It only takes 12 Minutes for Perfect Hard Boiled Eggs. Do you hate that green ring around hard boiled eggs? Find out how you can master the art of cooking the perfect hard boiled egg every time.
We’ve all experienced the disappointment of cracking open a beautifully decorated Easter egg only to find the inside is tainted by an ugly green ring of color.
That ugly green ring can take away from the simple beauty of a deviled egg as well. And because the construction of this classic appetizer is so simple, there’s nothing to hide behind if the eggs are overcooked.
What if I told you there is a simple technique that only requires 12 Minutes for Perfect Hard Boiled Eggs?
Table of Contents
How to cook the perfect hard boiled egg
There are two questions that dominate the discussion surrounding hard boiled eggs:
- How long should you boil an egg to reach the ideal hard boiled stage?
- What causes that ugly green ring around a hard boiled egg yolk?
I’ll cover both in this post for 12 Minutes for Perfect Hard Boiled Eggs, but we’ll start with the latter of the two questions.
What causes that ugly green ring around a hard boiled egg?
Why do hard boiled eggs turn green? Although completely harmless, it’s not the most visually appealing to bite into a green egg. That discoloration that you sometimes see around the yolk of a hard boiled egg is actually a chemical reaction that takes place during the cooking process between the yolk itself and the egg white.
Have you every cooked scrambled eggs in a cast iron skillet only to have them turn an unappealing green color while cooking? You have science to thank for that. The color change is brought on by a chemical reaction between the iron in the pan and sulfur in the egg whites. And it’s that same reaction that takes place between the naturally occurring iron in the yolk and sulfur in the whites of an egg when it is cooked too long or at too high a temperature.
So, how long should you boil an egg to reach the ideal hard boiled stage?
That’s kind of a trick question. If you want a perfectly set hard boiled egg without that nasty green ring, you don’t want to boil them for any length of time at all. In the spirit of the section of my blog, titled, The Tea, I’m going to share with you the trick to getting the perfect hard boiled egg every time.
You only need 12 Minutes for Perfect Hard Boiled Eggs
So here’s the great reveal. If you follow these simple steps, you’ll achieve perfect hard boiled eggs every time:
- STEP 1 – Choose a pot that is deeper than the eggs. Place the eggs in the pot and cover completely with cold water. The water should be approximately one inch over the tops of the eggs.
- STEP 2 – Bring the uncovered pot to a full boil. As soon as the water reaches the boil, turn off the heat, remove the pot from the burner and cover with a lid. Allow the eggs to rest in the pot of hot water covered for 12 minutes.
- STEP 3 – After 12 minutes, immediately drain off the hot water and cover with ice until the eggs have cooled completely.
- STEP 4 – If desired, peel the hard boiled eggs immediately for use or store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
That’s the technique to 12 Minutes for Perfect Hard Boiled Eggs.
You may be wondering why it’s important to remove the pot from the burner even though you’ve already turned off the heat. This step is more important than you may think. There is residual heat in any burner – especially electric burners which take some time to cool down after turning off the heat. Even the grates on traditional gas burners retain some heat that can be transferred to the eggs bathing in the hot water. For best results, remove the pot from the burner completely. This will ensure that the exposure to heat is controlled and the eggs are able to finish cooking gently (and consistently every time) in the residual warmth of the water bath.
What are the ideal times for other stages?
In this post for 12 Minutes for Perfect Hard Boiled Eggs I focus exclusively on the time needed for achieving perfect hard boiled eggs. But what about all the other stages in between soft boiled and hard boiled? Pillsbury Kitchens has a great post on all the stages of cooked eggs that is worth saving to your favorites as a quick reference. I love this post because it also includes a quick tutorial on how to peel eggs successfully.
