Perfect Boiled Eggs

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Christopher Testani for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.

Thank G-d for the New York Times, which published this article/recipe.  For years, my family went through the painful Passover ritual of painstakingly peeling 20 hard boiled eggs for our seder table, only to have them forever coming out gouged and misshapen as bits of egg stuck to the shells. Eggs are traditionally eaten at Passover to symbolize spring, as well as mourning for the loss of the two temples in Jerusalem. We tried ducking the eggs in ice baths, adding baking soda to the boiling water, peeling them under water, peeling them under running water, all to no avail.  The only thing we didn't try is using older eggs - my mother flatly refused that tip.

Then along came this recipe.  Since then, it's been smooth and easy peeling. 

So here you go!

If your goal is perfectly smooth, blemish-free boiled eggs that jump out of their shells every single time, I’ve got bad news: No technique in the world can promise that level of perfection. But armed with data from scientific tests done with more than 90 testers and more than 700 boiled eggs, this technique for boiled eggs — technically steamed, as they cook in just an inch of water — will maximize your odds. Fresher eggs will take slightly longer to peel, but they should peel just as cleanly as older eggs. The eggs in this recipe should be cooked straight from the refrigerator; reduce cooking times by 1 minute if using room-temperature eggs.

Featured in: How To Boil The Perfect Egg

TIME: 10 MINUTES

INGREDients

•  Up to 12 eggs (see note)PREPARATION

1. Find a lidded saucepan large enough to allow your eggs to comfortably fit on the bottom in a single layer. Add 1 inch of water, cover, and bring to a boil.
2. Gently lower eggs into the saucepan using a slotted spoon or a steamer basket. (It’s O.K. if the eggs are partly submerged on the bottom of the pot, or elevated on a steamer rack and not submerged at all.) Cover pan and cook eggs, adjusting the burner to maintain a vigorous boil, 6 minutes for a warm liquid yolk and firm whites, 8 1/2 minutes for a translucent, fudgy yolk, or 11 minutes for a yolk that is just barely firm all the way through.
3. Drain eggs, then peel and eat immediately, or transfer them to a plate and allow them to cool naturally before storing in the refrigerator for up to a week directly in their shell. (A small dot made with a permanent marker on the top of each cooked egg will ensure you don’t mix them up with the raw eggs.) Do not shock them in an ice bath after cooking; this makes them more difficult to peel.

Tip

• On a regular home burner, you can cook as many eggs as will fit in a single layer in your pot, up to around a dozen. (Any more and the temperature in the pot will affect cooking.) A steamer basket is not necessary, but it can help you raise and lower eggs gently, preventing accidental cracks. If you have trouble with eggs cracking during cooking, use a pushpin to poke a small hole through the shell on the fat end of the eggs. (This can also help minimize the dimple that forms on the cooked egg white due to an internal air pocket.) The eggs in this recipe should be cooked straight from the refrigerator; reduce cooking times by 1 minute if using room-temperature eggs.