What is required?

Hard boiling eggs will only require a few equipment. You need a pan that is large enough to hold the eggs in a single layer and a spatula preferably a wooden one for turning and removing the eggs when ready from the boiling water.

Steps to be followed;

Steps One: Carefully select the eggs to hard boil. Fresh eggs are normally difficult to peel. Refrigerate the eggs for a couple of days or use eggs that are at least 3-5 days old.

Step two: Before starting to hard boil the eggs, let them reach the room temperature. This will help prevent the egg yolks from becoming green after boiling.

Step three: Gently place the eggs in the pan. Remember the pan should be large enough to hold all the eggs in one layer. If you accidentally crack the eggs when placing them in the pan, add salt or vinegar to the water to make the proteins in the egg white coagulate faster and plug the cracks. Put enough water to cover the eggs at least up to one inch (3cm) above. Carefully adjust the eggs using the spatula so that there will be little movement from the eggs when cooking to avoid more cracks. Using cold water helps prevent the eggs from overcooking even though it increases cooking time.

Step four: Add enough salt until the water becomes tasty. Adding salt to the cooking eggs will make peeling easier since the proteins coagulate and firm up, making the egg white easier to separate from the shell. If the eggs you are using are fresh, to avoid difficult in peeling, add baking soda to make the cooking water more alkaline.

Step five: Start boiling the water and cover the pan before the water starts to boil. As soon as the water starts to boil, turn off the heat but do not uncover the pan at least for 15 minutes. Remember if the eggs are cooked for longer period they will become discolored and smelly, while too little cooking will result to runny eggs.

Step six: Remove the eggs from the hot water. Cool them by placing them either in refrigerator or in a bowl of ice water or running cold water. Leave them for at least 10-15 minutes to be completely cool.

Step seven: Peel the eggs only when they are cold enough to handle. To peel the eggs, crack the egg sides, roll the egg in your palms to loosen the shell then carefully remove it.

Important tips

• Do not boil cracked eggs since they could contain bacteria or have other forms of contaminations. Though some procedures require one to make a shallow hole using a pin on the flatter side of the egg before boiling to allow the expanding air escape, this procedure can result to one inoculating microorganisms into the egg. Do not make the shallow hole unless you are working in aseptic area.

• An easy way of cracking the eggs is by placing them back to the cooking pan after cooling, covering then swirling and shaking the pan.

• To show that the eggs are hard cooked, after cooling them spin it on a hard surface. If it spins quickly without having to fly off in one direction the egg is hard cooked. Undercooked eggs usually have an unsteady, unstable spin and spiral off to one side.

• Refrigerated eggs are more prone to cracking but will be easy to peel since they have a higher pH. If the eggs you are using are fresh and you do not want to add baking soda to avoid them tasting more sulfuric, refrigerate them after boiling and leave them there for a considerable time for the egg white to form.

• To test how old the eggs are, do simple water tests. Place the eggs in a bowl of water, if the egg lies on its sides it’s very fresh. Older eggs stand with one end since the air pocket in the egg grows, buoying the egg up. However if the egg floats to the top of the water do not cook it, it’s spoiled.

• Carefully monitor the cooking time. Overcooking the eggs will cause green layer around the yolk as a result of reaction between the sulfur in the egg white and the iron in the egg yolk. Heating speeds up this reaction, hence the longer the egg is boiled, the greater the chances of being discolored.