How To Make Hard Boiled Eggs
You’ve got this! Perfect hard boiled eggs - every single time. Here’s the method.
Hard boiled eggs are a frequent ingredient in many meals and recipes. They're foundational for countless cooks, and much-loved for being portable, filling, protein-rich, and adaptable. Once peeled they can be sliced, grated, smashed, or pureed. The key is landing on a cooking method that delivers perfect eggs every single time. So, let's talk it through.
What Makes A Perfect Hard Boiled Egg?
The goal here is to cook fully set, smooth, eggs. That when cut open reveal a creamy, well-set, bright yellow yolk with no grey ring or discoloration. A lot of divots from peeling aren't ideal, but there are methods to achieving divot-free eggs, no worries!
The Method
There are a few key steps here. Let's go through them with photos.
- First, gently place your eggs in a saucepan.
- Next, cover the eggs with water by about an inch.
- After that, bring everything to a boil over medium-high heat (uncovered). Once the water reaches a boil, when the eggs start to tap a bit against the bottom of the saucepan, turn off the heat, cover, and set a timer for exactly 10 minutes.
- In the meantime, prepare a medium bowl with water and some ice cubes. Once your timer goes off, use a strainer, spider, or slotted spoon to move the eggs into the ice water. This is one of the steps a lot of people get wrong (or skip). You really want to cool they eggs down entirely. Peeling warm eggs is much more difficult than peeling cold one, and patience is king here. The quick cool-down also helps keep the eggs bright, yellow, and ring-free.
How To Best Peel a Hard Boiled Egg
This is something people really struggle with. Peeling an egg is actually trickier than you think, especially if you don't want to lose a good amount of the egg along with the peel. We've all been there. Keep in mind that fresh eggs are always trickier to peel than eggs that are a bit older, but this is a method that helps remove the egg shell in strips and avoiding divots in the eggs. Here’s the technique:
- Crack the shell all over. One end of the egg (bottom) will vibe more hollow than the other, tap this end on your countertop. Then gently tap, tap, tap all around the egg to crack and loosen the entire shell. Some people will tell you to gently roll the egg on your countertop, and I'm not a fan of that technique. I've had eggs split around the circumference while carefully rolling, so tap, tap, tap it is.
- Start peeling. The hollow end (bottom) is where you want to start. Depending on the egg, you might be able to softly work your thumb under the membrane, pushing the shell away from the egg. If you're lucky it will peel in long strips. If not, keep trying to get under that membrane and peel from there.
- Rinse. Give each egg a quick rinse and pat dry. This gets rid of any crunchy peel residual that might still be clinging to the egg.
How Long Can You Store Hard Boiled Eggs
Some say hard boiled eggs will last up to a week, but I try to use them within 4 days or so.
Why I prefer This Method For Hard Boiling Eggs
There are a number of other approaches to hard boiling eggs out there, but I always come back to this one. Common sense would have you boil the water first, drop the eggs in and continue to boil for a set amount of time. This minimizes the variables, because you're dealing with constants - the temperature of boiling water and a set time period. But this method has you add a towel to your pan to keep the eggs from breaking as they boil, and tbh, I don't love the cleanup from that. 
The method I use here is gentle with the eggs from the start, and it's reliably good. The only wild card I've run into is using an induction stove burner. It boils the water SO FAST, the eggs end up needing a slightly longer time under cover. If you're using induction, bring them to a boil a bit more slowly, a 6 setting works well.
Wooohoo! I Can Make Perfect Hard Boiled Eggs - What’s Next?
Once you make hard boiled eggs, you are on your way. Here are a few other ideas.
- Make deviled eggs
- Make a Niçoise salad
- Make an assortment of homemade spice blends to use on them.
- Make shredded egg salad
- Make a classic egg salad sandwich
- Add them to a bento with other feel-good lunch ideas
More Egg Recipes
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Hard Boiled Eggs
There are some extra pro-tips in the post up above.
- 4 eggs
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Place the eggs in a pot and cover with cold water by an inch. Bring to a gentle boil over medium-high heat. If you’re using induction, setting number 6 is good. Any higher and the water boils too quickly.
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Once the water boils and the eggs are just starting to jump around a bit in the pot, turn off the heat. Cover the pan, and let sit for ten minutes.
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In the meantime, fill a bowl with water and ice cubes. When the eggs are done cooking, place them in the ice bath long enough to cool completely - ideally 7-10 minutes.
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Crack and peel each egg. Give a quick rinse to remove any residual shell bits.
Makes four eggs.
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Deviled Eggs
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Egg Salad Sandwich
The perfect egg salad sandwich is all about the little tweaks and a smart ratio of eggs to other ingredients. This is my favorite. Served on garlic-rubbed toasted bread with chopped celery, onion, and whole-grain mustard.
A Good Shredded Salad
One of the things I love about having a work studio is our location. It means that most days, at one point or another, I find myself standing in the middle of San Francisco's Chinatown. This is a shredded salad inspired by the neighborhood - lots of cabbage and scallions, tossed with soy sauce, honey, and cilantro, and amount of crunch toasted peanuts, and celery.
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Comments
Hi! I feel like I’ve tried every method out there to end up with an egg that peels nicely. I’ve tried this one too, but haven’t used it for many years because it, like all the others, seemed less than perfect. I have been using the “drop eggs into boiling water, boil for 2 minutes, cover and remove from heat and let sit 10 minutes. Then I use the “drain and plunge into ice water” method with decent results. I too use the crack all over gently, and get under the membrane peeling method, but I also have added “under a stream of cold running water”. When it all comes down to it, it does depend on how old the eggs are. I buy from my local farm, so this is a tough one. I’m here to say, I’m going to switch methods this morning and try yours, word for word and see how it goes. I’ll report back! Suzi
I loved your method of making hard boiled eggs until we got our own hens. I did some research and they say that the cold water start and slow boil allows more time for a chemical reaction that makes the fresh eggs much harder to peel. Now I boil the water first and I lower the eggs slowly with a slotted spoon. No need for a tea towel. And then proceed with the ice water bath for at least 25 minutes. It’s not fool proof with super fresh eggs, but it’s better.
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