How Long Does It Take To Boil An Egg
How long does it take to boil an egg?
Some love them and some hate them. I am not talking about rollercoasters; I am talking about hard boiled eggs. Although it seems easy enough to do, it is very easy to throw an egg in boiling water and end up with something everyone hates: green eggs (made famous by “Sam I am”) which are a product of overcooking, or slimy eggs, the result of undercooking.
So, how long does it take to boil an egg? The short answer is 9-10 minutes because that is simply how long it takes to boil water, which is the first step in the process of boiling an egg, however if you want the eggs done right, there are many methods and tricks, the most conventional of which brings the process to roughly a half hour or so.
The common steps are as follows:
1. Put them in a bowl of water, and be careful so at too break them. A few layers are best. In the event you crack an egg, it is likely best to throw it out, but if you run a kitchen on a budget, tests have shown that if salt is added to the water it will help plug the cracks and make the egg boil properly again (The reasons of which are scientific, nerdy, and boring in nature, the exact opposite of what we like to write about)
2. Next fill the pot with cold water. Do not use warm or hot water, as it actually may start cooking the egg, which can crack the shell causing the egg to “bleed” some of the still liquid yolk. It is also recommended that you bring the eggs to a boil slowly as instant heat can cause them to move around quickly when they are still fragile.
3. Once the water is at a full boil, it is time for the tricky part- the cool down. There are two rather controversial sides here, the toppers and the icers. You can either turn the stove off right after the water starts boiling and put a lid on the pot and leave it on the warm stove, or you can let the eggs boil for about 5 minutes and put them immediately in ice water.
At this point you can peel the eggs right away or put them in the fridge for later, at which time they should be easier to peel. Something to note is that if you find that your eggs are uncooked you can take the shell off and microwave them until done, although this is a bit of a guessing game since every microwave is different, but, hey, what do you have to lose at that point.
