Backyard Poultry Forum

Something all chicken keepers need to know!

What You Need

Ingredients
-6 large eggs, cold from the fridge
-Cold water
-Ice

Equipment

-Saucepan
-Timer
-Slotted spoon
-Bowl

Instructions
1.Put the eggs in a pan of cold water: Place 6 cold eggs in a saucepan and fill with cold water, covering the eggs by an inch.

2.Bring the water to a rolling boil: Set the pan over high heat and bring the water to a boil, uncovered. The water should come to a full, rolling boil.

3.Turn off the heat and cover the pan. As soon as the water comes to a boil, remove the pan from heat and cover the pan. Don't forget about the pan on the stove and let the eggs boil for too long or they will over cook!

4.Set your timer for the desired time: Leave the eggs in the covered pan for the right amount of time. How long? Depends on whether you want soft-boiled or hard-boiled eggs. Here's how long each will take:

• For runny soft-boiled eggs (barely set whites): 3 minutes
• For slightly runny soft-boiled eggs: 4 minutes
• For custardy yet firm soft-boiled eggs: 6 minutes
• For firm yet still creamy hard-boiled eggs: 10 minutes
• For very firm hard-boiled eggs: 15 minutes

5.Tap the cooked eggs gently. After your selected time is up, remove the cooked eggs from the pan with a slotted spoon and tap each gently on the countertop to crack the shell in a few places. Skip this step if your eggs are very soft-boiled with runny yolks or if you're planning to dye your eggs for Easter.

6.Place the eggs in a bowl of ice water. Fill a bowl with ice water. Transfer the eggs to the bowl and leave them there for at least 1 minute.

7.Peel and eat! When ready to eat, peel the egg and enjoy.

Recipe Notes
•Quantity: You can of course do fewer eggs (or more!), but we like to do 6 at once.
•Storage: Refrigerate any unused eggs, still in their shells, within 2 hours. They can be stored in the fridge for up to 1 week

source: http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-boil-eggs-perfectly-every-time-cooking-lessons-from-the-kitchn-202415

Sounds like what I do, but too lazy to make up ice water, I just put them under cold running water.

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MONEY can't buy happiness....but it can buy CHOOKS, and that's pretty much the same thing

We don't store eggs in the fridge, but instead in the coolest part of the kitchen.

Definitely water from the tap over room temperature eggs & definitely bring to a rolling boil uncovered.

As we have a gas stove, we do not turn the heat off, but turn it low once the rolling boil is reached, with lid on. We always use a simmer mat at that point.

We don't ever "tap the cooked eggs gently" in the saucepan.

If I'm going to peel them, I find the simplest method for a clean & quick peel is to put them in a bowl of cold water (I don't bother with ice, as I keep my hands in the water), take them out & roll firmly on the benchtop to crack all over (like crackle-glaze) & then back under the water to peel the shell & membrane off. Leave shell & membrane in the water bowl as you do more... and scoop out the shell & membrane with a slotted spoon periodically or at the end (depending on how many we're doing).

If doing a very large number of eggs, using a deep frying pan does the job better with one layer of eggs, rather than multiple layers in a deep saucepan.

Boiling an egg for 15 mins??
It will darken around the yolk and look unsightly when cut. A classic sign the boiled egg is over cooked.
The fresher the egg the harder to peel.
The best eggs to boil are a few days old, stored in fridge or at room temp.
The cracking of the shell of a freshly boiled egg as you place it in cold or ice water helps with the peeling, it also stops the cooking process.
If you add a small amount of Bi Carb Soda to the cold water before you put it on the heat the shell will peel away even easier.
Always use cold water and bring up to the boil, if you add cold eggs to boiling water they will crack and contents ooze out.
A small amount of white vinegar added to the water will set and contents that may escape from egg if it does crack.
As an apprentice chef I had one chef that wanted 2 soft boiled eggs, 3 min, 2 slices of toast and a coffee, placed on the bench as he came in at sharply 8am.
If you did it right you were sweet for the day.
If he had to wait you had a bad day, if it was sitting there when he came in you had a bad day but if he saw you place it on the bench as he walked in you were SWEET !!

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Malay Game specialist Std & bantam. Breeding since 1968, interested in breed since 1950's

Yeah Andy I am too lazy for the ice water too!

Winglet I too peel the eggs under water - works a treat !

Oaklands - I think the operative word here is not "boil" but to leave the eggs for 15mins in water that reached boiling - and is then turned off. I have tried only the 6 min version though so not sure about the grey/black ring happening or not

But..l love the energy saving aspect of this method too, cooking in the residual heat.

I have always found if the eggs are at least 2 weeks old and bi carb in the water they are easy to peel. That's why supermarket eggs are easy. Fresh eggs are near impossible to peel no matter what you do.

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MONEY can't buy happiness....but it can buy CHOOKS, and that's pretty much the same thing

Yes..that is a great method for removing the egg from the shell if very fresh. And it is quick! Fresh eggs are best for people with amine sensitivities. I feel unwell eating eggs from the supermarket too often but really fresh eggs are fine. Amines build up in all proteins over time.

I prefer simmering not boiling. Also cold from the fridge I don't agree with.

Looks like we can't have it both ways. lol.
I was wondering why fresh was hard to peel compared to supermarket eggs .
Love fresh eggs but very hard to get a clean peel ! even with bicarb of soda.
Looks like Andy Vardy method might be the way to go.

Agree Sash - mine are always room temp.

If I am doing a lot of eggs say 7-10, I will use the rice cooker. I put them from the egg storage fridge into some warm water with a bit of vinegar, slowly add a kettle full of boiling water & once water is boiling again, set the timer for 6mins for hard boiled. Remove from water & cool in several bowls of tap water.
They come out with lovely bright yellow yolks & no dark ring which I hate too.
I'm not saying here my method is good or bad, I just do it this way because it suits my work load in the kitchen.

Last Friday night I had to do 8 for Salad Nicoise for family lunch on Saturday so I used the eggs from the 2 black chooks.
Straight after cooking I cooled them in tap water. I found the eggs of one chook Nigella, were easy to peel but the eggs of the other chook Annabelle, were impossible. All eggs were about 3-4wks old, laid over the same few days because I date the eggs at collection, chooks fed the same feed & eggs kept on the same shelf of the same fridge in the same egg carton.

Today I used the rice cooker again to boil 6 xxlarge eggs of the Bond (white) commercial layer (breed comes from Toowoomba) which were laid 4-5wks ago. They were also kept in same fridge in same carton & that chook fed same feed. They were cooked for same length of time using same method.

2 peeled well enough although not perfectly even though one was a bit cracked during cooking & the others didn't peel at all!

Very interesting!

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ClissaT

going through the process of getting organic certification for my property but horse & chook worming throwing a big spanner in the works

Favourite saying: Madness is doing the same thing over & over, but expecting a different result! -Einstein

Hmm that is interesting - perhaps degree of freshness is not quite the differentiator in peeling ease as previously thought?!

from my personal experience really fresh eggs are quite difficult to peel. after about a week or so they are fine

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Anconas, Silkies and Pekins Caladenia Cottage
Silkies
Wonderful Silkies

mm to clarify, that is in age, not length of time from boiling hehehe.

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Anconas, Silkies and Pekins Caladenia Cottage
Silkies
Wonderful Silkies