Hard boiled organic eggs are a great, easy, nutritious snack in our household. For the longest time I couldn’t get them to be “perfect” — and it drove me crazy when the shells did not peel off easily. I finally found a great technique that works for me.
1. Place your eggs in the bottom of a pot and cover with cold water (enough to cover them with another inch of water above them). Be sure that you don’t overcrowd the eggs — in other words, make sure that they can all “lay” down on the bottom of the pot.
2. Cover the pot with its lid, place it on the burner with the high heat.
3. Bring the water to a hard boil (this usually 10 minutes for my stove & pot — from cold to boiling).
4. Remove pot from heat and set the timer for 12 minutes.
5. After 12 minutes, drain the hot water and run cold water over the eggs in the pot for 1 – 2 minutes. You could also add ice to the pot to help cool the eggs down even faster.
6. Don’t drain the water yet. Take each egg and crack its shell against the counter then return the egg to the cold water. This will allow some water to seep in between the shell and the egg which will make it easier to peel.
7. After all the eggs are cracked and returned to the cold water. Proceed to peel the shells off of each egg.
8. Enjoy your hard boiled eggs!
PS If you have your own laying hens, like we do, be sure to let your eggs “age” for a week or so. Older eggs work better than fresh from the chicken eggs.
PPS If you would like soft boiled eggs, just reduce the time from 12 minutes to 8 minutes.
