Perfect hard-boiled eggs

Several white eggs - one with a soft, brilliantly cooked yolk

Hard boiled eggs took me a while to get right. Often I'd end up overcooking them, causing the yolk to take on a dry, powder-y consistency and even turn slightly green. Another common issue is the peeling step -- that shell can be awfully difficult to peel off if you don't have the right strategy going in. Here, I'll write down my approach so that I have no excuse for messing this up down the road.

Ingredients

Steps to prepare

  1. Fill your pot with water then carefully add the eggs, being sure not to damage the shells (otherwise some weird stuff can happen during boiling)
  2. Add a touch of salt to the water. I find that this facilitates easier peeling in addition to the cold water trick we'll use later.
  3. Put the pot on a high burner, uncovered, and bring to an aggressively rolling boil. Seriously, don't get timid, scorch those eggs.
  4. Once a rolling boil is reached, cover the pot and turn off the heat. Let rest on the hot but turned-off burner for 10 minutes.
  5. Decant the still-simmering water from the pot. Then carefully transfer the eggs to the bowl of cold water, and let rest for 10 minutes or more. This will force the inside of the egg to contract, easing peeling tremendously.
  6. Note: At this time you can prepare another batch of eggs to get things going in parallel, so long as you change out the cold water between batches. Cartons of 18 eggs are cheap at the store, so take advantage.
  7. When ready to serve, peel the egg shell along with the thin film beneath it. Cut in half through the yolk, and season the interior with salt and pepper to taste. Serve cool.

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