How to Hard Boil Eggs

A simple tutorial on how to hard boil eggs. 

To many I'm sure this tutorial is something you already know.  However, for those, like me, who do not boil eggs often this is good stuff to know.  I don't hard boil eggs very often and I always have to look in my 'Better Homes' cookbook to remind me how to do it right.  One day recently a friend even texted me asking how to hard boil an egg so that sealed the deal and I decided to make this tutorial.  If you boil the eggs too long the yolks turn an unattractive grey color, they still taste the same but just don't look as great so with that in mind here is my tutorial.

Place eggs in a single layer in a sauce pan or pot.  Fill the pan with cold water until the eggs are covered.

Add a little salt, thought to make the eggs easier to peel, and vinegar to help keep the egg whites from leaking if there are any cracks (some people think this affects the taste, I usually only add the salt but both are optional).  Bring the water to a boil and immediately remove from heat and cover.

Let eggs sit, covered, for 15 minutes (it may take a little longer if you are boiling a lot of eggs).  Drain and rinse in cold water until cool enough to touch.

Peel and eat, chop, or slice.  You can also refrigerate, unpeeled, until ready to use.

**New tip (6/25/15):  For easier to peel eggs start the water boiling first.  Add cold eggs to the boiling water and boil for about 12 minutes.  Place the hot eggs into an ice water bath to quickly cool them and stop the cooking.  When cold crack all over and remove peel under running water.

Did you forget to mark your boiled eggs before putting them in the refrigerator?  Having a hard time telling the difference between the boiled eggs and the raw?

Try spinning the eggs.  The hard boiled eggs will spin faster than the raw (and the raw have a difficult time spinning).

Shine a flashlight through the egg.  If the light shows through it is raw, the light will not pass through a hard boiled egg.

Gently shake the eggs, you can feel the raw egg insides slosh.

Mark the boiled eggs with a pencil or marker.