Oh eggs. Never did I fully appreciate thee until thine retail price skyrocketed beyond my wildest beliefs. Just like how talking about being itchy suddenly makes me want to scratch, the higher the price of eggs got, the more I seemed to crave dishes with eggs. 🙄

I always believed that hard boiled eggs should be as easy as microwaving a hot pocket for no reason. This misconception caused me to create numerous batches of very ugly eggs. Eggs are not to be underestimated! They are a formidable kitchen boss fight that, if you want to be a home cook at all, you need to dominate quickly and effectively.

Eggs are actually quite amazing. They’re extremely delicate, requiring constant vigilance for dishes like omelets, or also very strong, providing the gluey moisture and structure needed for cakes and cookies. The take home message is, eggs are not usually a set-it-and-forget-it dish.

Kenji Lopez from Serious Eats and the author of the Food Lab has extensive information on studies he’s done to perfect the deceptively simple boiled egg. Below are the most important tips I took from his hard work.

Do not use the instant pot or pressure cooker. The temperature gets too hot. /cries over the egg holder rack I bought for the instant pot

Start with boiling water. It causes the inside of the egg to properly rip away from the inside of the shell, allowing for easy peeling.

Have a bath of ice water ready. Eggs need to be doused in cold water immediately after cooking, then peeled.

Boil eggs at a bare simmer for 11 minutes for hard, or 6 minutes for soft.

Steaming is also okay and gentler than boiling! Start with full blast steaming pot and a steamer basket able to hold all the eggs. I haven’t tried this one since I didn’t have an appropriately sized steamer basket and I figured it would be easier to bulk cook in a large pot do boiling water.

My favorite recipe for hard boiled eggs is Chinese marinated tea eggs! Stay tuned for a future post of that! They’re so easy, delicious, and almost pure protein!

For your enjoyment, the link to the all-knowing shifu, Kenji Lopez‘s deep dive into making the perfect hard boiled eggs.