I play piano for church quite a bit…and have worked with severaql differeent singers and other instrumen talists…
And the one thing I have learned is that the songs that everyone knows and everyone and their brother requests that you sing—such as Amazing Grace and How Great Thou Aft…those songs that you’ve sung or played for only how long now….always end up being the hardest to put together because we take them for granted and each have our own version/expectation that we think that everyone else should prefer also.
The fact that the simpler and most common things are often the most difficult holds true in the cooking world as well.
Most of us have been boiling macaroni since pre-puberty and became brave enough to start boiling eggs the day after that.
You would think that we would all have the art of egg-boiling down well-mastered by now…
But are we really making the most perfect hard-boiled eggs that we could possible make…
Would we even know the perfect hard-boiled eggs if we ever saw it?
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The Perfect Hard-Boiled Egg
Before we start learning how to make the perfect hard-boiled eggs, let’s first consider what we expect from the perfect hard-boiled eggs…as far as color, the shell, texture, and the yolk.
- Color…no nasty gray ring around the yolk
- Texture…firm whites and yolks, but not rubbery
- The Shell…slips right off, making peeling the eggs quick and easy
- The Yolk…creamy and mellow
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Ingredients
Obvously the first thing that you will need to have whenever you are making boilee eggs is an egg. In addition to the eggs, you will need cold water, Ice, and salt.
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Equipment
As far as quipment, you will need…
- Large slotted spoon
- Saucepan or stockpot with a fitted lid
- Timer
- Tongs
- Bowl for the ice water bath once the eggs have boiled
Add enough cool water until there is about an inch of water over the eggs.
Add a pinch of salt.
Cover with a lid.
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Cooking
bring water to a rolling boil over high heat; Many people claim that adding salt, vinegar or baking soda to the boiling water makes the eggs not only easier to peel, but also helps them taste better….so if you are going to use any of these, add them now.
Reduce heat to medium-high..
Once the water has reached a rolling boil, set the timer for the desired time. ..typically this will be anywhere from five to sevcen minutes…and boil them.
To be more specific…
- 3 minutes for very runny soft-boiled eggs with just-set whites
- 4 minutes for runny soft-boiled eggs
- 6 minutes for creamy, custard-y “medium”-boiled eggs
- 8 minutes for firm (but still creamy) hard-boiled eggs
- 10 minutes for firm hard-boiled eggs
- 12 minutes for very firm hard-boiled eggs.
