shell, as if peeling the egg.

Stage 13 - 2 min.
How to cook hard-boiled eggs properly
Wash the egg to remove any small pieces of shell, and leave in cold water, or covered in the fridge, until using.

Stage 14
How to cook hard-boiled eggs properly
Another way to cook, probably priceless: Fill the pan with cold water to submerge the eggs (drilled) and bring to boil.

When boiling is reached, cover, remove from heat and let stay for 10 minutes.
Remarks
Gaston Lenôtre, in his books, say that boiling water for eggs should be salted and vinegared. Probably because egg shells are porous, and so that salted water can salt the egg when cooking?

I've tried it, but I don't taste a real difference. What about you?
Keeping: A few days in the fridge, in a closed jar.
Source: Home made.
Nutritional information
Proteins (gr)Carbohydrates (gr)Fats (gr)Energy value (in k-calories)Energy value (in k-joules)
Whole recipe30 10 %020 3 %290 20 %1,220 20 %
Per 100 g10 5 %010 2 %150 7 %610 7 %
Per eggs6 2 %05 1 %70 4 %310 4 %
The % figures are calculated in relation to the Recommended Dietary Intake , or RDI of 2,000 k-calories (or 8,400 k-joules) per day for a woman Change to a man
Possible allergens in this recipe: Egg
How much will it cost?
  • For 4 eggs : 0.58 €
  • Per eggs : 0.15 €

Change currency:

Note: Be careful, these prices are only an estimate, you can consult the table of prices by ingredients used for this estimate.
Some other recipes using this recipeSee them all 45
Baby spinach salad
Baby spinach salad

It might not be obvious, but spinach can be eaten raw, as in this salad, where the leaves are shredded and mixed with croutons, lardons (bacon bits) and hard-boiled eggs.
84K 42 min.
Spinach Mornay
Spinach Mornay

This gratin is made with a layer of pre-cooked spinach, then sliced hard-boiled eggs and a Mornay sauce (an enriched bechamel with cheese).
59K4 40 min.
Green avocado salad
Green avocado salad

This salad is all green and fresh, with diced avocado, lettuce, spring onion and the softness of pieces of hard-boiled egg. The flavour is brought out further with a lime and olive-oil dressing, pepped up with a touch of Tabasco.
55K 27 min.
Linzer torte
Linzer torte

Linzer torte, or tart from Linz (Austria), has a cinnamon-flavoured crust filled with raspberry jam. The special and rather crumbly sweet pastry used for the case is made with cinnamon, ground almonds and the yolks of hard-boiled eggs. There are many different versions. In this rather unusual one,...
50K4.7 1 hour 5 min.
Bistro-style cabbage salad
Bistro-style cabbage salad

This salad, inspired by French bistro cuisine, combines cabbage with fried potatoes and lardons, and hard-boiled eggs in a vinaigrette dressing.
18K 38 min.
This recipe uses (among others)
Other recipes you may also like
Baby spinach salad
Baby spinach salad
It might not be obvious, but spinach can be eaten raw, as in this salad, where the leaves are shredded and mixed with croutons, lardons (bacon bits) and hard-boiled eggs.
June 12th 201984K 42 min.
Rosemary steamed fish
Rosemary steamed fish
In this recipe the fish is cooked in steam perfumed with rosemary, which makes it tender and aromatic, served on a bed of onions fondue and finished with a dry white wine sauce.
March 29th 2020330K3.8 1 hour
Potato and broccoli gratin
Potato and broccoli gratin
A very simple recipe: a layer of potatoes, a layer of broccoli, bechamel sauce and grated cheese.
September 16th 2024224K3.8 2 hours 1 min.
Vol-au-vent cases
Vol-au-vent cases
Vol-au-vents, whether large or bite-sized, need a special pastry case that is hollow to take the filling. Here is how to prepare these delicate cases using puff pastry.
October 16th 2013298K4.1 44 min.
Nougatine
Nougatine
Nougatine is a delicious nut toffee: caramel mixed with toasted flaked almonds. Not a dessert in itself, it is often used to decorate cakes and pastries. But those who enjoy good things are sure to want to eat it on its own!
March 29th 2018322K4 32 min.
News list of cooking-ez.com

Sign up to receive the latest recipes (next batch due to be sent on 2024-09-22)

*Your e-mail Your first name or nickname
I am not a leaving thing
Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Post a comment or question
Posted by:
I am not a leaving thing
The 6 comments already posted on this recipe
  • I have blocked all those ugly ads, sorry for that.
    Posted by jh may 31th 2020 at 14:22 n° 6
  • I stopped my ad-blocker for this site, and you might want to know that the ads appearing at the bottom of the page are of the worst kind one can find... right now, one is showing some wax stuff being removed from an ear and tonsil stones. Not the most appetizing thing to find on a cooking site ;/.
    Posted by hmijail may 31th 2020 at 04:27 n° 5
  • Nice article on Google.
    Posted by tom april 12th 2016 at 03:41 n° 4
  • I've only put eggs from fridge to cold water, then put on heat slowly until soft boil. After 10 min. or so I put cold water & ice to stop the cooking! Shells fair,but I can't seem to use fresh only at least 10 or older. Next time I'll
    pierce the eggs. Maybe they will shell easier.
    Posted by dick sr december 18th 2015 at 02:07 n° 3
  • "Eggs don't need to be kept in the fridge"

    This is true in countries that do not wash eggs but in countries that do eggs must be kept refrigerated.

    The washing process strips away the natural protection of the egg.
    Posted by Larkspeed october 30th 2015 at 23:54 n° 2
  • If you live in the USA, eggs should be refrigerated. Because in the USA and some other countries eggs are washed with soap, which removes a protective layer that is required when eggs are not refrigerated.
    Posted by mvdmolen may 27th 2015 at 19:01 n° 1
Follow this recipe (as 6 people already do)
If you are interested in this recipe, you can "follow" it, by entering your email address here. You will then receive a notification immediately each time the recipe is modified or a new comment is added. Please note that you will need to confirm this following.
I am not a leaving thing
Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Alternatively: you can subscribe to the mailing list of cooling-ez.com , you will receive a e-mail for each new recipe published on the site.

Back to top of page