Starving Artists: Starving Artists -> Leggo My Eggo

I've never really given much thought to hard boiled eggs. Hard boiled eggs are hard boiled eggs, no matter how you put it. And it is just that simple. But lately for some reason (it may be an aging thing), I’ve been observing the differences in cooking hard boiled eggs. Hmmm, what's up with that? Not sure, like I said, might be an age thing, but honestly, there IS a difference.

I used to boil eggs for 15 minutes, just to make sure they were fully cooked with no runny stuff because that is just too yucky to me. But really what I was doing was overcooking them. You see I boiled eggs for 15 minutes, poured cold running water in the pan and let them sit, then drained, and peeled 'em...well...reflecting back…the yolk would be an off-yellow color and I would see a thin green film around the surface of the yolk.

I read it’s not poisonous to eat it that way, though. It’s just an indicator of the natural chemical reaction that took place within the egg. I read online it was the reaction of hydrogen sulphide from amino acids in the white part of the egg reacting to the iron found in the yolk causing a thin film of sulphide to form on the surface of the yolk. But then again, who cares, right? Well, ya just never know when someone will pop a quiz on ya someday during an ice cream social or something...better yet, an egg social. Weeeeeee!

I never knew this, but I came across info stating that really, really fresh eggs, like 1-2 days old, are not recommended when cooking hard boiled eggs because they are difficult to peel afterward. And this is because the white of the egg is more acidic with a pH of 7.6-7.9 and a cloudy appearance due to carbon dioxide. When freshly laid eggs are washed, the shell becomes porous causing air absorption and loss of carbon dioxide. This process causes the egg to increase even more in its pH level to about 9.2 and when this occurs that delicate membrane, located between the egg white and the shell, no longer adheres to the white of the egg as much, allowing for easier peeling. No wonder! Geez Louise. I’ve had that happened to me, but I never even imagined it was because the egg was too fresh. In fact, I just thought the egg was nearing its life span or something. But, au contraire, an egg that’s been in the frig for several days is the best kind of egg to hard boil. Wow. The littlest things I learn.

I’ve read many ways of boiling eggs such as bringing the water to a rolling boil first, then add the eggs. I’ve also read NOT to do that 'cause then the shell will crack. Then somewhere I read to let the eggs sit to room temperature first, then place in a pot, then add water and boil for a certain amount of minutes. Honestly, though, how serious is it to cook a hard boiled egg to perfection? Unless it’s being served to the president or something, does it really matter how many minutes to boil an egg? To some people, yes, to others, well, maybe it’s not that serious of a kaboodle. And since I boil eggs for myself, then I just want them to be medium-hard boiled with a nice bright, pretty yellow yolk. So no greenies allowed. But there are so many suggestions out there as to how many minutes to boil, not all of them will be precise. Well, at least, precisely in the sense of how I LIKE to eat them.

I understand if I let the eggs sit at room temperature and then boil, I can deduct 1 minute of required cooking time. But the thing is, whose cooking time, which list of minutes do I follow? There are so many out there. So, the way I see it, I just won't do that. Nope. Rarely will I have time to allow eggs to reflect room temperature. Heck, no, too much goin’ on in my world. So I just take them out the frig and plop ‘em in a pot with water and place over heat. I’ve found that starting the cooking process directly from the frig will take a good 11 minutes at med-high heat. Then I take the pot and run under cold water, then let sit in the sink for a few dilio-minutes. I peel and when finished, I slice the egg in half and it is just exactly how I like it...the yolk is nice and yellow...little runny...a bit firm-runny though, like a volcano (the only way to describe it)...the egg white is soft but firm...mmmm, just the way I like it. Though, sometimes, I do feel like eating the egg slightly softer. Those days I will boil for 10.5 minutes. That's only half a minute less than what I normally cook...no more, no less. Exactly 10.5 minutes. It has to be exactly 10.5...and yum! It turns out just slightly softer than what I usually cook them at, not a lot of runny goin' on, just a bit more volcano-thick type runny. Trial and error is how I arrived to this conclusion.

Now...on second thought... Uh-oh...would this still be classified as a hard boiled egg?