Boiling eggs has always been a pain in the ass. Over-cooked, under-cooked, hard to peel, cracked on cooking – you name it, it’s happened. After 40-odd years of trial and error this system is my winner:
– Buy the eggs a week ahead of boiling (nope. doesn’t matter. same-day farm fresh works equally well)
– Add six eggs to a pot*
– Fill pot with cold water until eggs are covered by an inch
– Add 1 tsp vinegar
– Add 1/2 tsp salt
– Put it on the (non-gas**) stovetop and set the element to high
– Bring to a roiling boil
– Turn off element, let pot sit for 10 minutes (on the still-hot element)
– Dump the hot water, add cold water to cool the eggs
– Peel immediately at your leisure.
That’s it. It took me 4 decades to learn this. 4. You’ll end up with perfectly cooked, hard boiled eggs. The whites won’t be rubbery. The yolks will be cooked through, but no grey matter (if you want softer yolks, reduce the sitting time to 8min from 10). They’ll be easy to peel. They’re pretty much perfect.
* If you want to do a dozen, add two inches of water above the top. vinegar and salt can just stay as is, no need to increase. Everything else stays the same.
** If you have a gas cooktop, instead of turning the heat off, turn it to low for 1 min, then turn it off and let the eggs sit for 9 min.