At Last--The "Truth" About Hard Boiled Eggs

[Willy]

From the master hisself, Kenji: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/23/d...gtype=Homepage

[Spinaker]

Never cared for them the first place. Not gonna lie, this did little to change my opinion. It is more of a texture thing for me, the yolks are so gross to me when they are all hard and grainy.

[Willy]

Spin—I don’t think Kenji’s purpose was to defend hard boiled eggs, but rather to tell how to cook them more reliably.

[Spinaker]

I hear ya. I guess my point was that even with this, I would probably still pass on the HB Eggs! Willy

[Waiting for the Worms]

If the yolks are grainy, you shot past "done" by a fair bit. But if you don't like 'em hardboiled, it won't matter how well their cooked.

[ofelles]

Can't read it. NY times wants me to subscribe which isn't happening.

[Steve B]

Same here

[holehogg]

And I was thinking it was they don't like South Africans 😟

[DogFaced PonySoldier]

I love how they say on their popup, "Support independent journalism with a subscription."

Seriously? In order to support independent journalists, you should pay a monthly fee to a megacorp rag like NYT that skews the narrative and tramples the little guy daily??? HAHAHAHA! What a joke! lol

[Troutman]

I had a free subscription to the NYT and liked what they had to offer. Then they hit me up with the fees, presumably they decided I'd had enough of the freebie. With all the free cooking and recipe content on the web, I said no thanks. Regardless, they continue to bombard my email despite my blocking them.

Sure wish I knew what the article said, so I have no comment.

[Willy]

So...should the NYT offer stuff that costs them money to people who don't care to pay? Are you resentful that Meathead charges for access to the pit? Are you a fan of the "free market"?

BTW, if you want to stop receiving things from most any source, find the "unsubscribe" (or similar) link (usually not easy to find) at the bottom of the e-mail. Use it."Blocking" (your e-mail provider's responsibility) is different from "unsubscribing" (the e-mail source's responsibility).

[Murdy]

I wish there were a way to get them to stop coming up in searches if you can't access their content. I find myself inadvertently clicking on a NYT search result fairly frequently, only to have to back out.

[Meathead]

I have included a free link below.

[Dan Deter]

Well, I'm glad I haven't used up my free viewings because that was actually very interesting to read.

[ScottyC13]

Was Cool Hand Luke involved in the testing? Interesting article. I will try steaming.

[Bkhuna]

I have tremendous respect for Kenji, but, he's not always right. He has occasionally gone back and modified his techniques/opinions on a range of topics.

I use an Instant Pot and use a the temperature/time charts posted by https://www.pressurecookrecipes.com/...d-boiled-eggs/ It works well for me.

[crazytown3]

I follow the same method with my IP. When Kenji states that he does not recommend the IP method, my take away was that it was a time issue, not a method issue. The IP steams the eggs like he recommends, but just takes longer than steaming on the stovetop.

[IowaGirl]

Some excerpts to give y'all the gist --

"..."I have bad news: There is no way to guarantee eggs that peel 100 percent of the time. But if 87 percent or higher is a number you can work with, let’s crack on.

"...By far the most important factor in determining whether a boiled egg will peel cleanly or not is the temperature at which it starts cooking.... eggs [that were added to cold water] show nearly nine times more large flaws and double the number of small flaws [than eggs started in hot water].

"...steamed eggs were more tender than their boiled counterparts.

"...age doesn’t make much of a difference...

"Immediately dunking your cooked eggs in an ice bath ... makes them a little more difficult to peel. This result surprised me...

"...An ice bath also did not help reduce the incidence of the sulfurous green patina around overcooked egg yolks..."

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/23/d...boil-eggs.html

[JoeSousa]

Always nice when the "right" or "best" way to do stuff like this isn't any more work than the "wrong" way. Guess I will have to steam my eggs next time I need to make up some deviled eggs.

[texastweeter]

if doing large batches, I always use the oven. 350° for 30 minutes. 4 minutes under cold running water, then into the fridge.

[fzxdoc]

I heart my Instant Pot hard boiled eggs. No sulphurous edges if I peel them right away, and the shells come off much of the time in two pieces, which always amazes me.

Kathryn

[Bkhuna]

Yup!

Do have a look at https://www.pressurecookrecipes.com/ Seriously good Asian food.

[HouseHomey]

Hmmmm... two pieces

[crazytown3]

I think IP hard boiled eggs are brilliant. Kenji seems to think it's okay too, just takes more time than stovetop steaming. I'm okay with that.

[klflowers]

+whatever on the instant pot. Tried it and never went back to boiling.

[JimLinebarger]

Here is an article Kenji did on Serious Eats Food Lab with a recipe for hard boiled, soft boiled, and steam boiled.Also sous vide.

[Polarbear777]

Yeah. Same info I’ve read before. I make them all the time according to his times and they are fantastic.

[Meathead]

I have also done a number of tests, not so carefully or as extensive as Kenji, just a dozen eggs at a time, only one taster, not blind. I agree that the addition of baking soda and vinegar do no good. I agree that there is no diff between fresh and older eggs in peelability and taste. I agree that starting with hot water is slightly better. I agree that steaming is slightly better. I have ALWAYS cooled the eggs in cold running water for 5 minutes. I have never questioned that practice. Now I will.

[HouseHomey]

I recently went to tap water and peeling almost immediately. There is a real difference for me and I have the least skill there. I’m more of a blunt instrument so others a peeling now. I concur on the rest.

[Dick Anderson]

So steam them how long? The critical point in the article, and i got blocked.

[Waiting for the Worms]

14 minutes is my mark for steaming hard cooked. My missus thinks 16 is perfect.
She isn't a member here, so I can let you in on a secret.... She over cooks her eggs by about 2 min. Just don't tell her I said so.

[HouseHomey]

He says 11 minutes