Easter egg season is here. How to boil and egg sounds like lesson two after how to boil water. Boil an egg long enough and it will be hard boiled, right? But how long is long enough? And what if you want it soft boiled? And how do you know if it will fall apart when you try to peel it for deviled eggs?
Freshness Matters
Fresh enough? Except for deviled eggs, the fresher the better. If you're concerned about whether some eggs are too old, there's an easy test. Slip them into a bowl of water and see if any float. An eggshell looks airtight, but it's not. It's actually porous. As an egg sit in your refrigerator, it slowly absorbs air. When enough air has been absorbed, the egg floats. Discard eggs that float.
Too fresh? This only matters for deviled eggs. Hard boiling farm fresh eggs will invariably lead to eggs that are difficult to peel. Not an issue for soft-boiled eggs where you'll be hacking into it with a spoon, or for egg salad where the eggs appearance doesn't matter because you'll be chopping it up anyway. For deviled eggs, though, buy your eggs a week before you cook them. Why? Remember the air absorption process? A little air inside the egg makes the shells easier to loosen.
Room Temperature Eggs
Whether soft boiling or hard boiling, bring the eggs close to room temperature by pulling them out of the refrigerator about half an hour before cooking them. Alternatively, you may hold them under warm (not hot) running tap water. This reduces the likelihood that the eggs will crack while cooking.
How to Soft Boil an Egg
Put the eggs in a pan just large enough to hold them in a single layer. Less bouncing room means less chance of cracking. Fill the pan with enough cold tap water to cover the eggs by about an inch.
Over medium-high heat, slowly bring the pan to a boil. This should take about 6 minutes. As soon as the water reaches a rapid boil, move the pan to a cold burner and cover the pan. Set a timer, following the chart below. Leave the lid on the pan. The eggs will continue to cook in the hot water.
- Medium Eggs: runny yolk – 3 minutes; medium-cooked yolk – 5 minutes
- Large Eggs: runny yolk – 4½ minutes; medium-cooked yolk – 6 minutes
- Extra Large Eggs: runny yolk – 5 minutes; medium-cooked yolk – 7-8 minutes
After the time carefully drain the hot water and serve.
How to Hard Boil an Eggs for Egg Salad
Follow the same process above as for soft boiling, except let the eggs stay in hot water according to these times:
- Medium Eggs: 12 minutes
- Large Eggs: 17 minutes
- Extra Large Eggs: 19 minutes
After the time carefully drain the hot water and run very cold water over the eggs (or transfer them to a bowl of ice-water) to stop them cooking. Over-cooking them leads to a rubbery white and a dark green color around the yolk. This discoloration is not harmful but it does discolor the end product.
Once they have cooled you can either refrigerate them for use in the next day or two, or go ahead and peel and chop them now for egg salad.
How to Hard Boil an Egg for Deviled Eggs
A day ahead: This isn't absolutely necessary, but for more uniform deviled eggs, you can better center the egg yolks in their shells by resting the eggs on their sides for about 8 hours (or overnight.) One easy way to do this is to cut the lid off the carton and simply position the eggs on their sides at the top of each “nest.” When cooked with a centered yolk, the deviled egg whites are sturdier to pick up and handle after you have removed the yolks.
- Don't use very fresh eggs (see Freshness Matters, above).
- Start with eggs that don't have any visible cracks.
- Figure on 1-2 extra for each dozen eggs. Stuff happens. Allow for it. Boil enough eggs. At least one egg may crack or be get stubborn during peeling.
From here, follow the directions and timing above as you would for hard boiled eggs for egg salad. Set aside any that have cracked during cooking and reserve for another use.
For more tips and a dozen variations on the classic deviled eggs, check out Deviled Eggs 101: The Devil's Details.
How to Peel a Hard-Cooked Egg
If you have followed the suggestions above, peeling should be easy. Gently crack the shell all over until there is a fine network of cracks all over the egg. Hold the egg under running water and, starting with the broad end (where the air bubble usually forms) gently peel pack the shell.
Is it Hard Boiled or Fresh?
Can't tell if that odd egg in the refrigerator is fresh or hard boiled. Here's the easy test. Set it upright on it's wide base and twirl it like a top. If it twirls, It's hard boiled. If it immediately falls over, it's fresh.
