So I just made a pot of hard boiled eggs and when I was talking to my girlfriend she mentioned how her hard boiled eggs always are a pain in the rear to peel and have a green ring around the yolk. I rarely have that issue (and I say rarely since I do not always follow my own instructions) so I thought I would share my “recipe” for hard boiled egg success. Here are the two keys; the age of the egg is the most important factor in ease of peeling, and overcooking is the main reason for a discolored yolk.

So…age of the egg?

Yep – the older the egg the better. If you know you are going to be making hard boiled eggs in the future get eggs that will expire as close to the day you are making them as you can. If not, just buy the eggs that are closest to the expiration date. I usually find that the local “mini-mart” type stores sell eggs closer to expiration than supermarkets. Eggs don’t necessarily expire on the expiration date of the container (and that date is usually a sell by date anyway) . A simple test in water will answer the freshness question for you. Place the egg in a bowl of water; if it lays on its side, it is very fresh. As it ages, the air pocket inside the egg grows, which buoys the egg up so it stands on one end. If the egg floats to the top, it is ready for the trash. Sidetracked: This brings me back to a story about my mom from when I first ventured out on my own. I was making hard boiled eggs and reading the instructions from a cook book (yep). Something was not working out correctly so I called my mom at work and the conversation went something like this…”Hey Mom, I am trying to make hard boiled eggs and the instructions say to cover the eggs with at least an inch of water?” Mom: “yeah, sounds right” Me: “What if they float?” Mom: “I have no idea, hold on…” Now yelling over her cubicle at work to whomever is in ear range and can answer her “What do you do if your eggs float when you’re making hard boiled eggs? What? Eggs EXPIRE?” Now back on the phone “Throw them away, apparently eggs expire” Apparently? Well, I am still around so I must not have eaten too many bad eggs as a kid!

Now for the cooking part.

• Place eggs in a pot with enough COLD water to have an inch of water above the eggs.
• Place the pot with the eggs and water over high heat until the water comes to a full boil. IMMEDIATELY take the pot off the heat and cover with a tightly-fitting lid. The eggs will continue to cook from the heat of the water. The eggs do not need to be (and should not be) boiled. Overcooking eggs is what causes the iron in the yolk and the sulfur in the white to combine, and this makes that ugly greenish color around the yolk.
• Let the eggs sit in the pan in the hot water for 12-18 minutes depending on the size of your pan and the size of your eggs (the larger the pan the less time you need since it takes longer to boil the water and obviously smaller eggs need less time).
• Drain the eggs and fill the pot with cold water. I like to empty and re-fill the pot several times to make sure the heat of the eggs doesn’t heat the water back up again. You can also put ice cubes in the water. The water should be very cold. Letting the eggs sit in the cold water until the eggs are completely cooled helps the membrane stick to the shell, instead the egg, and makes the egg easier to peel.
• Hard boiled eggs in the shell can be refrigerated up to one week. Hard boiled eggs out of the shell should be used right away.

Worth a mention, never tried: I have heard the following… If you are making deviled eggs, place carton of eggs on its side for a day or so. The yolk will then center itself so you have it directly in the middle of the white. No more off centered deviled eggs.