Hard-boiled eggs are a classic, of course. They’re great as a snack on their own, or for deviled eggs, egg salad…you name it.
The problem is, it can be a bit of a pain getting the timing right. And it seems like everywhere you look, someone has a different method for cooking them. Do you start the eggs in cold water, then turn up the boil? Do you boil them hard and then remove them from the heat? Do you give up early and just make scrambled eggs?
Well, we do have an Instant Pot method that’s pretty foolproof. But…what if you don’t have an Instant Pot?
Seriously…why don’t you have an Instant Pot?
Anyway, it has taken some research and a bit of experimentation, but we’ve landed on a pretty consistent method that produces great eggs every time.
The Best Method for Boiling Eggs
Are you ready for this?
Do NOT start your eggs in cold water. It turns out that while this does get a consistent cook, it also causes the proteins in the egg whites to fuse to the shell. That leads to an egg peeling nightmare from which there is no escape.
No. The best method for boiling eggs is to start the water boiling. Add 1 tsp of baking soda; apparently this alkaline causes the whites to separate from the shell instead. THEN carefully add one egg at a time to the pot (we use a pair of tongs), and set the timer to 12 minutes.
That’s it. When the timer goes off, transfer the eggs to an ice bath to stop the cooking, and you’re done.
We’ve been tracking this one for a couple of weeks, and this gets our eggs as close to perfect as we’ve ever seen (outside of the Instant Pot, that is). We use a pot that’s just big enough to fit a dozen eggs — close, but not crammed in there — which reduces rolling and breaking. We fill the pot about halfway up with water.
Now, the splash from the boiling pot does make a bit of a mess on the stove, but it’s just baking soda, which cleans up easily.
Give this one a try, and let us know in the comments how it works out for you!