How to Make the Perfect Hard Boiled Egg

I pride myself in the ability to cook. Yet, for some odd reason, I can never for the life of me figure out how to hard boil an egg. It seems like it should be easy. I have been cooking for years. I own so many cookbooks that even the library is jealous. I can make gourmet type meals without problems; I can make homemade pastries and cookies that melt in your mouth; I can even make a killer breakfast!

But, make a hard boiled egg… I shiver at the horror!

(I will pause for a brief second while you collect yourself after laughing so hard!)

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Okay, now that you have regained your composure... we will get back to business!

Every single time I try to make a hard boiled egg, I always have to ask someone how to do it. The problem is… everybody has a different recipe. They all claim it works perfectly. And I have tried each and every single one of them. Then I realize when I go to eat the hard boiled egg - the yolk is green, the white stuff was discarded with the shell cause it didn’t peel easily, or, the worse fate ever… I crack the hard boiled egg yet it was only cooked enough to harden up the white part and the yolk comes pouring out.

Yes, these are true stories.

Finally, I have figured out the easiest, no fail hard boiled egg recipe. Even a person like me, who has been frightened away from my cracked up hard boiled egg attempts, can make the perfect hard boiled eggs.

Ingredients:

• Medium sized pot
• Several eggs
• Ice
• Big bowl
• Paper towel
• Salt

Instructions:

• Grab a medium sized pot (or larger depending on how many eggs you plan on making). Fill the pot with water (enough that the eggs will have plenty of room when set into the water). Set on stove and wait for water to boil.
• Gather your eggs. (Store bought is preferred since this is easiest, but if you live on a chicken farm, this method should work for those eggs as well!)
• Gently place your eggs in the boiling water. Time for 12 minutes.
• While you wait, fill a large bowl with ice and cold water. This will serve as your ice bath for the eggs. Once the timer dings, shut off the stove and transfer the eggs from the boiling water into the ice bath. Allow eggs to cool.
• Place a paper towel on the counter, crack the egg and peel. Rinse the peeled egg off and garnish with a few dashes of salt.

Voila! You have now cooked the perfect hard boiled egg! Notice how the egg is nice and yellow. Notice how easily the shell can be cracked and discarded.

Here are a few of my own personal suggestions on how to use hard boiled eggs.

• Peel them and eat them. Simple yet so satisfying. It is an easy breakfast that is packed full of protein. It is relatively easy to store and you can make them the night before so you have breakfast on hand.
• Decorate them. It doesn't need to be easter. Notice how I put a smiley face on my perfect hard boiled egg. It was fun and took very little time to do.
• Make Deviled Eggs. After all, who doesn't like a good deviled egg. Why do you need to wait for the next social gathering to have one. Now that you can easily make hard boiled eggs, you can make Deviled Eggs anytime you want!
• Dice them up and throw them in a salad. It is a great source of protein and adds a little more kick to that regular old boring sald. With some cheese, a few pieces of ham and your favorite dressing, this will make a great meal.
• Make egg salad sandwiches. As I child I used ot hate when my mom made egg salad sandwiches, but now that I am older I find them very tasty. Toast up some bread and slather it on and Yummo!
• Finally - trick others who live in the same household. Hard boil all the eggs in the refrigerator and place them back into the original container. The next day, suggest eggs for breakfast and whine until they volunteer to cook them. Watch as they shake their head when they realize the eggs are all hard boiled. Note: This trick will work if the person is not paying attention, otherwise there is a distinct difference between a hard boiled egg and a raw egg. The raw egg will keep spinning due to the yolk in the middle. Just wanted to give you a heads up in case someone tries to trick you!

I love hard boiled eggs, but my constant failures often made me shy away from making them. Usually, I would pass the responsibility off to someone else and I NEVER volunteered to bring Deviled Eggs to any social gatherings (even though I usually polished off at least 4 myself!)

Yet now, my hard boiled eggs are no longer a recipe for disaster. In fact, I have been making them almost weekly once I discovered the right way to do it that actually works. Each time I make them, I am still in awe at how easy it is, how delicious the eggs taste, how yellow the yolk is, and more importantly, how easy the egg peels. Finally, I get to eat a hard boiled egg that is more than just the yolk (since I always lost the white stuff upon peeling.)

I hope this easy recipe will help you to make the perfect hard boiled egg. If I said I was sharing it so you could get over your egg frustrations I would be lying. I did however want to make sure this recipe was found online so if I ever forgot how to make them again, I could easily reference back.

So, now that you have gotten all the Eggstra details on how to make Eggcelent hard boiled eggs… get cracking and go make some eggs!