The Art of Boiling Eggs

For most of my life, making a boiled egg was a haphazard event.  I wasn't sure how long to boil the eggs, how much water to use.  More often than not I ended up with eggs that were rubbery from over cooking, hard to peel, with a green yolk, or a bit on the raw side.

Then I discovered The Farmstead Egg Cookbook by Terry Golson, and all that changed.

I learned the science behind boiling eggs.  That creepy green yolk?  That comes to a reaction of the iron and sulfur in the egg yolks that occurs at high temperatures.

Boiling a fresh egg makes for a nightmare when it comes time to peel it.  As an egg ages, the membrane around the white begins to separate from the shell, allowing for easier peeling - but the flavor also deteriorates, so the best eggs to hard-cook are between one to two weeks old.

To hard-cook eggs:

1.  Place the eggs in a pot and cover with two inches of water.  Bring water to a simmer.  Don't let the water come to a rolling boil.  As soon as the water is simmering, cover the pot and remove from heat.  Set a timer for 12 minutes for small, 16 minutes for large, and 18 minutes for jumbo eggs.

2.  Meanwhile, fill a bowl with ice water.

3.  When the timer goes off, drain the water out of the pot.  Then shake the pot back and forth so that the eggshells crackle all over.  Immediately immerse the eggs in the ice water.  The water will seep under the shells and loosen them from the whites.

4.  When the eggs are cold to the touch, remove them from the water and peel.  Any tiny pieces of shell stuck to the eggs can be rinsed off under the tap.  Store in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to four days for optimum quality.