I love eggs. Scrambled, fried, as an omelette, any which way. Well, this post is about hard boiled eggs. Great to take for a snack. But, the big problem is removing the shell without taking half the egg. So here’s a post about hard boiled eggs, the shelling story
The egg
Eggs are a strange sort of thing. They come out of the chicken perfectly formed every time. A hard protective outer shell with nutrient packed inside. Perfect little package to help a little chick form and grow. And what’s good for a little chicken, well, it’s good for us too. Eggs are packed with vitamins, minerals and lots of other goodies that our bodies can use. As with everything, there is a downside, Cholesterol. That especially affects me because of my Eastern European background. There is and answer.
There’s a few factors to take into consideration. Firstly, the type of cholesterol contained in an egg, and, how our bodies process it. There have been some studies that suggest that by shifting our cholesterol intake to the morning, our bodies have the ability to metabolize it during the day, and not increase our blood cholesterol levels. That being said, the whole idea revolves around, and is part of, a healthy diet. Which leads us to another factor to think about. If you fry an egg with bacon, sausage and hash browns, well, it may be damn delicious, but, healthy, well, it ain’t.
So, an egg is nutrient and protein rich, perfect to incorporate into breakfast, or as a mid morning snack. I personally have it as a mid morning snack. It’s naturally packaged ready to go, just throw it in the lunch box. There are many different ways to cook eggs for breakfast, but that’s for another post. So for years I’ve been having my egg as a snack, and for years I fought with the shell and lost half the egg. I tried some of the tricks, you know, vinegar, drop it in boiling water and turn off the burner, dropping it in ice water, there’s lots of them. And I’m sure, somehow or another, they all work. But I’m boiling eggs at 6 am, I don’t want to have to think.
How to cook the egg
I needed a simple cooking plan, one that I could incorporate into my morning routine. I stumbled upon this idea while browsing the internet. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not one of those that believes everything on the internet, there’s some crazy stuff out there. But, this one seemed worth a try, and didn’t require too much input. So, I tried it, damn, it works. It fits my my routine, and its easy. So for the past few years I’ve been cooking them this way, and I’m going to pass on the knowledge for you to think about.
The idea is to steam them. Quite simple. I have a steamer that fits on top of the pot, not the basket that goes in. Although, as long as you can have enough water in the pot, either one should work. And I don’t drop them in ice water when they’re done, just cold faucet water. Which, here in Florida is not cold, more tepid.
Put enough water in the pot, this is subjective, you will probably know how much to put in. Set the steamer basket, as I had mentioned, I use the one that mounts on top, you could probably use a basket that goes inside the pot. Put the eggs in the basket, put on the lid. Turn the heat to high. Wait for the steam to show, and then set the timer for 12 mins. Meanwhile put some cold water in a bowl and set aside. When the timer goes off, transfer the eggs from the basket to the bowl. Done. That’s it. Simple.
Now, hard boiled eggs are personal, everyone likes them a little different. The simple solution is to play with the timer, I had said 12 mins, but the range is probably 10-14, and you can fine tune it to how you like it. So, now you know what I know, try it. Thanks for reading.