Posted on 03/28/2013 4:05:31 PM PDT by Daffynition
In this season of beitzahs and PAAS dye kits, it may be time for a friendly reminder about hard-boiled eggs: You’re not actually supposed to boil them. Hard-boiled eggs may seem too basic to warrant a PSA, but misinformation abounds. Just the other day, a bright, culinarily astute friend casually mentioned his egg-boiling technique, which he described as “traditional,” and which he seemed to think was socially condoned: Bring a pot of water to a low boil, add your eggs, and cook them for 10 minutes over medium heat.
Granted, his mistake is understandable—the very name “hard-boiled eggs” cruelly and ironically perpetuates the myth that the thing they describe should be boiled. But following my friend’s method yields unevenly cooked eggs: The whites, battered by the incessant kinetic energy of the water molecules, become tough and rubbery. The yolks, meanwhile, buffered by albumin, remain half raw. (Of course, you could boil the eggs longer than 10 minutes to get fully cooked yolks, but by that point your whites would have the texture of a foam yoga mat.) Eggs cooked this way cannot rightfully be called hard-boiled—they are half-hard, half-soft chimeras.
Furthermore, cooking eggs in boiling water disturbs whatever domestic tranquility you have carefully cultivated in your kitchen. Boiling eggs will rattle disquietingly in the pot, jarring your nerves (which may already be tattered either by Easter Bunny-crazed children or by not having been able to eat bread for several days). You might as well put on Steve Reich’s Drumming. In addition to being an aural nightmare, clattering eggs are liable to crack, thereby defeating the purpose of cooking them in the shell in the first place, and ruining them as a clean slate for dying or charring.
(Excerpt) Read more at slate.com ...
That’s pretty much my method, but I’m locked in to 11 minutes. :)
Thank you and Happy Easter!
I pray I'm never stuck next to him at a urinal.
Ever since I got one of these:
http://www.amazon.com/Egg-Genie-Electric-Cooker/dp/B0026RXLGU
I’d never do it any other way. I do hard-boiled eggs a lot. This is the ONLY way to do it. Simple. Almost zero cleanup. Shells are super easy to peel. I don’t usually go for kitchen gadgets, but this one really works and I use it all the time.
It also keeps you from re-boiling an already boiled egg, for if you never feel the liquid moving around, it's either already boiled or there is something seriously wrong with the egg.
Vinegar in the water makes them peel perfectly.
Reminds me of the story of my gram. She was a farmer’s wife and was lying on her death bed in her late 80s before cancer took her away.
The whole family was crowded in her room, paying their last good-byes...and as it happens people ran out of stuff to say to her. I was in my teens IIRC, and told her I didn’t recall her teaching me what the *good* and bad mushrooms were. Could she tell me now? [She was a well-known mushroom forager...she’d go off for a whole day at a time tramping for mushrooms.] As she almost always had them simmering on the back burner of her stove.
All the relatives gathered around, knowing they had eaten her famous savory mushrooms, at some point. She said, In a weak voice, *I didn’t know* ....jaws dropped!!! She said that was why she kept a silver coin on the stove shelf....if the silver turned black...they were *no* good. LOL
Grams are the best!
How much vinegar to, say, 3 quarts of water? White vinegar? Would cider vinegar change the flavour of the eggs? All help appreciated! (I collect these sorts of tips).
Many TIA!
Simply spin the egg, narrow end down, on the counter. If it spins upright, it’s already boiled. If not, it’s not.
We raised quail and would pickle the eggs. Instead of peeling those tiny things, drop them in vinegar overnight then what is left of the shell wipes off with your fingers like wet paper.
Well, you start by, well, you don't start, you just take the square egg and, oh boy.
Ken’s Perfect Hard Boiled Egg (And I Mean Perfect). . .
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Kens-Perfect-Hard-Boiled-Egg-And-I-mean-Perfect/Detail.aspx
I just put the eggs in the pot with tap water, bring to a boil, remove from heat immediately, allow to cool. Voila, perfect soft boiled eggs.
YES!
This is the way to do it:
Put eggs in pot of water on stove over high heat. Once they start boiling, ten minutes. Let them boil - non-vioently. Perfect every time.
Honestly, that Salon article is truly stupid. Salon gets dumber and dumber.
You’re not far off. If the hen has white ear holes, the egg will be white. If brown, the eggs will be brown.
Get a good hot oak fire going. Let it blaze until embered. Kill your hens out. Not the roosters. Place dead hens on coals. Cover with the top or bottom of a Webster. Wait till the big smoke clears, turn ‘em for three minutes. Wait for the smoke to clear. Tong ‘em out, and they peel easy. Eventually, the hell cooked egg is the prize. Don’t be a weak sister this easter. Show your family, who you are. Get to it.
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