How To Tell If Hard Boiled Eggs Are Done

Eggs are great for breakfast, side dish or snack and if you wonder how to tell if hard boiled eggs are done cooking, read this post to find out tips on cooking the perfect hard boiled eggs!

You can cook perfect boiled eggs in different ways based on your preference including hard boiled eggs, soft boiled eggs or medium boiled eggs. They all have different textures and to achieve each texture, we follow a different cooking time. Also, it is extremely important to transfer the boiled eggs immediately to a bowl filled with cold water and ice cubes for an ice bath to prevent over cooking of the eggs. This helps the eggs to cool down immediately, preventing any further cooking and even helps wit easy peeling of the shells. You can also make easy instant pot boiled eggs and steamed boiled eggs in instant pot pressure cooker!

how to tell if hard boiled eggs are done

There are two ways you can know if hard boiled eggs are done or not. One way is to look at the color and texture of the cooked egg yolk and the other way (the preferred way) is to follow the exact time using a timer to make sure you are cooking the eggs for the right time to avoid over cooking or under cooking of the eggs. Hard boiled eggs have well cooked egg yolks and completely set whites. The yolks of the hard boiled eggs are not runny or liquid at all but it's completely dry and well cooked. The color of perfect cooked hard boiled eggs is bright yellow. So if you slice the hard boiled eggs in halves, you should see that the color of the eggs is bright yellow and the yolk is well cooked and dry instead of soft or runny. This is a good indicator that the hard boiled eggs are done perfectly.

However, you will want to know how to tell if the hard boiled eggs are done before slicing the eggs, right?

Read further to see the cooking time and other tips to make sure you get the perfect hard boiled eggs so you can make sure the hard boiled eggs are done even before slicing the eggs and without seeing the inside yolk.

If you over cook the hard boiled eggs by even a couple of minutes, the color of the yolks begin to change. The yolk color will change from bright yellow to dark grey or green around the sides of the yolk looking like a ring. This color change is not appealing when you use the hard boiled eggs in sandwich fillings or salads or even if you want to enjoy them as a snack. The color change shows that the hard boiled eggs is over cooked. Also, the over cooked hard boiled eggs will have whites that are slightly rubbery in texture unlike completely cooked, soft egg whites that is normal for a perfectly cooked hard boiled egg.

So, to make sure you are not overly cooking your hard boiled eggs, you need to follow the time guide for cooking the perfect hard boiled egg on stove top.

In general, it is ideal to cook the eggs in low heat for 9 minutes to make hard boiled egg. Before we start cooking the eggs, keep in mind that refrigerated old eggs do better with boiling than fresh eggs. If you are boiling fresh eggs, it will be usually harder to peel as well. When you make boiled eggs, try to use refrigerated eggs for best results.

Here, we discuss the cooking times assuming you are using refrigerated eggs.

If you use fresh eggs that are not refrigerated, the cooking time may be reduced by a minute.

• First, add a single layer of refrigerated eggs (if using more than one egg), in a medium sized pan and fill up water to about 1 inch above the level of eggs.

• Bring the water to a boil by cooking in high heat and once the water begins to boil, cover the saucepan with lid and cook in low heat for 9 minutes.

• Make sure to set a timer, to avoid the risk of overcooking the eggs.

• While the eggs are cooking on the stove, make sure to make an ice bath using cold water and ice cubes (fill a large bowl with cold water and ice cubes to about half of the bowl) so you can immediately transfer the cooked eggs to do the ice bath to prevent over cooking of the eggs (this step is really important to prevent over cooking of eggs).

• Once the timer beeps, you know the eggs are done cooking, so immediately turn off the heat and transfer the saucepan from the hot stove to a cool place to avoid further cooking.

• Immediately and carefully transfer each boiled egg to the bowl filled with cold water and ice cubes for ice water bath (this step is also extremely important to prevent further cooking of the eggs).

• I usually use a large sized spoon to carefully transfer each egg.

• Let the eggs sit in the ice water bath for at least 5 minutes, but I prefer to keep the eggs there for about 10 minutes unless I am in a hurry.

• Once the ice water bath is done, the hard boiled eggs are perfectly done and you are ready to peel them!

• Unless you used fresh eggs, they will be usually easy to peel once the ice water bath is done and the eggs are ready to be used in any recipes you want!

Hard boiled eggs are perfect to make hard boiled egg sandwich, deviled eggs, egg salads, egg curry and more!

Hope you found this post on how to tell if hard boiled eggs are done helpful in making the best hard boiled eggs!