Got Hard-Boiled Eggs? Make This Time-Tested Egg Salad Recipe (2024)

FAQs

How long will boiled eggs last in the refrigerator? ›

Hard cooked eggs can be stored in the refrigerator up to seven days, either left in their shells or peeled. Make sure eggs are refrigerated within two hours after cooking, and don't leave refrigerated cooked eggs out at room temperature for more than two hours.

Gently lower in fridge-cold eggs. Lower the heat slightly – so the eggs don't crack due to being bashed around but water is still at a gentle boil. Start the timer – 6 minutes for runny yolks, 8 minutes for soft boiled, 10 minutes for classic hard boiled, 15 minutes for unpleasant rubbery whites and powdery dry yolks.

“If the egg is discolored or has a greenish ring around the yolk, it's likely gone bad.” A bad hard-boiled egg may also have a sulfuric smell, adds Marcus. The bottom line on hard-boiled eggs: “If the egg is slimy, mushy or smells bad, toss it,” says Steele.

Instead, I put them into a big pot of cold water and bring them just to a boil. I cover the pan and take it off the heat. I let the eggs sit in the hot water for 8 minutes, then I take the eggs out of the hot water and plunge them into ice water to stop the cooking. Once they are cool, I peel them.

We like pieces between 1/4 and 1/2 inch big; the yolks will break smaller when you stir everything together. Egg Slicer: An egg slicer is a great way to chop hard-cooked eggs into small pieces. Slice them one way, then turn them the other way and slice again.

The FDA recommends consuming hard-boiled eggs within a week, and two weeks is well past that deadline. Since spoiled hard-boiled eggs can make you sick, it's best to be safe and toss out any leftover hard-boiled eggs that have been in the fridge for more than one week.

Hard-cooked eggs, which have been quickly cooled and placed in the refrigerator in their shells should be consumed within seven days. Peeled hard-cooked eggs stored in the refrigerator should be consumed within 48 hours due to the moist egg white surface being exposed and the potential of microorganism growth.

These are sure signs your boiled eggs are overcooked

Instead of a gray color, you might notice that over-boiled eggs have a green-colored yolk instead. Overcooking at a high temperature causes a chemical reaction between the sulfur in the egg whites and the iron in the egg yolk, causing green ferrous sulfide to form.

For one to four eggs, bring the water to a rolling boil, cover the pot, and turn the heat down to its lowest setting for 12-14 minutes. For five to eight eggs, cook for 15 to 18 minutes. For nine to one dozen eggs, cook for 20 minutes. After cooking, transfer the eggs to a bowl of ice water.

If you boil an egg for five or 10 minutes, it becomes firm and cooked. If you boil it for hours, it becomes rubbery and overcooked.

What is the secret to easy to peel hard-boiled eggs? ›

Baking soda is said to raise the pH level of eggs and therefore make them easier to peel. Add 1 teaspoon baking soda to a pot of eggs, as in our Perfect Boiled Eggs recipe.

Bottom Line

After trying several methods to determine if an egg is cooked or not, there were a few that came out on top. Contrary to what you might have heard, hard-boiled eggs do not float—but they do act differently when you spin them or shine a flashlight through them.

The keeper of the 20-year-old egg, surnamed Fu, shared her precious fossil on social media platform Douban and it soon attracted the attention of curious online observers, with one nicknaming it “the pharaoh egg”. Translucent, it is of the size of a pistachio nut and feels like a hard plastic ball.

If the air pocket becomes large enough, the egg may float. While this method may tell you whether an egg is fresh or old, it doesn't tell whether it is good or bad. An egg can sink and still be bad, while an egg that floats may still be fine to eat.

For slicing or halving an egg, make sure the knife blade is clean, and then pull lengthwise through the egg with moderate pressure rather than pressing down on the egg — which can cause the egg white to bounce back and separate from the yolk.

The trick uses a surprising kitchen item: a grid-style cooling rack. You set the rack securely over a bowl, place a peeled egg on top, and press. The egg is forced through the little squares and pops out the other side perfectly chopped. It's the best.

You can also use a potato masher, or press the hard boiled eggs through the wires on a cooling rack to chop them up. If you don't mind getting messy, you can also tear the eggs by hand, a la Nancy Silverton. I find the co*cktail muddler works best for me, but you do you.

Try A New Technique

The basic idea is that you cut just deep enough into a whole hard-boiled egg to get through the white, but not into the yolk. Then, you pull back on the knife with steady light pressure so the egg rolls in a full circle and falls apart into two even halves.