All I want to know is how to avoid that creepy gray film that often forms around the yolk when I hard boil them.
What I want to know is how to hard-boil eggs so that they’ll peel cleanly every time, without the white pulling off on the shell. Tried every cooking technique I’ve heard, but none works with every egg every time. My wife even got one of those air-pressure gadgets once, but it went in the trash after ruining 5 of a test batch of 6.
The gray film is from overcooking them. Put eggs in water, bring to a boil, cover, remove pan from the heat and let sit for fifteen minutes. Drain and rinse with cool water. That usually works for me.
You’re overcooking them.
I tried eggs in the pressure cooker. Mine is an Instant Pot. The eggs turned out perfect and oh so easy to shell. I used the Rice setting for 8 minutes, let them sit depressurizing for 8 minutes, then dunk them in an ice bath for 8 minutes. Just perfect. And no gray film.
Ice bath immediately after cooking. No grey stuff, and you can peel them easily. Roll on the counter, and then the shell slides off in one piece.
Method for Perfect Hard Boiled EggsWhen the eggs are cool, peel and eat. They should peel easily and there should be no gray gunk if you have followed the steps carefully.1) Boil your pot of water enough to cover however many eggs you are cooking. I usually do a half-dozen eggs at a time in a one gallon saucepan.
2) When there is a rolling boil, use a spoon or tongs to swiftly lower each egg into the water.*
3) In just seconds, the water will return to a full roll. Set your timer and boil three minutes exactly.
4) Cover the pot of eggs with a tight lid and move it off the burner to the back of the stove or a trivet. Set your timer to 30 minutes and just let the eggs sit in the pot.
5) At 30 minutes exactly, remove the eggs from the warm water and lower them into a bowl of cold water to stop the cooking. Lift the eggs right away into a bowl and place them in the cold part of the fridge (not the door).
* Note: Sometimes an eggshell will crack spontaneously when you lower it into the boing water, and a blob of egg white will bulge out. Just leave it alone; it will taste the same. You can still use these "imperfects" any old way, as long as you are not tring to impress a guest.
That gray film is the sign of overcooking. When I hardboil eggs, I cover them in a pan of cold water, bring quickly to the boil, and then simmer for 10 minutes. (For large eggs). Then I remove them from the water and plunge them into ice water. Never have over it undercooked eggs that way.