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What is the best way to boil a perfect hard-boiled egg?
Hi Two ways to boil an egg are Soft - boil and Hard boil.When done, hard-boiled eggs have firm, opaque whites and solid, pale lemon-yellow yolks; soft-boiled eggs have lightly congealed, opaque whites, and yolks which are a deeper yellow- almost orange in some cases--and are mostly liquid. There are couple of problems you might run into if not so prificient in hard boiling the eggs (like me!!!!!) such as (1)The yolk is runny, the white %26quot;leaked%26quot; out while cooking. (2)The yolk is hard as a marble. (3)Yolks coming out green. The best ways to prevent the above problems are , (1) First of all, pierce the large end of the egg with either an egg piercer or thin needle. This will release any internal pressure built up in the egg during boiling and your shell won%26#39;t crack and whites won%26#39;t run out. If you don%26#39;t trust yourself to prick the egg without breaking it, place the eggs in cold water and then bring the whole pot to a boil. This gives the air time to slowly seep out of the egg. ((((One feature of the egg is an air sac at one end, which serves as a shock absorber to keep the developing chick from being disturbed by the outside vibrations. When you put an egg into boiling water, the air sac expands. If the sac expands only a little, the yolk and white will be pushed into the rest of the shell, and the result will be a hard-boiled egg with a flattened end. If the air sac expands too much, the shell will crack, releasing egg white into the water. To eliminate this possibility, prick the fat end of the egg with a sharp pin to make a very small hole before placing the egg in water. ))) (2)Add a bit of vinegar or salt to the water. The vinegar or salt starts a chemical reaction which causes the egg whites to coagulate (thicken) and cook faster, preventing the white from streaming out of the egg. This is why good chefs poach egg in an vinegared water; the acid in the vinegar helps cook the whites faster, so that the poached eggs come in compact little balls. (3) The most important detail to observe is the temperature of the eggs. If you%26#39;ve just removed them from a refrigerator, you cook them differently than if the eggs have had a chance to warm up to room temperature. Technique 1: (If eggs already at room temperature) Cover and boil: Place the pot on high heat. Bring the water to a rapid boil. After ten minutes, remove the pot from the heat and remove the eggs from the water. Soak for best results:Immediately soak the eggs in cold water. This will stop the eggs from cooking by their own heat, and will also help with peeling them. Keep them in the cold water for 30 seconds or so, or until you can handle them without shouting %26quot;Ow, ow, ouch!!%26quot; and passing them hurriedly from hand to hand. While they%26#39;re in the cold water, a layer of steam develops between the shell and the egg white. The steam makes peeling an egg much easier. Technique 2: (If eggs are directly from refrigerator) Cover and boil: When the water reaches a rapid boil, immediately remove the pot from the burner. Leave the lid on the pot. Set a timer, or note the time, and let the pot stand for 17 minutes for medium eggs, or 20 minutes for jumbo eggs. The last step in either method is peeling the eggs. Depending on how you proceed, this is either a frustrating, painstaking chore or an easy, possibly fun, kitchen task. Try the following method to limit your frustrations. Gently but firmly break an egg against the surface of the sink or countertop, rotate the egg in your hands, and again crack the egg against a hard surface. Repeat until you%26#39;ve cracked the egg several times, all over its surface. Then take the egg in your hands and roll it back and forth in your palms. Peeling the egg should now be a cinch. There are many sites which conatins the infromation and tips on best ways for hard boiling the eggs.To name a few. http://www.learn2.com/07/0704/07043.asp http://www.pa.msu.edu/~sciencet/ask_st/111391.html http://www.tipking.com/kitchen/Kit0057.htm http://www.oldetimecooking.com/Recipes/boiled_egg.htm
Thanks for the information!
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