After years of following Julia Child's cold water method I have finally moved on to the much more consistent boiling water technique. Bring enough water to cover your eggs to a boil and gently lower the cold eggs into the water (honestly, they crack way less often than people would have you believe, and even if they do- no great loss). Simmer gently. 4-6 eggs cooked for 6:30 will give you perfect eggs mollet (just past soft-boiled and still a touch runny). 7:30 will give you perfect hard cooked eggs. Cool the eggs in a water bath before peeling them. This method yields perfect, easy to peel eggs every time. And it's much easier to time!
Best way I have found and this was from a well respected kitchen - week old or more eggs (makes for easy de-shelling). Cold water, eggs, and sea salt in a pot - eggs single layer. Bring to a boil then remove from that burner and cover for ten minutes - drain and rinse. The rinse is important in order to prevent over cooking or green yolk hard boiled eggs.
Place eggs in Pam covered with cold water. Add 1 tbs olive oil.Bring to a boil uncovered. When water comes to a rapid boil cover and let sit ten minutes. Rinse under cold water and let cool. Eggs come out perfect every time. ( the oil makes them easy to peel)
I put eggs in cold water (don't crowd them). bring them to the boil and then put a lid on them, turn the burner off and let them sit for 20 to 30 minutes. And then put them in the sink and run cold water over them to cool...
I tried the oven method a couple of weeks ago, and was pleased with the result. I did a dozen eggs, (more than I could do in boiling water), set the on the rack, turned the oven on to 325, waited 30 minutes, etc. They were extremely fresh, so they still didn't peel perfectly, but it was pretty close. Totally worth doing in the oven.
Today I tried the oven method for the first time - worked well. Bake on the oven rack or muffin tin (to support the shells), at 325 degrees for 30 minutes, then place in a ice water bath to cool.
6 Comments