"Oh my gosh!!! That's amazing!", he exclaimed.
"What?", I asked.
"There. On the counter."
"Where?", I replied, looking worriedly around the kitchen.
"There. I've never seen anything like that before," he said excitedly.
"Do you mean the egg?"
"Yes! How did you do that?"
"Do what? It's just a hard boiled egg," I replied.
"No, it's not! Where'd you get it?"
"What are you talking about?"
"That egg. It's amazing! I've never seen one without gray around the yolk."
I am not making this up. This was a true conversation that I had with a friend in my kitchen. He went home and told his wife about the amazing hard boiled egg; after asking for a lesson on "how to do that".
Here's what I taught him (minus the photos, of course):
The greenish-gray color around the yolk of hard boiled eggs comes from over-cooking. Iron in the yolk reacts with hydrogen sulfide in the white and causes a chemical reaction around the yolk. You can avoid this by NOT over-cooking your eggs.
Put 1 layer only of eggs in the bottom of a pan that has a lid. Cover them with 1-2 inches of cold water and bring them to a boil over high heat. As soon as the water boils, take them off the heat and cover the pan with a lid. 
Let the eggs sit in the covered pan of hot water for 12-18 minutes, depending on the size of the egg (measured by weight for commercially purchased eggs). 12 minutes for small eggs; 15 minutes for large eggs; and 18 minutes for extra-large eggs.When the time is up, pour the hot water from the pan and immediately run cold water over the eggs to stop the cooking action. Do this several times until the pan and eggs are cool. I let my eggs sit for another 10 minutes in the cold water and then refrigerate them.
Here's to NO MORE GRAY EGG YOLKS! Cook yours using this method and your eggs will be amazing too.
This is linked to Two for Tuesdays. Check out what the other members are cooking and posting about this week.
Hooray! I never have hard boiled eggs that look like this...didn't even know it was possible! I've tried Martha Stewart's technique with no improvement:( Thanks for the tutorial...it sounds simple with picture perfect results! Hopefully they will peel easily too:)
ReplyDeleteHi Sue,
ReplyDeleteI don't think this method makes peeling any easier. I really think that totally depends on the freshness of your eggs. Sadly, older eggs do peel easier. I've tried the methods where you plunge the eggs into cold water halfway through and then continue in hot water but they have never made a difference to me. Really it's simply the age of the egg.
Eggs, eggs, eggs! I taught a class one time at Thanksgiving Point where I had to get this thing perfect, including the peeling and you know, sometimes it just doesn't work- sometimes it does. I do agree with you Bonnie, the older the eggs peel easier. We took some eggs right off the farm, boiled them and they were impossible to peel.
ReplyDeleteYour yolks should be in a magazine, just perfect! Wonderful post.
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ReplyDeleteI hate greened yolks..they make me want to gag! I've always done this the same way, only I let them sit no longer than 11 minutes (for large eggs)!!! I'm not taking any chances! Thanks for sharing this great info w/ Two for Tuesdays this week!
ReplyDeleteBon bon! This is so simple but such a great step especially if you are trying to get kids to eat the eggs! Mine will NOT eat anything that has a grey bit in the yolk! Thanks for reminding me of this easy fix and for sharing this on the two for tuesday recipe blog hop! :) Alex@amoderatelife
ReplyDeleteI think that green grainy yolks were one of the main reasons that I hated hard boiled eggs as a kid. They can be so delightful when properly cooked. I'd like to add that the cooking time varies quite a bit by altitude.
ReplyDeleteChristy, I don't think the time varies so much by altitude, because you don't start timing until after your water boils. But it does vary by how soft or hard you want your yolk to be. If you like the yolk on the softer side let the eggs sit in the water a little shorter time. If you like the yolk cooked a bit more, leave them in the hot water a little longer. The white will always cook the fastest so it really is a matter of yolk preference.
ReplyDeleteAh, the perfect boiled egg, up until now a secret! Thank you for sharing this with Two for Tuesdays! (I have to save eggs back so they get older -so they will peel!)
ReplyDelete