How to cook hard-boiled eggs properly

Step by step recipe

Stage 1 - 1 hour

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

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.

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

The aim is to just pierce the air pocket and to make a very small hole.

Stage 5 - 10 min.

Boil a pan of water, and lower in your pierced eggs gently, using a tablespoon.

Leave to cook 10 minutes, no more.

Stage 6

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

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.

Cool eggs immediately by putting them into cold water.

Stage 9

To remove the shell, tap the bottom of the egg on your work surface to break it.

Stage 10

Do the same with the top of the egg.

Stage 11

Roll the egg round with your hand to break all the shell.

Stage 12 - 5 min.

Then remove the shell, as if peeling the egg.

Stage 13 - 2 min.

Wash the egg to remove any small pieces of shell, and leave in cold water, or covered in the fridge, until using.

Stage 14

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.

Nutritional information

	Proteins (gr)	Carbohydrates (gr)	Fats (gr)	Energy value (in k-calories)	Energy value (in k-joules)
Whole recipe	30 RDI=10 %	0	20 RDI=3 %	290 RDI=20 %	1,220 RDI: 20 %
Per 100 g	10 RDI=5 %	0	10 RDI=2 %	150 RDI=7 %	610 RDI: 7 %
Per eggs	6 RDI=2 %	0	5 RDI=1 %	70 RDI=4 %	310 RDI: 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

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The 6 comments already posted on this recipe

I have blocked all those ugly ads, sorry for that.
Posted by jh may 31^th 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 31^th 2020 at 04:27 n° 5
Nice article on Google.
Posted by tom april 12^th 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 18^th 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 30^th 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 27^th 2015 at 19:01 n° 1

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