The Easter holiday calls for more hard-boiled eggs — both for coloring eggs and to eat — than any other time of the year. The American Egg Board says the average person consumes one-and-a-half dozen eggs at Easter. That’s a lot of cooking.
Your mom or grandmother likely showed you how to hard boil an egg by bringing a whole stock pot of water to boil. To reduce the time you spend in the kitchen, the egg experts have an easier, faster way to hard boil your Easter eggs. And we can help you avoid that weird green ring that can form in hard-boiled eggs.
Easy-Peel Hard-Boiled Eggs
Total time: 17 minutes
Ingredients: 12 eggs
Directions
Step 1: Heat 1/2- to 1-inch of water in a large saucepan to boiling over high heat. Carefully place steamer insert into pan over boiling water or proceed to Step 2, if not using a steamer insert.
Step 2: Carefully add eggs using a large spoon or tongs. Cover and continue cooking 12 minutes for large eggs (13 minutes for extra large eggs).
Step 3: Drain eggs under cold running water to help the shell ease off the hard-boiled eggs.
Step 4: Gently tap the large end of the egg onto a hard surface until the shell is slightly cracked and peel the egg.
Avoid the Green Ring
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And the American Egg Board has a tip for avoiding that off-putting green ring that can appear around the egg yolk. The discoloration forms because of a reaction between sulfur in the egg white and iron in the yolk when eggs have been cooked for too long or at too high a temperature. Cooking eggs in hot, not boiling, water, then cooling immediately, minimizes this.
Techniques vary slightly among chefs, but one thing they all agree on: if you want to easily peel a hard-boiled egg, use eggs that are about a week old, not fresh ones.
Style guru Martha Stewart says the best way to achieve perfectly hard-boiled eggs is to:
AllRecipes.com, the go-to for ordinary cooks who don’t have all the kitchen chops of Martha, takes a different approach. The site says to:
Did you know?
And once they’re cooked? In the shell, hard-cooked eggs can be refrigerated safely up to one week. Refrigerate in their original carton to prevent odor absorption. Once peeled, eggs should be eaten that day.
Egg Peeling 101
The main reason people choose not to hard-boil eggs? Peeling is a pain. Here’s a trick: gently tap the large end of egg on your countertop until the shell is finely crackled. Then hold the egg under cold running water and start peeling at the large end. The water will help ease the shell off so you’re left with a smooth surface.