How To Make Hard-Boiled Eggs With No Green Ring

Maybe you still need to dye Easter eggs with the kids. Or maybe your Easter dinner spread won't be complete without deviled eggs. In either case, the first thing you need is the perfect hard-boiled egg. Techniques vary slightly among chefs, but one thing they all agree on: if you want to easily peel a hard-boiled egg, use eggs that are about a week old, not fresh ones.

Our first expert is style guru Martha Stewart. Her website says the best way to achieve perfectly hard-boiled eggs is to:

1. Place a dozen eggs at room temperature in a large saucepan. Cover them with an inch of cool water. Slowly bring the water to a boil over medium heat; when the water has reached a boil, cover and remove the pan from heat. Let the eggs sit 12 minutes.
2. Transfer the eggs to a colander; place it under cool running water to stop the cooking. Eggs can be peeled and served immediately.

AllRecipes.com, the go-to for ordinary cooks who don't have all the kitchen chops of Martha, takes a different approach. The site says to:

1. Place 6 large eggs into a saucepan and pour in cold water to cover; place over high heat. When the water just starts to simmer, turn off heat, cover pan with a lid, and let stand for 17 minutes. Don't peek.
2. Pour out the hot water and pour cold water over eggs. Drain and refill with cold water; let stand until eggs are cool, about 20 minutes. Peel eggs under running water.

And the IncredibleEgg website has a tip for avoiding that off-putting green ring that you can have around the egg yolk. The discoloration forms because of a reaction between sulfur in the egg white and iron in the yolk when eggs have been cooked for too long or at too high a temperature. Cooking eggs in hot, not boiling, water, then cooling immediately, minimizes this.

Hard-boiled eggs are easiest to peel right after cooling, which causes the egg to contract slightly in the shell.
To peel a hard-boiled egg, first tap it on a countertop until the shell is finely crackled all over. Roll the egg between your hands to loosen the shell. Starting peeling at the large end of the egg, holding it under cold running water to help wash the shell off.

The American Egg Board says the average person ate 24 eggs last Easter. The group even has a video showing you how to perfectly cook and peel eggs.

Did you know? Fresh eggs may preferable in omelets but not for hard boiled eggs. To make eggs easier to peel, the Egg Council recommends using eggs that are about 7 to 10 days old when hard boiling.

Photo via Morgufile