How To Boil Eggs
Soft-Cooked Eggs, Medium-Cooked Eggs, and Hard-Cooked Eggs

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A photo of my husband's perfectly cooked soft-cooked (or soft-boiled) eggs. Of course, I did a terrible job of cracking open my egg!
 

 

Guidelines for choosing eggs:

White vs. brown eggs: There is no difference between white and brown eggs. The color of the shell is determined by the breed of the hen. White shelled eggs typically are from hens with white feathers, while brown shelled eggs are typically from hens with brown feathers. The only difference between white and brown eggs is the color - there is no difference in flavor or nutritional value.

Organic Eggs: Organic eggs are produced from hens that have been fed a special feed in which all of the ingredients were grown without the aid of commercial fertilizers, pesticides, or herbicides. Organic eggs come from hens that have outdoor access during the day and are able to run around outside in an area covered with natural vegetation.

Fertile Eggs:  Fertile eggs are simply eggs that can be incubated and developed into chicks. Fertile eggs have higher production costs so they are more expensive for the consumer and they also spoil more quickly than non-fertile eggs.

Free range vs. Cage free Free-range chickens usually have a covered shelter and access to an outside scratch yard. They are pasture-fed and can get worms and bugs, which is the ideal feed for health and strong immunity.

Cage free chickens do not live in cages but typically live inside a hen house without access to the outdoors.

Vegetarian eggs: Hens are fed a special feed containing ingredients of plant origin only. The nutrient content of these eggs is the same as that of conventional eggs. The hens are kept in cages and therefore are not classed as "free-range".


Omega-3-Enhanced Eggs: 
Hens that produce omega-3 enhanced eggs are fed a special vegetarian diet that consists of canola, linseed and flax seed., which in turn, results in these eggs being higher in omega-3 fatty acids than conventional eggs.

Barn-laid eggs:  The hens are kept indoors, in large barns covered with straw and are separated into pens rather than into small cages.

Conventional or Standard eggs:  These eggs come from chickens fed conventional food, which includes GM (genetically modified) grains, GM soy and pesticides. The chickens are kept in small cages, anything between 3 to 7 hens per cage, so there is not enough room for the hens to exercise.


Learn All About Eggs & How To Cook Them

Baked (Shirred) Eggs

Boiling Eggs

Brunch Recipes

Coddled Eggs

Deviled Eggs

Egg Equivalents

Egg FAQs

Egg Recipes

Freezing Eggs

Fried Eggs

Making Natural Easter Egg Dyes

Meringue

Microwave Eggs

Poached Eggs

Powdered Eggs

Raw Eggs

Scrambled Eggs/Omelets
 


Check out Linda's other interesting web links on eggs:

Blue-Green Egg White

Freezing Eggs

How To Peel Eggs

Pasteurization of Eggs

Peeling Hard-Cooked Eggs

Pickled Eggs & Beets

Sell Date of Eggs

Storing Hard-Cooked Eggs

Storing Raw Eggs

Sweating Meringue

Using Raw Eggs

What is Chalazae?

Why Do Some Eggs Float?


How To Boil Eggs:

The simple and classic boiled egg, is one of the finest and easiest edible delights known on earth, with just 70 calories, and full of nature’s most perfect form of protein. It used to be that people were scared of eating eggs because of the cholesterol in the egg yolks. Now research has found that eggs also raise the good cholesterol that bodies need.

According to the American Egg Board, the terms “hard-” and “soft-boiled” eggs are really misnomers, because boiling eggs makes them tough and rubbery. Instead, these eggs should be “hard-” or “soft-cooked” in hot (still) water.

Check out my article on Poaching vs. Simmering vs. Boiling.


To Correctly Cook Hard-Cooked Eggs:

Boiling an egg is really very simple! After reading many different opinions about the best method for making perfect hard-cooked (boiled) eggs, I have discovered, through my own personal testing, the following easy method which gives great results. This way of cooking is also known as "coddling." It does not toughen the whites as boiling does. This will also assist with the peeling process, as the cold water creates steam between the egg white and the shell which makes the shell easier to remove.

For perfect cooking, start with eggs that don't have any visible cracks. There are two problems you'll want to avoid: cracked shells and the ugly green layer that can form around the yolk. NOTE: In case small cracks do develop, add salt to the cooking water. The salt will help to speed up the denaturing of the egg white, causing less of it to feather into the water. Use at least a tablespoon of table salt per two quarts of water.

To get perfectly peeled hard-cooked eggs, use eggs that are at least 3 to 5 days. Eggs that are too fresh are difficult to peel. Hard boiling farm fresh eggs will invariably lead to eggs that are difficult to peel. First, figure out if your eggs are fresh, because looking at the date on the carton is not always the best indicator of freshness, as eggs within the same carton with the same sell-by-date could have been laid on different days.

  • In a fresh egg, the yolk stand tall and the white is thick and cloudy. In an older egg, the yolk looks flatter and breaks easily, and the white is thing and watery.

  • A simple test in water will answer the freshness question for you. Place the egg in a bowl of water; if it lays on its side, it is very fresh. As it ages, the air pocket inside the egg grows, which buoys the egg up so it stands on one end. If the egg floats to the top, it is ready for the trash

  • The best eggs for boiling are the ones on their way to standing up because that extra air makes peelling easier. That's why you should buy eggs for hard-cooking at least a week ahead of time


Bring your eggs to room temperature before cooking. If the egg has been stored in the refrigerator it can be warmed gently under a flowing hot tap water. By bringing the eggs to room temperature, they're much less likely to crack in the hot water. Also the temperature of the egg at the start of the cooking process will affect the cooking time. An egg that is at room temperature at the start of the cooking process will require about 1 minute less cooking time than eggs taken directly from the refrigerator.


Gently place the eggs in a single layer in a pan with enough cold water to cover eggs completely (approximately by 1 inche). If you have two or three layers of eggs stacked up in a small pot, they may cook unevenly. Too much water will take too long for things to get boiling, which can throw off the timing and give your overcooked eggs. Too little water and parts of the eggs will be exposed and end up undercooked. NOTE: Use a tall pan, and limit cooking to 2 dozen eggs at a time.

Over high heat, bring water JUST to a rapid boil.

As soon as the water reaches a rapid boil, remove pan from heat and cover egg pan tightly with a lid.

Set timer for 17 minutes for large eggs or 20 minutes for jumbo eggs.


After exactly 17 or 20  minutes (depending on size of your eggs), remove from head and drain off water from the eggs. Transfer the eggs to the bowl of ice cubes and cold water. Let eggs cool at least 10 minutes in cold water, then drain either store in refrigerator or peel the eggs (see below for How To Peel Hard-Cooked Eggs Easily).

NOTE: Watch the time when cooking the eggs carefully. Overcook causes a green layer to form around the yolk. This layer is caused by a reaction between the iron in the yolk and the sulfur in the white. Heat speeds up this reaction, so the longer your eggs cook, the greater the chance of discoloration.


Use the following cooking times as a guide for the desired firmness for the yolk of each egg size (the whites will be firm):

Egg Size

Degree of Doneness

Time Required

Medium

Soft-cooked yolk

3 minutes

 

Medium-cooked yolk

5 minutes

 

Hard-cooked yolk

12  minutes

 

Large

Soft-cooked yolk

4 to 5 minutes

 

Medium-cooked yolk

6 minutes

 

Hard-cooked yolk

17 minutes

 

Extra Large

Soft-cooked yolk

5 minutes

 

Medium-cooked yolk

7 to 8 minutes

 

Hard-cooked yolk

19 minutes


Soft-cooked eggs:

A soft-cooked egg has a firm white and runny yolk.

To serve in egg cup, place egg in cup small end down, slice off large end of egg with knife or egg scissors and eat from shell with spoon. You can also buy a good egg topper from a kitchen store. They're very quick and practical. I finally bought myself one, and now my eggs look beautiful when I top them!



Medium
-cooked eggs:

A medium-cooked egg has a firm white and a slightly firm yolk.

 

Hard-cooked eggs: 

A hard-cooked egg has both a firm white and yolk. 

Hard-cooked eggs should never be boiled - simmer them in water. If boiled or cooked too long, the protein toughens or becomes rubbery and a greenish or purplish ring forms around the yolk.

Extremely fresh eggs are not recommended when making hard-boiled eggs. They are very difficult to peel. This is the best use for eggs nearing their expiration date.

Refrigeration is necessary for hard boiled eggs if they eggs are not to be consumed within a few hours. Hard-cooked eggs in the shell can be refrigerated up to one week.

Photo of the different eggs courtesy of Hormel Foods.
 



How To Peel Hard-Cooked Eggs Easily:

This is what I do:

  • I place the eggs in the pan they were cooked in and add cold water.
     

  • I then crack the eggs under water (this seems to help loosen the membrane under the shell).
     

  • Start peeling at the larger end, where the air pocket is, and remove the shell under running water to make the shelling easier. You must get a hold of the membrane under the shell when you remove the shell. Very fresh eggs are harder to peel. The fresher the eggs, the more the shell membranes cling tenaciously to the shells.

 

Hints and Tips:

When buying eggs, open the carton to be sure none of the eggs are cracked; discard any that are, they may have bacteria that might contaminate the egg.

Be sure to store you eggs in the original egg carton in the refrigerator.  Don’t take them out and put them in the door.  Every time the refrigerator door is opened it exposes the egg to the room temperature.

To tell if an egg is hard-cooked or raw, place the egg on its side and spin it evenly on a level surface; if it wobbles, it is raw.

If an egg is accidentally dropped on the floor, sprinkle it heavily with salt for easy clean up.

You cannot hard-cook eggs in a microwave (they'll explode), but if you find after peeling an egg that it is not quite done at the center, pierce it once or twice with a fork, set microwave to medium power and cook the egg for 10 to 20 seconds before checking for doneness.
 

Did You Know?

A hen requires 24 to 26 hours to produce an egg. Thirty minutes later, she starts all over again.

Yolk color depends on the diet of the hen. Natural yellow-orange substances such as marigold petals may be added to light-colored feeds to enhance colors. Artificial color additives are not permitted.

A hen will sometimes produce double-yolk eggs at the very beginning or near the end of her reproductive life due to hormonal changes. When this happens, the shell forms around two yolks instead of one, creating a double-yolk egg. Double-yolk eggs are safe to eat and cook with. If substituting them for large classic eggs in a recipe, their additional volume may affect the outcome of the recipe.