In this week’s Scramble I wrote about my inability to make decent hard-boiled eggs and the fun that my daughter Celia and I had making Disheveled (Deviled) Eggs. This recipe calls for putting the eggs in a saucepan with cold water, then briging the water to a boil for 12 minutes, then removing the eggs and cooling them in ice water before removing the shells. Well, we tried that and they didn’t peel easily for us.
My mother in law, Barbara Goldfarb, suggests bringing the water to a boil, then adding the eggs and cooking them at a low boil for 15 minutes, then removing the eggs, running them under cold water or cooling them in the refrigerator before peeling them. This method did allow the eggs to peel more easily but the yolks were kind of grayish.
Do you have another method Celia and I should try? If so please add it to the comments below.
Meanwhile, here’s our Deviled Eggs recipe, adapted from a recipe Celia received from Just Cakes cooking camp in Bethesda, Maryland.
12 eggs
4 Tbsp. reduced fat mayonnaise
2 tsp. yellow mustard
2 tsp. sweet relilsh
salt and pepper to taste
paprika for dusting
Remove the shells from the hard boiled eggs and slice the eggs in half lengthwise. Remove the yolks and put them in a bowl. Place the whites on a separate plate. Add the mayonnaise, mustard, relish, salt and pepper to the yolks and mash them together with a fork until they are creamy and smooth. Place the yolk mixture back into the eggs (fill the holes comppletely). Dust the tops with paprika. Refrigerate until you are ready to serve.
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Hi Aviva — Here are my tips:
Old eggs are easier to peel! Use your older ones (at least a few days) for deviled eggs or any kind of egg you need to peel.
To avoid that green-gray tint, pour out the hot water and start adding cold water right away — I just take the pot to the sink and add cold water while I slowly pour out the hot water. In warmer months when the “cold” water isn’t so cold, add some ice to the pot. This stops the cooking process, and it also helps keep the egg shrinking away from the shell and making it easier to eat.
To slice the eggs cleanly, be sure to dip the knife in cold water between eggs (so all the yolk washes off and gives you a clean slice).
We try a couple different “flavors” of deviled eggs — the easiest 2 are to mix up the yolk with enough mayo for a nice texture, and to part of the batch add some sweet relish, and to the other part sprinkle a bit of Lawry’s salt (a nice paprika-based seasoning). Not too much — it’s salty! Old Bay would probably also be good. We don’t do a lot beyond this. These are also fun to decorate for the kids…
Kate Sullivan Hare
WDC
I’ve heard that OLD eggs peel easier than fresh ones. I haven’t experimented with that myself, but worth a try? (Also a good way to use up old eggs!) Also, I’m sure you could Google the problem and come up with lots of suggestions. Good luck! Molly
Hi Aviva.
My mom makes egg salad once a year — at Thanksgiving! I cannot explain it, but we have it as a cold hors d’oeurve in the living room with other things as a start to the ritual over-eating. It’s the only time I eat the stuff because it’s the only egg salad I like. Anyway, her method for hard-boiling the eggs is to let them sit on the counter for a while until they are no longer cold, place them in the pot, then fill with cold water so the eggs are just covered. She then heats up the water to a boil in the uncovered pot and cooks them for 20 minutes after the water boils. When they’re done, we fish them out with a slotted spoon and run them under cool water.
The process is stinky, but it works.
Good luck!
Andrea
Hi Aviva,
You already got some great advice. Older eggs (4-5 days in your fridge at least) ARE easier to peel. Fresh eggs straight from a farm are almost impossible to peel well. The reason is that as the egg ages a little, that thin membrane around the egg begins to pull away.
If you don’t want to wait, Julia Child has a method for boiling fresh eggs in “The Way to Cook” where you transfer boiled eggs to ice water, back to boiling water, and back to ice water. The shock of contraction and expansion makes even fresh eggs easy to peel.
Overcooking is what makes the gray/green ring on the yolk. Perfectly cooked eggs will be bright yellow throughout. I have a pot I “know” so I time the boiling of my eggs. But a good rule of thumb is this: place the eggs in the pot in cold water, bring the eggs to a boil, then shut off the heat, cover the pot, and take the pot off the burner. Let the pot sit covered for 15 minutes and the eggs should be boiled correctly.
Best,
Deana Gunn
http://www.cookingwithtraderjoes.com
Place eggs in pot. Fill with cold water. Cover pan. Bring to a boil (at medium heat). Boil for only a couple of minutes, then turn off heat. Leave in pot for 10 minutes.
Then dump hot water and run eggs under very cold water until they are no longer warm. I usually fill the pot with cold water repeatedly.
When you are ready to peel them, hit egg on bottom of the ellipsoid (skinny point up). There is usually a pocket of air there and it allows the egg to peel easier.
Hope you get your perfect hard boiled eggs. My kdis also love Deviled Eggs.
Ilana
Yes, fresh eggs do not peel easily. My parents raise a few dozen hens and I learned that from them.
I put the eggs in cold water, turn on the heat, when they come to a boil turn off the heat, cover, and set the timer for 10 minutes. If I want to eat them right away I put them in cold water to cool, if not I just drain. Either way, I don’t get the discoloration.
The easiest method I have found is to put eggs in cold water and cook on high heat for 22 minutes. No waiting for the water to boil, so it is very simple. After they are cooked I put them in ice water until they cool. We usually have no problems peeling, although the yolks are a bit greenish. We don’t mind that and my 4 year old loves her “Doubled Eggs.”
This always works for me. Use old eggs - a week or so. Bring cold water and eggs to a high boil. Turn off heat. Cover and let sit for 15-20 minutes. Take pot to sink and fill with cold water until all water in pot is cold. Peeling is easy, especially under cold water. And the yolks are always a pretty yellow - no green edges.
I learned this way to make hard boiled eggs from a cooking show several years ago. Place the desired number of eggs in a pot and cover with cold water to one inch above the eggs. Bring to a rolling boil. Once the water boils, turn off the flame and cover the pot. Let the eggs stand in the hot water (pot covered) for 13-15 minutes, depending on the size of the egg (extra large eggs take a little longer than large). Once time is up, immediately pour out the hot water and run the eggs under cold water several times to stop the cooking. Alternatively, you can place the cooked eggs in an ice bath to stop the cooking and speed up the cooling. Eggs cooked this way don’t get the gray yolk or the green ring around the yolk, and always peel easily. Happy cooking!
My suggested method is not new to the blog, but rather a consensus statement.
Old eggs, cold water just above the eggs in the pot, bring to a boil, cover, turn off the heat and let sit 10 - 15 minutes. This gives you a no gray/green, easy to peel egg.
Okay, here is a scientific basis for how and why to hard boil an egg. May be more than you wanted to know about hardboiling eggs, but it’s pretty interesting! http://www.exploratorium.edu/cooking/eggs/explore-text.html
The method I use is similar to most of the above, with one exception:
1. Place 1-week old eggs in cold water in pan, to cover completely.
2. Add 1 or 2 Tbs white vinegar. This helps prevent cracking and might help with peeling. (FYI, brown, green or blue egg shells might become discolored by the vinegar.)
3. Bring to boil; remove from heat immediately.
4. For hard-boiled eggs, allow to sit in pan for 15 minutes exactly. (For medium-to-soft, 7 minutes.)
5. Plunge in cold water to prevent greening. Replace water once or twice as it warms up.
p.s. I have never made a pretty deviled egg, either. I love your title, “Disheveled”. Thats the ticket!
Hi Aviva,
Just wanted to let you know that if you add eggs to cold water in a pot and put on your stove, bring to a boil and boil for 10 minutes, you will always have perfectly boiled eggs. Also, when making deviled eggs, put all ingredients in a ziploc bag, mash togehter, then cut a corner and squeeze mixture back into halves for the perfect deviled eggs with limited mess.
hope that helps
Rachele Bennett
http://www.wineatfive.net