Hard boiling eggs

Puggles

Puggles

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I have done hard boiled eggs a ton, and even soft boiled eggs (around like 10 or so minutes) but I have never had any luck with "6 minute" eggs. I have seen and heard of them in a lot of recipes (mostly ramen and Pho) but mine have always been to underdone. 6 minutes seems to not be long enough. I have tried the typical stove top method and the Instapot method, I have had eggcellent (🤦‍♂️) success when doing hard boiled eggs, but never when it's a "6 minute" egg.
 
Oh, this might be the most discussed topic on CB! :wink:

Hard-boiled eggs, no issue, as there’s a bit of range in the cooking time. As long as you’re not super-picky about it, anywhere from 10-13 minutes will get me a hard-boiled egg with none of the overcooked greenish yolk. The eggs I cooked tonight for our salad were 11minutes.

Soft-boiled, another story entirely. I think I’ve made a “perfect” (by my standards) soft-boiled egg exactly once, and it was done using a particular method and at six minutes exactly, and I’ve never been able to recreate it. I suppose on that day, I had the right-sized egg with exactly the right-thickness of shell, in a room that was the perfect ambient temperature, and all things came together.

My last softie, I did for six minutes, just the tiniest bit of cooked yolk in it, but I don’t want any cooked yolk, so when I make the next ones, it’ll be 5:45 for the cooking time. I’ll likely get the yolk I want, but the white will be too soft. I want a firmly-cooked white and a fully-liquid yolk.

That’s the best I can recommend - use the same brand/size eggs, always be consistent with taking them straight from the fridge or set out for however long you like (I don’t like to let mine sit out), use the same pan, same amount of water, same burner set the same, and then start adjusting the time in 15-second intervals, and watch it like a hawk.
 
The only tip/trick I can give to people is adding vinegar to the water does nothing, however adding eggs to already boiling water then killing the heat and setting your timer makes For SUBSTANTIALLY easier to peel eggs.
 
It's also going to vary depending on whether or not you have gas or electric on your cooking times, and the flame is harder to keep consisent with gas in my experience. My hubby likes "jammy" eggs these days, more of a jelly-like medium yolk. I prefer hard boiled, whch he calls "chalky" and if they end up like that I usually make egg salad or something because he doesn't like them. It's a lot harder to peel the damned egg when the yolk is softer or even runny as the whites tend to really stick to the membrane. I will probably never be able to make a Scotch egg for this very reason. But runny eggs he calls gushers and he doesn't like those much either. Sigh.
 
Also, another trick. Do NOT use fresh eggs if you can help it. Eggs have a pretty long shelf life 3-4 weeks. If you use eggs about a week before they are going to start declining, even better. An egg is at its strongest when they are fresher. There is a very thin membrane between the egg shell and the whites and the yolk. The older the egg is, the weaker that membrane becomes, which in turn makes the shells easier to peel. So if you use older eggs and put them in boiling water (not a cold start), when they are finished and cooled down, you will have SUBSTANTIALLY easier to peel eggs.

Pay it forward.
 
Puggles said:
Also, another trick. Do NOT use fresh eggs if you can help it. Eggs have a pretty long shelf life 3-4 weeks. If you use eggs about a week before they are going to start declining, even better. An egg is at its strongest when they are fresher. There is a very thin membrane between the egg shell and the whites and the yolk. The older the egg is, the weaker that membrane becomes, which in turn makes the shells easier to peel. So if you use older eggs and put them in boiling water (not a cold start), when they are finished and cooled down, you will have SUBSTANTIALLY easier to peel eggs.

Pay it forward.
Click to expand...
Yeah, my MIL the other day told us that older eggs are harder to peel. Knowing that she has never boiled a soft/medium egg (I am reasonably sure), I didn't bother correcting her. Actually I don't think she boils eggs very often anymore. But not worth correcting her and upsetting her (she is getting close to 80 and gets a bit confused these days). Not saying that everyone in their late 70s is confused, I know there are plenty of older people who have sharp minds!
 
I generally use the same method every time. Start with the eggs in tepid water and bring to the boil. Boil vigorously for 60 seconds. Remove the pan from the heat, cover and stand for 2¼ minutes (small eggs) to 2½ minutes (large eggs). Empty out the hot water and rinse with cold water to kill the cooking process.

Boiled egg 3 s.jpg

Boiled egg 3 s.jpg

 
Yorky said:
I generally use the same method every time. Start with the eggs in tepid water and bring to the boil. Boil vigorously for 60 seconds. Remove the pan from the heat, cover and stand for 2¼ minutes (small eggs) to 2½ minutes (large eggs). Empty out the hot water and rinse with cold water to kill the cooking process.

Boiled egg 3 s.jpg

Boiled egg 3 s.jpg

Click to expand...
That's the egg I'm looking for!
 
TastyReuben said:
That's the egg I'm looking for!
Click to expand...
For my ramen, I need like, maybe 1 more minute, I like the yolks when they just become set. Also, It's hard for me to shock stuff because I don't have ice. My fridge doesn't have an ice thing and I don't want to bother with trays and filling them up all the time and my freezer already has too much stuff in it as is.
 
Puggles said:
For my ramen, I need like, maybe 1 more minute, I like the yolks when they just become set. Also, It's hard for me to shock stuff because I don't have ice. My fridge doesn't have an ice thing and I don't want to bother with trays and filling them up all the time and my freezer already has too much stuff in it as is.
Click to expand...

Ice water is probably ideal but I don't use ice, just tap water (which is usually somewhat tepid here).
 
Puggles said:
Also, another trick. Do NOT use fresh eggs if you can help it. Eggs have a pretty long shelf life 3-4 weeks. If you use eggs about a week before they are going to start declining, even better. An egg is at its strongest when they are fresher. There is a very thin membrane between the egg shell and the whites and the yolk. The older the egg is, the weaker that membrane becomes, which in turn makes the shells easier to peel. So if you use older eggs and put them in boiling water (not a cold start), when they are finished and cooled down, you will have SUBSTANTIALLY easier to peel eggs.

Pay it forward.
Click to expand...
As an egg ages, air passes through the porous shell and the size of the air sac inside increases. Water content also decreases. It is this process that makes an egg easier to shell because it pulls the membrane away from the shell.

Fresh eggs are a nightmare to peel/shell. I have my own flock of chickens.

Some breeds of chicken and some individuals lay eggs that are impossible to peel, some chooks may eggs with thinner shells, higher water content and so on. All if these factors count when it comes to cooking an egg. I have chooks whose eggs I know I can not peel, period. I don't use those eggs for hard or soft boiling even if I steam the eggs rather than boiling them.

Shelf life, well I can tell you that it is much longer than 3-4 weeks. I've kept eggs for 2 or more months and used them without issue. And going by their insides and the size of the air sac and toughness of the membrane, I could have left them another couple of weeks before using them.
 
SatNavSaysStraightOn said:
Fresh eggs are a nightmare to peel/shell. I have my own flock of chickens.
Click to expand...

Not now I have bought an egg cooker. Even the shells of The Black Farmer eggs which are notorious for being impossible to shell (there are customer comments about that on the Ocado website) literally fall off.
 
Yorky said:
I generally use the same method every time. Start with the eggs in tepid water and bring to the boil. Boil vigorously for 60 seconds. Remove the pan from the heat, cover and stand for 2¼ minutes (small eggs) to 2½ minutes (large eggs). Empty out the hot water and rinse with cold water to kill the cooking process.

Boiled egg 3 s.jpg

Boiled egg 3 s.jpg

Click to expand...
Yorky - do you take your eggs straight from the fridge and into the water, or do you let them sit out at all?

Also, how long do you rinse them for?

As you can guess, I’m gearing up to try this.
 
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