Easter is the kickoff to the season of deviled eggs here in Texas and the South. And it’s the kickoff to a whole lot of nonsense and myths about the best way to boil eggs so they’re cooked perfectly and easy to peel.
The classic, and most common method, of making hard-boiled eggs is downright cruel. Bring a pot of water to a rolling boil, drop in the eggs and let them rip at full blast for 10 minutes. The results of this brutal approach, without fail, will be rubbery whites and chalky yolks with an unpleasant green rim that happens when hydrogen in the egg white bonds with sulfur in the yolk at high temperatures.
It’s the boiling that creates the problem. Given enough time, eggs will reach an ideal balance of white and yolk doneness at around 160 to 180 degrees. Water at 212 degrees is an aggressive and detrimentally high temperature; it won’t deliver deviled egg divinity.
And, no, adding something to the water won’t help.
Yes, vinegar (or any acid, really) does help coagulate egg whites, but only when they come in direct contact with the egg whites, as when poaching eggs. The shells aren’t permeable enough to make an appreciable difference when hard-boiling.
And, yes, egg whites solidify more quickly in boiling salted water, according to a report from the San Francisco science museum The Exploratorium, but again, only when they come in direct contact with the salty water. The salty water will not permeate the shell.
Some swear by adding baking soda to the water, which celebrated food scientist Harold McGee suggests in his seminal book “On Food and Cooking,” although many who’ve independently tested this have found the results to be a mixed bag, and the baking soda intensifies the sulfuric aroma of eggs.
As for cooking the eggs evenly, a popular method is to start the eggs in a pot of cold water, bring it to a boil, cover the pot, turn off the heat and let them rest for 10 minutes before shocking them in a bath of cold water to stop the cooking. This delivers immeasurably better texture throughout the egg, but the cold start can encourage the whites to fuse with the shells, making the eggs harder to peel — much like proteins in a steak will stick to a skillet that isn’t up to temperature.
So what does work? Few have researched this more extensively than noted food writer J. Kenji López-Alt. His solution is one I’ve subscribed to for several years: a hot start and cooler finish.
Bring a pot of water to a boil. Drop the refrigerator-temperature eggs into the water and let them cook for 30 seconds. This sets the outer part of whites without letting them bond to the shell. Then drop the heat to a very low simmer — the goal is somewhere in the neighborhood of 185 degrees; feel free to use a thermometer to check that — for 11 minutes.
You can also place the eggs in a steamer basket over an inch of boiling water in a covered pot for 13 minutes for similar results.
If that sounds like it takes too much precision, Express-News Food Editor Emily Spicer did extensively test a reliable method of her own that yields well-cooked and easily peeled eggs with minimal hassle.
Gently press a thumbtack all the way into the wide end of the egg. This is easiest if you keep the egg in the crate to maintain stability. Then use the cold water start method — bring the water-covered eggs to a boil, cover, turn off the heat, and leave them alone for 10 minutes before dunking them in cold water to stop the cooking.
One additional note: Freshness matters. Eggs straight from the farm won’t make great boiled eggs as they’ll almost always stick to the shells, regardless of cooking method. If you buy them that way, let the eggs sit in the fridge for at least two weeks before boiling them.
Fortunately, when it comes to grocery store eggs, it’s unlikely you’re buying ones that haven’t already sat on a shelf long enough to loosen the bond between the white and shell.
pstephen@express-news.net | Twitter: @pjbites | Instagram: @pjstephen
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March 23, 2021 at 01:17AM
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The best way to boil eggs so they’re easy to peel: your guide to which methods work and which are myths - San Antonio Express-News
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