Nailing hard boiled eggs may not be rocket science but think about all the times you’ve got under cooked or overcooked hard-boiled eggs even when doing simple egg recipes whether you were planning to eat it plain with a little salt for breakfast or the Sunday brunch, in a salad, a sandwich or to make deviled eggs. Going from undercooked eggs with too runny egg whites and yolks to overcooked rubbery ones (with the greenish colour around the yolk) is just a matter of a few minutes!
The temperature, the size of the egg, the freshness (depending on the laying date: extra-fresh or fresh egg) will determine the ideal cooking time ( which normally varies between 8 and 11 minutes). Note that it is preferable to use fresh and not extra-fresh eggs to prepare hard-boiled eggs. On the other hand, extra-fresh eggs should be reserved for partial cooking or uncooked preparations.
Knowing the cooking method and time, the sizes and calibres and being well equipped are the keys to success for a perfect hard-boiled egg.
✪ How long does it take to hard boil eggs?
Cooking time of the hard-boiled egg/size over high heat
Small size (≤ 53g) = 8 – 9 min
Medium size (53-63 g) = 9 min
Large size (63-73 g) = 10 min
Very large size (≥ 73 g) = 11 min
✪ The equipment:
Unless you have a ticking clock in your head, you will probably need a watch or a clock or any time measuring tool to obtain perfect hardboiled eggs. The kitchen timer will be a kitchen utensil that will allow you to control your cooking times. Some electronic timers have an alarm (a beeper) that will tell you when the time is up. The little “beep” avoids overcooked hard-boiled eggs! There is even a timer specially dedicated to cooking hard-boiled eggs!
✪ Method:
If you are wondering how to boil an egg, you simply have to dip it with it shell in boiling water.
Be careful, as a general rule, it is better to have slightly undercooked eggs than eggs that have been boiled for too long! Risks: the yolk may turn greenish and crumbly while the egg white requires a cooking time of 3 to 4 minutes.
✪ Sizes:
There are four major different sizes for chicken eggs, which influence the cooking time of hard-boiled eggs.
| 8 – 9 minutes cooking time | 9 – 10 minutes cooking time | 11 minutes cooking time |
| Small egg (≤ 53g) | Medium size egg (53 – 63 g) or large size egg (63 – 73 g) | Very large size (≥ 73 g) |
► Foolproof little tips to obtain perfect hard boiled eggs :
- Once the water has reached boiling point in your saucepan, carefully and delicately immersing the raw eggs in the water will prevent them from splitting and losing white during cooking.
- Adding vinegar and salt to the cooking water helps to avoid breakage and allow an easy peele. it will make the white coagulate faster if your eggshell is slightly cracked when you immerse it in boiling water.
- Don’t forget to cool the hard-boiled eggs in an ice bath or under running water. The cold water will instantly discontinue the cooking before peeling them!
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