(keep in mind that these directions are for cooking at sea level. When you’re at a higher altitude water boils at a lower temperature—as well as other scientific complications related to baking—so food takes longer to cook, and you may need to make adjustments accordingly).
1. Lay the eggs gently in an empty pot.
2. Cover the eggs with about 1" or 2.5cm of water. Use room temperature water. If the water is cold, the eggs will take longer to cook. If the water is hot, though, you may risk the water getting too hot too early and overcooking the eggs (i.e. exposing the eggs to boiling temperature for too long).
3. Add one tablespoon of salt or vinegar to the water. This helps the proteins in the white coagulate faster so any cracks in the shell quickly get plugged.
4. Cover the pot
5. Bring the water to a boil. Stay close and listen; you should be able to hear the water come to a boil. Don't remove the lid to check. As soon as the water is boiling (don't delay) remove the pot from heat. This is done to keep the eggs from overcooking. Keep the lid on so that the water remains at slightly below boiling point.
6. Let the eggs sit for 10-15 minutes for hard-boiled eggs. Let them sit for 10 minutes for dark, yellow, moist and somewhat pasty yolk; 15 minutes for light yellow, dry, and granular yolk.
7. Cool the eggs immediately. To stop the cooking process, drain the hot water and replace with cold water. Add some ice cubes to the water.
8. Put the boiled eggs in the refrigerator until completely cooled. This will allow the whites to firm up so the eggs are easier to peel.
Tips:
*Hard-boiled eggs are easier to peel cleanly if the shells are cracked while cooling in water. When the eggs are done cooking, pour off the hot water and replace with cold. Pick up each egg (be careful, they'll still be hot), and drop it back into the pot of cold water so that the shell cracks. As they cool, water will be pulled into the shells. It'll then be easier to pull off the shells without pulling off pieces of egg. This is especially useful for dishes where appearance is important, such as with deviled eggs.
*The egg will take longer to reach the desired state if you are at a high altitude, use larger eggs, boil several eggs at once, use cold eggs, or use cold water.
*Fresh eggs are less prone to cracking because they have a low pH in the white, causing it to adhere to the inner shell membrane, essentially "sealing" it together. But, this also makes fresh eggs more difficult to peel. To remedy this, you can add a teaspoon of baking soda to a quart of water when cooking (which raises the pH and reduces adhering) but it might make the eggs taste slightly more sulfuric.
*If you forget to remove the pot from heat when the water is boiling, you risk overcooking the eggs and getting rubbery whites and dry yolks
*If you leave the eggs in the almost-boiling water for more than 15 minutes, they will come out with discolored yolks and an unpleasant, sulfuric smell.
*Using too much vinegar will cause your eggs to smell bad and taste like vinegar.
*Peeling the eggs under running water may cause drains to plug up. It is very difficult to remove eggshells from your pipes since they are relatively heavy and tend to sink, getting caught on debris stuck to the inside walls of your sewer pipes.
Easy Easter (Deviled) Eggs
12 Hard boiled eggs
½ cup mayonnaise
2 tbsp mustard
1 tsp seasoning salt
¼ cup home canned pickle slices (or pickle relish)
Paprika, sprinkled
Remove shells from eggs; rinse. Using a sharp knife cut each egg in half, lengthwise; cut in a circle, around the yolk. Remove yolks into a medium sized bowl. Using a fork smash yolks into crumbs. Add mayo, salt, mustard, and pickles. Mix until combined.
Scoop mixture into a plastic zipper bag. Cut small corner off bag. Squeeze filling into each egg white half. Sprinkle paprika on top, as desired. Refrigerate, or serve immediately.
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