How To Boil An Egg Perfectly

Eggs are a powerhouse of nutrition, and one of the best ways to enjoy an egg is by boiling it, then sprinkling it with some salt and pepper, and off it goes into your mouth! With just 70 calories, and full of nature’s most perfect form of protein, boiled eggs are a good thing to include in your diet. I am trying to get my toddler to eat eggs regularly so she can get more protein in her otherwise vegetarian diet, and boiling them is the easiest and fastest way to introduce them for breakfast or snack. However, I never knew making a perfect boiled egg would be so difficult! Yes, you might be laughing, but its true – many a times, we don’t even realize what kind of eggs we want, hard-boiled, soft-boiled, or semi-soft? You think you have a perfect egg, but do you see a greenish-grey line separating the yolk from the white when you split your boiled egg – sorry to burst your bubble, but that line means that you need to read this post carefully, because you are not yet boiling your eggs the right way!

Trying to save time, I tried boiling eggs in a microwave, and after a few disastrous explosions I learnt it the hard way that the only correct way to boil eggs is on a stove-top, and each stage of boiling has a precise time limit attached to it. Its not hard to boil an egg perfectly, but there are definitely some tips attached to this process, the most important being, watch the clock as the egg boils, or you’ll not achieve the result you were expecting!
 

How To Boil An Egg
Prep Time: 2 mins
Cook Time: 8-10 mins

The Basics
Start with the eggs in a saucepan, and add enough cold water to cover them by about 1 inch. Set the pan over medium-high heat and as soon as the water reaches a brisk simmer, start timing the boiling process. Cooking eggs in boiling water cracks the shell and makes the eggs tough and rubbery, so make sure you maintain the gas on a simmer; don’t get tempted to turn on the heat full force or you’ll end up with a cracked shell and a rubbery egg.

Soft Boiled Egg
Remember that gorgeous boiled egg served in a cup in your favorite breakfast diner? The ideal time to achieve this state of soft-boiled egg is 2 minutes, and not more than 2 minutes! You have to stop when the white is solid, but the yolk is still runny. Use the side of a small spoon and gently tap the pointed end of the egg to remove to crack and remove the shell, then make a hole in the shell large enough to fit the spoon. Enjoy your egg, served in a cup, just like in the restaurant!

Medium Boiled Egg
Most people end up with a boiled egg in this state, just because they start losing patience and don’t wait long enough to let the egg boil completely. Anyways, the ideal time to make a medium-boiled egg is about 4-1/2 minutes. The yolk is solid but still dark orange-yellow, moist, and dense in the middle, and the white is perfectly cooked.

Hard Boiled Eggs
This is the way most of us like our eggs, but you have to patiently wait for 8 full minutes, so that the yolk is completely solid, light yellow, and crumbly, with no sign of the green or gray ring around the yolk (which means you have over-cooked your egg). Hard-boiled eggs are perfect for making deviled eggs, salads, sandwiches, or just eating them plain!

Boiling Eggs in Microwave
For those of you who have tried it, you would know that while boiling eggs in a microwave, eggs can explode because rapid heating causes a buildup of steam, which in turn blasts the egg! So here’s a trick to prevent such explosions. Fill your vessel with water to boil the eggs, then add about a tablespoon of vinegar and a tablespoon of salt, and heat the water alone in the microwave till it boils. Then remove it, place the eggs in the water, and let them boil again in the microwave, but on medium-heat, for about 7-8 minutes. This will have to be a trial-and-error thing. Once cooked, leave the eggs in the hot water for a little longer, then crack the shell a little to see if the eggs are cooked well or not. Don’t worry, after 2 or 3 trials, you’ll figure out how much water you need and how much time it takes to hard-boil your eggs in a microwave:)

How to Peel The Eggs
Once boiled, pour out the hot water, leaving the eggs in the pan. Set the pan in the sink under cool running water for a few minutes until the eggs are barely warm. This will help loosen the shell from the egg, which makes it easier to peel. Crack the shell from all sides, then roll the egg around in your hand, and the peel will come off easily Slice them using an egg-slicer, or a sharp serrated knife, and serve them the way you want.

I hope this tutorial helps you make your perfect boiled eggs, just the way you like. But being a human, you are bound to make mistakes, and not be perfect all the time, so if you are looking for a more stress-free approach to eating perfectly boiled eggs, spend $40 on this Chef’s Choice Egg Boiler, and you can enjoy perfect eggs every morning!

Also, Refrigeration is necessary for hard boiled eggs if they are not to be consumed within a few hours. Refrigerated boiled eggs, kept in the shell, can be kept for up to 1 week, so you don’t need to boil one everyday.

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