January 13, 2009
Perfect Hard-Boiled Eggs

Perfect Hard-Boiled Eggs

This is a recipe I got from David Tanis' A Platter of Figs and Other Recipes.

I realize that naming this cookbook my favorite for 2008 and then showcasing its recipe for hard-boiled eggs sends a curious message, yet it illustrates exactly what I look for in a book: not just engaging stories, understated pictures, and seasonally sound menus -- all features that Tanis' book can brag about -- but also things to learn, understand, and remember long after the book has been shut.

This is why I was bound to fall for a book that draws its title from that very premise: you need know-how, rather than a recipe, to serve a good platter of figs. A book that not only gives you a recipe for Jellied Chicken Terrine (three cheers for aspic!), but also devotes two pages to Grilled Chicken Breasts and includes a sub-recipe for the Soft-Center Hard-Cooked Eggs that you are to place, halved or quartered, around the inverted and unmolded terrine.

If, like me, you've long been a card-carrying member of the Hard-Boiled Eggs Loathing Society, prepare to have your mind changed. The proper way of making them, as outlined below, will not produce the dreaded dandruffy yolk, sapless and tinged with grey, but one that's creamy and glowing, nested in a springy, just-set white.

There's not much to it, really, yet it is one of those basic skills that everyone assumes you possess, when I myself can't make an oeuf à la coque without calling Maxence to double-check the cooking time, so it is nice when someone takes the time to hold your hand through the process.

And then of course you're free to do whatever you please with those eggs. I am not sure if or when I will make the terrine -- I have my eye on the Fava Bean Salad with Mountain Ham and Mint and the Fish Soup with Mussels and Chorizo first -- but these perfect eggs have already become regular adornments to my lunch salads, the grated carrot and avocado salad, the red quinoa salad, and the grated carrot and beet salad. Surely you've met?

Perfect Hard-Boiled Eggs

- 6 large organic eggs that you will preferably have removed from the fridge 30 minutes to an hour beforehand so their shells won't crack (otherwise you can give them a warm bath)

Yields 6 hard-boiled eggs (what, did you think they'd reproduce?)

Wire egg sieveBring a medium pan of water to a rolling boil over medium-high heat. Lower the eggs into the water -- Maxence's mother once gave us a wire egg sieve that proves very handy for this maneuver -- and simmer for exactly 8 minutes (9 if you don't want a soft center in your yolk).

While the eggs are cooking, fill a medium bowl with cold water and add a handful of ice cubes (remember to refill the ice cube tray if you prefer to avoid this).

When the timer goes off, lift the eggs out of the water with a slotted spoon (again, I use my wire egg sieve) and put them in the bowl of ice water; this will halt the cooking.

When the eggs are cold -- this will take just a couple of minutes -- tap them gently* on the counter to crack their shell all around, and return to the bowl a few more minutes: the water will infiltrate the eggs beneath the shell and make them easier to peel. (Also, when peeling the eggs, notice that there is a thin skin between the white and the shell; once found and ruptured, that skin provides good leverage to peel off the shell.)

* If you're not using all six eggs right away, don't crack or peel the ones you're saving. Just write a capital "D" (for dur, hard) on each shell with a pencil, to make sure no one mistakes them for fresh; this is how my mother does it and I know no other way. Keep the eggs in the fridge and eat within a day or two.


Finally after all these years I have found the secret to shelling hard boiled eggs - merci beaucoup!
Posted by MsGourmet on January 13, 2009 10:22 AM

I start mine in cold water, and cook them for 10 minutes, turning the heat down when they start to boil.

But however you do them, always, always, always put them in cold water to terminate the cooking, as this stops them getting that nasty grey line around the yolk.
Posted by Mrs Redboots on January 13, 2009 12:32 PM

I thought everybody knew about the cold water technique for stopping the grey line! Spread the word, it's the only way to get perfect hard boiled eggs.
Posted by MaW on January 13, 2009 2:18 PM

A question about the boiling - when you put the eggs into the water, it's at a rolling boil. But, do you start timing as soon as the eggs go in, or after the water comes back to a simmer? Do you adjust the heat at all to maintain a simmer, or does it make a difference to let it return to a full boil?
Posted by DDL on January 13, 2009 2:42 PM

Mrs. Redboots - your method is almost exactly like mine and allows you to start cooking immediately, instead of removing the eggs from the fridge early.

I start in cold water, bring to a boil, put the heat on low and cover. Once the heat is on low, I cook them for 11 minutes (I want the yolk just barely solid) and then immediately run cold water over them (our tap water is pretty cold).

This method never fails me and requires no advance planning.
Posted by Kim Price on January 13, 2009 2:45 PM

i am excited--this book is on my wish list for contemplation. now i have an example of what is inside, it will go on the buy-soon list! thanks...........
Posted by jonquil on January 13, 2009 2:46 PM

Mrs Redboots and Kim - This is the method my mother taught me on her gas burners, but I find it doesn't work on my electric stove, which takes a loooong time to heat, then heat the pan, then bring the water to the boil, so 10 minutes is not enough. Starting from the boil, however, means I can heat the water in the kettle, save time, and have reliable results.

Also, if there is no time to let the eggs come to room temp, you can give them a warm bath instead.

DDL - I set the pan over medium-high heat to bring the water to the boil, and start timing as soon as the eggs are in, without changing the heat under the pan or worrying about the boil or no boil.
Posted by clotilde on January 13, 2009 2:55 PM

If you find an egg and want to know if it's raw or hard-boiled, there's a little trick.
Put the egg on the bench and spin it.
Let it spin for a few seconds then tap your fingers on the top of the spinning egg (for less than a second) then quickly take your hand off the egg again.
If the egg is raw it will continue to spin because the insides are still moving even though your hand stopped the shell.
If the egg doesn't spin anymore, it's cooked inside.
Posted by Cassandra on January 13, 2009 3:02 PM

What about the 64 degree egg?
Posted by Simon on January 13, 2009 3:19 PM

I am definitely part of the Hard-boiled Egg Loathing Society, but I'd love to renounce my membership. The 8-minute, soft-centered egg might be the way out!
Posted by Barbra on January 13, 2009 3:42 PM

Another method (suggested by Alton Brown) if you have a suitable electric kettle: put the eggs in the kettle, cover with water, turn on the kettle. When the kettle turns itself off (i.e. is boiling) start a timer for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes put the eggs in ice water and continue as above.

I've made the duck breast in Tanis's book--it's really good.
Posted by Peter on January 13, 2009 4:01 PM

I just got the book last week and read the entire thing in one sitting, right now I'm focused on the winter recipes, but am scanning the spring ideas so I'm ready as soon as it gets warm here in New Mexico. I tried his harrisa oil recipe and am completely smitten. Between the Chocolate and Zucchini cookbook and his, I'm tempted to drop out of college and go to culinary school or just move to Spain, Italy, or France....(no worries I'm a year away from my degree)
Posted by Erin on January 13, 2009 4:03 PM

My mother always wrote the date the egg was boiled on the egg in pencil...

Lately we have had good luck steaming our eggs (according to Alton Brown's directions) - many fewer broken eggs but sadly the perfect timing still depends on the size of the egg and luck.
Posted by Laura on January 13, 2009 4:19 PM