A perfectly cooked hardboiled egg is
a work of art, a thing of beauty, and of taste divine. Softboiled eggs make us gag. Those who like
softboiled eggs time the cooking with Swiss precision. But, when
they cook hardboiled eggs, it's "for a long time." And, after 10
minutes the yolk turns to sawdust, its color a wan, sickly yellow, and
the taste simply disappears. At the Plain Food Institute we
believe medical science will one day, once again, proclaim the whole
egg a perfect food, and no yolks will be left uneaten. Until then, only true believers will read further...
Just throw them in the water and turn
on the heat. If you really want softboiled eggs, time them from
immersion, 2-4 minutes depending. For hardboild eggs we begin timing our eggs from a
standing boil.
Our first egg comes out after three
minutes of boiling. The yolk is just beginning to set but just a
little soft in the middle. Note the rich yellow color....mmmm-mm.
After six minutes the yolk is already
beginning to dry out and fade at the periphery. For our money 5.5
minutes is about right for straight eating. If you are going to
slice them, let them firm up a little and cook for 9 minutes or so.
After 9 minutes there's very little of that rich color left.
And after 12 minutes the yolk has faded in color and taste.
To peel a hardboiled egg immediately
cool it in cold running water after removal from the pot, roll on the
counter to crack it a little, return to the cold water for a few seconds,
then peel. The heat of the egg meeting the cool water
will cause vapor to condense between the membrane and the egg, and the
shell will fly off just by closing your eyes and wishing it gone.
We like hardboiled eggs - whole eggs
- eating them alone or in all kinds of dishes. And, we think the
world would be a better place if more people knew how to boil an egg.
