Cook the Perfect Hard-Boiled Egg Traditional Boiling vs Without Boiling to Evenly Cook the Yoke and Egg Whites Perfectly

2 Methods:

Traditional Boiling

Without Boiling to Evenly Cook the Yoke and Egg Whites Perfectly

Hi everyone, welcome to VisiHow. My name is Jessica and today I am going to show you how to hard-boil an egg.

1. 1
   The first thing that we're going to need to do is fill our pot full with water

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2. 2
   Once the pot is full, put in the desired amount of eggs

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   Make sure the eggs are fully covered with water.

   

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3. 3
   Put the pot on the stove, then turn the stove on to max heat

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   We're going to let them boil for about 12 minutes.

   

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4. 4
   Once the time is up, we're going to pour all of the water from the pot into the sink

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   We want to drain the eggs of all of the hot water so they don't continue cooking.

   

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5. 5
   Next, we are going to fill the pot holding the eggs with cold water to cool down the insides

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6. 6
   Then we are going to put the pot down on a safe surface, allowing the eggs to cool for about 5 minutes

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7. 7
   Once the five minutes are up, we will be able to take our eggs out and enjoy a perfectly hard-boiled egg

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8. 8
   Thank you for watching VisiHow, if you have any questions or comments please leave them in the comments box below.

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A boiled egg is a boiled egg. They're all the same, right? At least, that's probably what you think, if you've never made the perfect hard-boiled egg.

A hard-boiled egg should:

• have no black on the yolk.
• easily separate from the shell.
• have a bright yellow yolk.
• have the right texture both in the white and yolk.
• taste delicious!

It's super simple to make, too. Below are the instructions for making the perfect hard-boiled egg, and even further below is the science behind why it works.

Steps for making the perfect hard-boiled egg

1. 1
   The best eggs to hard-boil are those that have been chilled in the refrigerator for a few days.

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2. 2
   Place the egg into an empty (small) pot.

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3. 3
   Fill the pot with cold water until the egg is completely covered by water.

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4. 4
   Add a teaspoon of baking soda.

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5. 5
   Place the pot on the stove and bring the water to a hard boil

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   That is, turn the heat to high and bring the water to a rapid boil.

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6. 6
   When the water starts bubbling, turn off the heat.

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7. 7
   Cover the pot and remove it from the stove.

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8. 8
   Let the closed pot stand for about 10 minutes - or a few minutes longer if you're using large eggs.

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9. 9
   Uncover the pot and either let stand, or place the egg under a stream of cold water for a few minutes.

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10. 10
    Crack open your perfect hard-boiled egg and enjoy!

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Why Does that happen

You may have noticed that you're not actually boiling your hard-boiled egg. This is because of a mythconception - so-called "hard-boiled" eggs are actually hard-cooked, not boiled. Egg white and yolk do not cook at the same rate, and agitating the egg's molecules with boiling water only leads to rubbery egg whites and not-fully-cooked egg yolks. This method of cooking allows for a more thorough cooking of the egg.

Some other reasons behind the tricks in this simple recipe are:

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   The egg yolk doesn't darken because it's not overcooked

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   The black/green discoloration that you may have seen on your hard-boiled eggs is a reaction between sulfur in the egg white and iron in the egg yolk, which happens when the eggs are overcooked or exposed to a high temperature. Since you're not boiling the egg directly, merely letting it cook in hot water, your egg yolk comes out bright and yellow.

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2. 2
   The egg peels easily because of the baking soda and rapid cooling

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   Rapid cooling makes the egg shrink a bit, separating it from its shell. The baking soda also helps separate the egg white from the shell.

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3. 3
   The age of your eggs matters, but not in the way you think

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   Eggs that are very fresh are difficult to peel. It's recommended to refrigerate the eggs for about a week before using them.

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Additional Information

• Don't try to cheat by microwaving an egg. Microwaving eggs still in their shell will likely make them explode. This only sounds awesome.
• If you're living in high altitude, you may be out of luck. It's difficult to hard boil an egg above 10,000 feet. Due to the high pressure, water doesn't boil at a sufficient temperature to cook the egg thoroughly.
• To peel a hard-boiled egg, crack it on the counter top then roll it around in your hands. You should be able to peel off the cracked shell easier than trying to do it by large pieces. Peel the egg under cold water to help ease the shell off.

Resources

Images:

• H. Alexander Talbot - boiled eggs
• Bev Sykes - egg
• Paul Goyette - niçoise ingredients
• Ramesh NG - egg: crossection

Information:

• The Kitchen - How to Boil Eggs Perfectly Every Time
• Slate - You're Doing it Wrong: Hard Boiled Eggs
• Mother Nature Network - Use baking soda for easy-to-peel hard-boiled eggs

If you have problems with any of the steps in this article, please ask a question for more help, or post in the comments section below.

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