Several years ago, a well known chef friend of mine was on a mission to cook an egg perfectly. Truth be told, at the time I didn’t get it. Here’s a internationally recognized chef focused on cooking…an egg. It seemed so simple. Ever since I was young, my mom fried, scrambled, boiled, or poached eggs almost daily. If she wasn’t cooking them individually, they were going into cookies, cakes, casseroles or any number of other types of dishes. Eggs were probably the first thing I ever even tried to cook because it seemed so simple. However, I learned I was wrong. Cooking an egg is harder than it looks and not everyone knows how to do it. I suppose all of those years watching my mom and grandma model the egg cooking process engrained it in the neuronal networks of my brain. So…here is hard boiling an egg in five steps.
Step 1…Get a fresh egg (or however many you want to boil).
Step 2…Put the egg in water on a stove. More eggs require a larger pot.
Step 3…Turn up the heat until the water boils. Then turn down the heat until the water is just bubbling. I’ve found that if the water is at a roiling boil, sometimes the shell cracks. Usually that doesn’t hurt the taste of the egg much but it is kind of an aesthetic thing. Also, if you are planning on coloring the eggs for Easter or something, a cracked shell is no bueno. Finally, there is a sense of accomplishment to have an intact shell with the inside cooked perfectly.
Step 4…Set a kitchen timer or your watch or your phone for anywhere from 3 to 7 minutes depending on if you want a soft boiled egg or a hard boiled egg. I personally prefer my eggs hard boiled but with a softish center so I start with five minutes but then let the egg(s) sit in the hot water with the burner turned off for a few more minutes (see step 5). That seems to get them just about right every time. *Just don’t forget about them and come back several hours later. Uh, not that that’s ever happened to me of course.
Step 5…Take the pot off the stove, remembering to turn off the burner. It’s pretty embarrassing, not to mention dangerous, to walk by an hour or more later and find the burner is still on. Place the pot in your sink and either run cold water into the pot to cool down the egg(s) if you’re hungry now OR you can let them sit in the hot water as it cools (if you’re concerned about the egg being completely cooked).
Peeling and eating your beautifully cooked hard boiled egg…
After the egg cools to the touch, it’s time to peel it. On a cutting board or plate, point the fat bottom of the egg down and tap it a few times to crack the shell. Then peel that baby off. Try peeling the shell off under lightly running water in your sink. Sometimes, that can make the process easier and the shell fragments are in a contained area unlikely to end up under foot on the kitchen floor or God knows where else.
Next, I like to mix a little salt and pepper on the cutting board or plate, roll the egg in it, and chow down. Another favorite of mine, is to slice the egg and arrange it on a piece of multi grain bread. Then add a bit of butter and sprinkle some garlic power and pepper on the top. Finally, that goes into the toaster oven for the final touch. It is sooooooo tasty. Of course, you can also make egg salad for sandwiches. You could even make deviled eggs. But…those are recipes for a different day. Cheers!