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How To Make The Perfect Hard-Boiled Eggs

Devilled eggs, eggs on toast, breakfast salads — some of our favourite recipes rely on the humble hard-boiled egg. That’s why we’re here to help you perfect your technique! Hard-boiled eggs should have firm whites with fully cooked yolks and never rubbery whites with dry yolks. They should never be crumbly or have the dreaded grey-green ring around the yolk. No, no, no! Don’t panic, though. Follow our top tips for perfect hard-boiled eggs every time.

Top tips:

  • Always make sure your eggs are at room temperature, as they’ll be less likely to crack when brought to the boil.
  • Don’t just drop the eggs into the water as they’re more likely to crack! Instead, slowly lower the eggs into the water using a spoon.
  • Once the eggs are boiled, always quickly place them in a small bowl of ice-cold water. This will prevent the eggs from overcooking and stop an unwanted grey-green ring from forming around the yolk — something that’s caused by the sulfur in the yolk mingling with the hydrogen in the egg white!
  • To peel your eggs, tap the shells at the side of a bowl. Follow this by gently rolling the eggs between your hands to loosen the shells. You can also dip the eggs into a bowl of water or hold them under cold running water to help remove the shell.

  • Preparation time:
    5
    min(s)
  • Cooking time:
    12
    min(s)
  • Servings:
    1

What you'll need

  • 3 medium eggs, room temperature
  • salt and pepper, to flavour

How to make

  1. Bring a large pan of water to the boil. Lower the eggs into the pan in a single layer. Don’t pile them on top of each other as the shells may crack when they come to the boil!
  2. Turn down to a simmer and cook for around 10 minutes to achieve a classic hard-boiled egg. Add an extra 30 seconds if your eggs are fridge cold!
  3. Alternatively, you can cook your eggs from cold and leave them to rest. This is a great way to make sure the shells don’t crack when boiling! To do this, lower your eggs into the pan in a single layer and cover them with around two inches of room temperature water. Bring the water to boil. The moment the water begins to boil, cover the pan with a lid and cook for 30 seconds. Then remove from the heat and leave for 10-12 minutes.
  4. Whether you’ve chosen to cook your eggs with continuous boiling or from cold and left to rest, the next step is to scoop the eggs out of the pan with a large spoon and pop them into a small bowl of ice-cold water to prevent them from cooking further!
  5. When the eggs are cool enough to handle, peel them by gently cracking the shells on the side of the bowl (or another hard surface), peeling and rinsing off any chips of shell.
  6. Place the eggs on a plate, slice through the middle and season with salt and pepper. Perfect!

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