You’re Doing It Wrong: Hard-Boiled Eggs

Slate ^ | March 27, 2013 | L.V. Anderson

[Daffynition]

Where's my story of the FL lady who poured gasoline on a snake...and when the snake ran under her house, house burned down.

It'd just be my luck a rogue chicken would escape...

[Lancey Howard]

Cool post.

[RedHeeler]

Well, an old rock knocker like you, probably likes scrambled. Good Easter, to ya

[Daffynition]

You're invited...Indian givers are invited.

[RedHeeler]

A few of those around these days. Amazing times, Daffynition.

[RedHeeler]

A few of those around these days. Amazing times, Daffynition.

[Daffynition]

Is this too subtle?

[RedHeeler]

Is it pedicure or pedigree? Not much on subtle.

[Daffynition]

[dixiechick2000]

You can never go wrong with plastic.

They don’t make very good egg salad, tho’.

[kabumpo]

White vinegar, a teaspoon.

[ErnBatavia]

Yes - just a small splash.

[JoeProBono]

[Daffynition]

[Banjoguy]

Also, spinning an egg will reveal a liquid core by the egg refusing to spin.

However, this week I will try your method of separating the membrane.

Thanks!

[exDemMom]

Some are still hard to peel, which correlated to their freshness, I have read.

It does. As the eggs age, moisture evaporates from their interiors. The resulting slight shrinkage of the white pulls it away from the membrane. When you boil the eggs, water then enters the narrow gap between the white and membrane and acts as lubrication to make the membrane separate easily from the white.

When I was a kid growing up on a chicken ranch, my stepfather would bring home a couple of flats of eggs a couple of weeks before Easter so they would have time to age properly and thus become easy to peel after cooking.

[exDemMom]

You’re not far off. If the hen has white ear holes, the egg will be white. If brown, the eggs will be brown.

What about the hens that lay green or blue eggs? (Araucuna or something like that.)

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

Alton's way of "hard cooked eggs" is the best I have tried.

Simple and perfect every time.

The only change I make is that after peeling I slice them length wise and salt.

Yum!

[Daffynition]

Let's see Alton do this...

[Mamzelle]

I don’t know, probably brown. All of my hens laid colored eggs— there’s even a breed that lays dark brown eggs, they look like chocolate!