Perfectly Hard Cooked Eggs

August 25, 2010  •  Breakfast, Technique

There might not be any other food that is so singularly simple yet good as an egg. I love them hard boiled, but sometimes it just doesn’t work out right. You might remember awhile back I did a post with a link to an incredible video that showed how you could actually blow a whole hard cooked egg right out of it’s shell by including a touch of baking soda in the cooling water. Since then I’ve been a bit obsessed reading everyone’s technique for exactly how to perfectly cook them in order to ensure the center isn’t overcooked and sulfurous tasting. Turns out it’s pretty darn easy. Place the eggs in a pot and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil and cook for one minute. Remove from heat and cover and let stand for 10 minutes. Drain and put in an ice bath to which you have added 1 tablespoon baking soda. Peel and enjoy!Some comments on the process. This first egg is a farm fresh egg from my CSA – fresh eggs are notoriously hard to peel, and this one was just run under cold water right after the standing time, not soaked in the baking soda ice water. It was a disaster peeling it……and you’ll notice that the center yolk is just barely undercooked.This egg is as farm fresh as the first one but cooled in the baking soda ice bath for about 5 minutes. It’s not a perfect peel, but it was pretty good for a fresh egg, and certainly much easier after soaking in the baking soda ice bath.And you’ll notice that the carry over cooking from that extra few minutes of cooling down resulted in a perfectly cooked yolk.

Just might make deviled eggs for my dinner party Friday since I’ve got this down now – stay tuned!

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  1. sandi @ the whistlestop cafe says:

    Great cooking advise~ another friday’s favorite!
    Come join the party.

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