How To Hard Boil Eggs – I will tell you all the tips and tricks to do it! When learning how to make hard boiled eggs, there are a few simple guidelines to follow so that you get perfect eggs every time. Come Easter, you’ll be a pro!

Hard Boil Eggs

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HOW TO HARD BOIL EGGS

If a friend happens to stop by my house unexpectedly, 90% of the time I start of with the sentence, “Come on in! Sorry, it might smell a little funny because we just cooked eggs.”
We eat a LOT of eggs in our house. Scrambled, poached, boiled,…you name it.
My current favorite lunch is an egg white omelet. My husband is always boiling eggs to have hard boiled eggs on hand for healthy muscle building protein snacks.
Right now we have over three dozen eggs in our fridge and that’s after I came out of the shower yesterday to find my 20-month old egg washing our leather couches and wood floors with a dozen. So I guess you could say we are pros at hard boiling eggs now.

My husband asked, “So you can really do a whole post on boiling eggs?”

Uh, yeah.
I reminded him that very year around Easter we end up googling the best way to make the perfect hard boiled egg. Over time we learned the foolproof method to the perfect boiled egg every single time.
Hard Boil Eggs

Here’s the easy way to get a just every so slightly soft yolk with firm whites.

HOW TO MAKE HARD BOILED EGGS

1) Start off with placing your raw eggs in a pot in a single layer and covering them with cold water about about an inch of water above the eggs. Just enough water to cover.
eggs covered with water
2) Turn the heat up to medium high and once water boils add some salt to the pot.
3) Bring water to a full boil. If your heat is too high, you will get some violent boiling and end up with egg casualties.

5) Once you have boiling water, place the lid on and turn off the heat.

eggs in rolling boil

6) Let eggs sit for 12-13 minutes making sure to not open the lid or all of the heat will escape. Make sure not to start your timer until right when you turn off the heat.

7) When the time is up remove eggs from pot with a slotted spoon and rinse in cool water or place eggs in a bowl of ice water to stop the eggs from continuing to cook. If they sit in hot water they will continue to cook and you don’t want that.

8) Store your cold eggs in the fridge. Label your eggs so that your family knows which ones are hard boiled and which ones are not. OR you can use my husband’s trick of spinning the egg really hard on a flat surface. If the egg is hard boiled it will spin standing up like this one below and if it’s not hard boiled it will spin horizontally.

HOW LONG TO HARD BOIL EGGS?

12-13 minutes. The size of the eggs will determine if you need longer but this time is for large whole eggs.

HOW TO PEEL HARD BOILED EGGS?

Tips for easy peeling eggs:

  • Use eggs that are not fresh. Over time we have learned that the fresher the egg the harder it is to peel. If you can, don’t make your hard boiled eggs the same day you buy them. You would think that fresh eggs are better, but that’s not actually the case. Older eggs make the peeling process easier. Eggs that are a week old work best but of course make sure they are not past the expiration date.
  • Run them under water when peeling. If you are using the hard boiled eggs right away, it also is easier to peel eggs under cold running water right after they have boiled.
  • Add 1/2 tsp salt to the water. Adding a little bit of salt to the water may help make the eggs easier to peel.
  • Add vinegar. Add a little vinegar to the water which makes the shell softer and easier to peel.
  • Roll them on the counter. After you boil the eggs and you’ve cooled them, roll them on the counter and the egg shell will fall off.

rolled eggshell

HOW LONG ARE HARD BOILED EGGS GOOD FOR?

Refrigerate hard boiled eggs in their shell in the fridge for up to one week.

hard boiled egg

RECIPES TO USE HARD BOILED EGGS IN

Hard Boil Eggs

How To Hard Boil Eggs

4.72 from 14 votes
How To Hard Boil Eggs - I will tell you all the tips and tricks to do it! When learning how to make hard boiled eggs, there are a few simple guidelines to follow so that you get perfectly cooked eggs every time.
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 13 minutes
Total Time: 18 minutes
Servings: 12

Ingredients

Instructions
 

  • Start off with placing your eggs in a pot in a single layer and covering them with cold water about an inch above the eggs.
  • Turn the heat up to medium high and once water starts to bubble add some salt to the pot.
  • Bring water to a rolling boil. If your heat is too high, you will get some violent boiling and end up with egg casualties.
  • Once water comes to a rolling boil, place the lid on and turn off the heat.
  • Let eggs sit for 12-13 minutes making sure to not open the lid or all of the heat will escape. Make sure not to start your timer until right when you turn off the heat.
  • When the time is up remove eggs from pot and rinse in cold water or place in an ice bath to stop the eggs from continuing to cook.
  • Label your eggs so that your family knows which ones are hard boiled and which ones are not. OR you can use my husband's trick of spinning the egg really hard on a flat surface. If the egg is hard boiled it will spin standing up like this one below and if it's not hard boiled it will spin horizontally

Notes

HOW TO PEEL HARD BOILED EGGS?

Tips for easy peeling eggs:
Use eggs that are not fresh. Over time we have learned that the fresher the egg the harder it is to peel. If you can, don't make your hard boiled eggs the same day you buy them. You would think that the fresher the egg the better, but that's not actually the case. Eggs that are a week old work best but of course make sure they are not past the expiration date.
Run them under water when peeling. If you are using the hard boiled eggs right away, it also is easier to peel them under cold running water right after they have boiled.
Add 1/2 tsp salt to the water. Adding salt to the water may help make the eggs easier to peel. 
Add vinegar. Add a little vinegar to the water which makes the shell softer and easier to peel.
Roll them on the counter. After you boil the eggs and you've cooled them, roll them on the counter and the shell will fall off.
Cuisine: American
Course: How To
How to Hard Boil Eggs
author avatar
Christy Denney
Christy is the voice behind The Girl Who Who Ate Everything! She is no stranger to making meals that kids and adults will love. She grew up in Mesa, Arizona as the youngest of ten kids. She can always be found in her kitchen with music playing and cooking with her kids. She published her first cookbook in 2014. She loves party food that gets the conversations going!