Ken's Perfect Hard Boiled Egg (And I Mean Perfect)

Brilliant, Ken! I've always used salt (supposed to prevent the contents leaking out) but the vinegar is news, and it works! 14 minutes is a bit long, I think; 10 minutes total boiling time will produce a less rubbery white and a creamy yolk, if you plunge the eggs into cold water immediately. Also crack the shells immediately after putting the eggs in cold water. This will allow the gas to escape which turns the yolk blue.

Thanks for all of those that have posted comments to my receipe. I heard alot of discussion about eggs cracking when you put them into the boiling water. So, I did what every husband would do..ask the wife! Her trick as indicated in some of the reviews, is to allow them to become room tempeture before going into the water. Seems to work perfect everytime. Once again, thanks to all that have posted and have a Happy Easter.

You do not need vinegar or salt. The secret to making hard boiled eggs that do not stick to the shell is to use older eggs! Ideally, eggs that are 10 days to 2 weeks old work best. For Easter, I always buy eggs ahead of time. I put the eggs in a pan, cover with COLD water 1" over the eggs; bring to a boil over medium/medium high heat. Once the water comes to a boil, cook for 1-2 minutes, then turn off the heat and cover the pot with a lid. Let sit for 10-15 minutes depending on egg size. Drain water and cool immediately with cold water (I drop the eggs in bowl of ice water). Let them sit for a couple minutes and remove.

Wow! I've been cooking for over 50 years and finally today I made perfect boiled eggs for deviling. Have tried everything anybody told me from poking holes in the ends with a needle/fingers to vinegar in the water to standing on my head. This recipe really works. My eggs were extra large so I boiled them the full 15 minutes but a couple extra minutes would have been better. I would have had soft-boiled if I had taken the advise of one reviewer and only boiled for 10 minutes. Like most of the other reviewers I recommend following the recipe exactly. Thanks Ken...wish I had discovered this recipe years ago. Who knew you would need a recipe for boiled eggs...ha ha!!!

PERFECT EGGS! I always have problems peeling eggs, especially fresh ones. I will always use this method to boil my eggs from now on, the shell practically slipped off of the eggs! Just in time for Easter too, I'm so happy, thank you for sharing this Ken! :)

For those who had their eggs crack after carefully lowering them into the boiling water? It's because the ice cold eggs are hitting boiling water. Allow the eggs to get to room temp and this recipe works perfectly. And use cool water to cool them down, not ice water...again, it's the super hot hitting the super cold that will cause the shell to crack. Also, if you're making Deviled eggs and want the yolk perfectly centered in the middle of the egg, GENTLY stir the eggs for about 2 or 3 minutes after placing them in the boiling water.

Although I consider myself an above-average cook, hard boiled eggs had never turned out correctly. Until now! Thanks to Ken's recipe I finally had a hard boiled egg turn out perfect! They peeled cleanly and easily and the yolk was cooked through without turning green around the edges. Follow recipe exactly...it won't disappoint!

Super simple & PERFECT! I did use red wine vinegar because I was out of the white... couldn't taste it & it gave the egg shells a light pink tint so I could store them with the unboiled & know the difference!

IT WORKS Tried this recipe and no problems. Tried the plain water method and had problems peeling the eggs.

I've boiled eggs this way for many, many years with one exception...which will guarantee no "grey" ring that you get from the sulfur...I put the eggs in the salted/vinegar water before bringing to a boil - uncovered. Once It's boiling, cover pot w/ lid and turn off heat. Leave on burner for 15-20 min. depending on how many eggs. Drain water and soak in ice cold water for 10 min.

Fantastic! So amazingly easy! Thanks for sharing this with everyone. I'm FREE... no more ugly eggs! Yahooo!

Adding the vinegar with salt and water definitely made peeling the egg the easiest ever!

No matter how carefully the cool egg was lowered into the boiling water, it cracked! Not a good choice of steps at all. Use the good old fashioned way of cold water on top of eggs, brought to a boil, turned off and left for 15 minutes, then chilled with cold water. Much better, uncracked eggs!

I cannot begin to express my frustration with hardboiled eggs, but this recipe has changed my life, I kid you not! I can't even tell you the last time I was able to peel an egg (and an older egg, at that... I have always known fresh eggs are likely to be difficult,) without any of the flesh peeling off with the shell, but today, I have success!!!! Yippee! Thanks for an awesome recipe! **FYI, I did double the amount of water, vinegar and salt.... boiled a dozen at once.

The vinegar will stop the egg white from running if cracked while in the water, Ive used this method for a long time, I do 10 min and then 30 min. off the heat and then into the ice water, I also turn my eggs in the carton at least 6hrs before boiling, I found that it will center the yolk in the egg for a better deviled egg presentation.

THESE THINGS ARE THE BOMB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i don't have a lot of patience and get real agitated when eggs don't peel right (can't remember how many i have thrown in the trash!) i cooked 24 eggs (used 3 different pots -- was afraid to alter the recipe) and they all turned out perfect except for one (it cracked a little bit when i added it to the boiling water -- and it wasn't bad -- that is the one i used in the photo i posted) will definitely use this recipe from now on for boiled eggs!!!!!!

Got 23 out of 24 perfect eggs! They are pickling away for Easter. Having read the reviews of problem with cold eggs cracking once they hit the boiling water...I put my eggs in a bowl and ran hot tap water over them. I let them sit while I waited for the water to boil. Used a plastic slotted spoon to transfer, and not a single egg cracked. The one egg I had a tiny chunk out of as I peeled. Certainly much better odds than I normally get! (And I ate the evidence, so no one will ever know)

Finally, no more struggling with peeling hard-boiled eggs!!! Thank you!

This worked great - I wish I would have read the other reviews before making them. I would have taken the eggs out of the fridge a while before doing this so they wouldn't have been so cold. I had a couple of eggs crack, and from reading the other reviews, that can be avoided by letting them get to room temp before boiling.

Eggs came out great, but I didn't give it 5 stars because recipe didn't say anything about adding cold eggs to boiling water. When I added eggs straight out of the fridge, they cracked, but when I let them sit out for a few hours before boiling them, they came out perfect. Maybe this is common sense, but would have been nice to know from reading the recipe. Recipe worked great with room temperature eggs!

sorry about the low rating...but the eggs were not close to perfect. wife and i had different options on making them, i cook, so i chose this. it sounded intriguing, but not easy to peel at all! nope, i'm out on these!

I followed the directions exactly and found the eggs very difficult to peel.

One more tip for cooking perfect eggs -- once the water boils, turn off the heat, remove pot from burner and cover it. Set a timer for 12 minutes. Then, follow instructions as written in the recipe and immediately chill the eggs in ice water to stop the cooking process. Otherwise the centers will stay hot and continue to cook the egg from the inside out. Also, place enough eggs in the pot to avoid a lot of excess bouncing around. That, plus removing the eggs from the heat once the water boils, prevents cracking. You will love the texture and flavor of the eggs.

it worked ok... a slight hint of green around yolk. I'll stick to the boil water/simmer eggs method. Putting the eggs in cold water is what makes the peeling easier. That works like a charm

This is the first time in my life I've made PERFECT hard boiled eggs. Ken, I think I love you!

Worked for me...eggs peeled perfectly and nice yellow inside no blue/grey ring. Perfect!!

Difficult to review this recipe. Frankly I don't believe the vinegar or salt have anything to do with how well the shells peel. My mother always told me the vinegar was to reduce cracking of the age shells. I think age of eggs and brand of eggs have more to do with easy peeling than anything else. I have recently been having great luck with the shells peeling easily since I switched to Trader Joe's Cage Free Eggs. I had still not perfected having a pure yellow yolk however. I do like this recipe because you don't place the eggs in the water until the water is boiling. This gives you better control of exactly how long to cook your eggs. I left the eggs out for about an hour and half to come to room temperature. Out of 18 eggs, only one cracked. I thought that was pretty good. I will say I had to cook these 17 minutes. I checked one egg at the 14 minute mark and the yolk was still soft in the middle. I think this recipe has potential, but you will have to play with it to get the right timing.

Perfect eggs? I don't think so. Adding cold eggs to boiling water makes them crack and leak into the water!!! I had egg drop soup when I was done following this recipe. I even left the eggs out to get room temperature and lowered them into the water with a spoon and what happened? Almost every egg cracked! You have to add eggs to cold water and then heat the water and eggs.

Great recipe. I made my eggs exactly as the recipe stated, adding one tip that I remembered from another recipe: bring the eggs to room temperature first to prevent cracking and while they are warming up to room temperature lay them on their sides for nicely centered yolks.

Most peeled badly so the deviled eggs came out looking unattractive too. I made 2 seperate batches and followed the directions exactly. Even though I had put the eggs out of the fridge to warm up to room temp for 20 mins and lowered them in with a slotted spoon, 3 of the eggs burst open upon contact with the hot water. Most of them were not even easy to peel. There were 2 or 3 that peeled beautifully, and even though most were either broken or peeled with most of the white attached to the shell, the yolks were creamy and perfectly cooked, not grey on the outside, so that's why I gave it 2 stars instead of one. I'll be heating the eggs up WITH the water from now on, as I usually do. This was not an effective method for me.

For whatever reason, the eggs were not completely cooked. I even used a timer and followed the recipe exactly.

First time in history that I've peeled eggs without swearing a blue streak! Thanks Ken. :o)

Be sure to use the right size pan. Mine was a little too large and the eggs weren't perfectly round because the water did not completely cover the eggs. Otherwise, yes, these were perfect!

Wow! What can I say? I'm impressed! I'm always wary about hard boiling eggs because I'm afraid they'll be undercooked. Not these! It's so nice to finally have an actual cooking time (rather than the wishy-washy 10 to 13 minutes, or until your preferred 'done-ness' - I mean, really?), along with a great "recipe" for cooking them. These turned out beautiful and firm, and peeled very nicely. Thank you for sharing!

Okay. I thought I'd never rate/review something as "simple" as hard boiled eggs... but WOW! These are quite literally "perfect". Perfect texture, SUPER easy to peel, not a HINT of gray on the yolk. I stand amazed. :) Thank you, Ken.

PERFECT is right. I've always used the vinegar when boiling, but never the salt - until today. What a huge difference when peeling the eggs. I've never seen such PERFECT boiled eggs. I remember grandma boiling more eggs than she needed for deviled eggs because of all the "bad" ones that were a mess after peeling. With this method that won't be an issue. Thanks Ken!!

Yeah, I dunno, kind of weird. They didn't turn out any better than my usual boiled eggs. I always start everything out cold. Cold water, cold eggs, cold burner. I bring to a boil and then take off heat and cover for 20 mins and voila!

Every egg I put in the boiling water cracked and oozed egg white. I stopped at three and went with the tradition way of boiling eggs. I only gave it one star because I had to choose one. I would give it zero stars.

Out of curiosity, I compared this method to how I normally boil eggs in plain water. The eggs peeled fine for both batches. For Ken's method, I allowed the eggs to set out on the counter for almost 2 hours before easing them into the boiling water so they would be at room temperature and not crack. I have tried this method three times now and each time, at least one egg cracked and oozed some of the egg white when I put it into the water. I'm thinking it would be better to put the eggs in first and let the temperature slowly come to a boil. However, Ken's way does produce pretty and bright yellow yolks. Thanks Ken.

Lots of cracking - when 3 out of 12 are cracked, that's too many!! I will also be sticking to the usual boiling method - bring the water up to a boil when the eggs are already in it!

I found the eggs very difficult to peel and the yolk was not cooked "well" enough for me. The middle of the yolk was a "under cooked" orange color.

Been doin this for years. Works great. Vinegar also helps "protect" the egg if it does crack during the boiling process. It helps prevent the white from coming out of the boiling egg.

Same way I have been doing for years, hard cooked eggs will be good for 14 days !

perfect eggs every time. thanks ken :)

Not as perfect as I hoped. I had several eggs break right away, and those that didn't, did not peel any easier than other ways I've tried.

I don't know why, but this really does work. I followed the directions exactly. I got eggs from a local farm yesterday & they really did peel perfectly, except for 1 egg that the yolk was on the side of the egg. While the older store bought eggs peeled better, I was pleasantly surprised to see day old eggs peel this nice! Thanks!!!!

Ummmm.... really? No this did not work for me, I had to go to my bookshelf and take out an actual cook book after this recipe failed me. :( sorry

IT'S A MIRACLE! I followed the directions exactly and had 6 perfect eggs!

Works for me 9 times out of ten! No matter what I tried before (ice bath post cooking, cracking shells pre and post cooking, different cook times) getting peel-able hard boiled eggs was always hit or miss for me. Using this method I've had perfect results almost every time. Only once did I get one egg that would not peel, who knows why...

Perfect is an understatment ~ the whites are tender, the yolk is a creamy butter consistency with no greenish discoloration it's the outside. Peeling is a breeze; This has been my biggest challenge since moving to Colorado where due to elevation (7800 ft) water boils at a lower temperature. I could get the yolks the right color, but the shells REFUSED to peel and often I lose most of the white in the process. I am convince the white vinegar is the magic ingredient (without any alteration of taste and ice bath to finish. Note, my only change due to lower boiling temp was to add 3 minutes to the cooking process. My gratitude to Ken for his late night research and phenomenal recipe. Easter will be a joy!

absolutely brilliant...i 'm makng pickled eggs and this is the first time in A LONG time that i didn't have ISSUES...hehe...thank for the method ken...

Perfect! My three year old loved this and asked if we could make lots more!

I had no problem pealing these eggs at all! I've tried many methods with varying sucess, but this worked great. However, I, like many others added the eggs to the cold water and started to time when boiling. Thank you!

I don't know what it is about this way of boiling eggs; whether it's the vinegar or the amount of time, who knows?! I DO know that it does make a difference and these eggs turn out perfect, and I mean p-e-r-f-e-c-t. This is the only way I will be making these from now on.

I tried your recipe Ken and the eggs came out PERFECT. They peeled very easy and I was surprised how perfect the egg came out considering this is the first time I hard boiled an egg. Next I will attempt to make deviled eggs. Maybe I'll hit 2 for 2.

The best way to get perfect hardboiled eggs! We have our own chickens and I have been told that the fresher the egg the more the shell sticks. Well we had an awful time doing hard boiled eggs, we could not get the eggshells off with out the eggs looking mangled...until now! I have tried countless different ways. I am sold on Ken's! Thank you Ken!

Perfect. I used fresh. large. room temperature eggs, apple cider vinegar (turned the eggs a little tan) and iodized sea salt. I used a pasta spoon with slots because I'm a klutz. No cracked eggs when added to boiling water. Used a low boil - on my electric stove between med-lo and medium for 14 min. Yolks were perfect yellow - just cooked. Any larger egg would have been under done. Whites were tender. The best part - when I cracked it all over and ran it under water the peel just slipped off. I almost cried. I really didn't expect this to work. Happy Easter!!!! We're grateful for your insomnia, Ken.

Yup, perfect!

I am over 60 and I just tried this recipe for my deviled eggs, recipe is PERFECT exactly as is. Great hard-boiled eggs - easy to peel, didn't turn greenish around yolks, and middles were cooked!

With this method, my hard-boiled eggs turned out perfect and were very easy to peel, even though they were very fresh! They were cooked to perfection with no gray/greenish ring or rubber texture...thanks for the research, Ken!

Followed directions to the letter - including salt, vinegar, water, eggs, etc. With water boiling at high heat, I added eggs "one at a time" so they wouldn't crack, and reduced heat to gentle boil for 14 minutes. I removed and placed in ice water for 15 minutes. I chilled overnight and peeled the next day. What I had was UNDERCOOKED eggs with mushy whites. VERY disappointed. Won't use this recipe again!!!

A.MAZ.ING! I've tried other recipes that claim to make "perfect hard-boiled eggs", but have never gotten perfect eggs. This is the real deal, folks. Not only were the eggs perfectly cooked, with a beautifully yellow and creamy yolk, but it peeled incredibly easily as well. I literally bought my eggs from a Farmers' Market TODAY and boiled them TODAY -- still peels easily!! Thank you so much, Ken! This is the only method I'll use!

The first 2 times I made these, the yolks came out a little mushy. The 3rd time I made them, I increased the cooking time to 20 minutes and they came out perfect.

These eggs were the easiest to peel, ever! My eggs are superfresh and peeling has always been a nightmare.... not anymore, thanks Ken!

A simple and fantastic way to make hard boiled eggs and look like a champion.

pay attention to how long it says to cook. I messed up the first and only cooked them for 12 min. they did not turn out.

I have farm fresh eggs that are notoriously tough to peel when hard boiled. Have tried ice baths immediately after boiling and soaked until cold, but still no joy with peeling. Store bought eggs were the only remedy to this dilemma because they are less fresh and somehow makes a difference separating membrane from eggs. Until this recipe! Boiled my day old farm fresh eggs using vinegar in the water and presto - they peel like a banana! No more store boughts. Yippi! I suggest using a slotted spoon to lower eggs into boiling water to prevent cracking.

I have struggled with boiling eggs for years. I have tried using older eggs and different boiling methods. This is the perfect method!!! Finally, shells that peel right off.

I have found the perfect hard boiled egg. Thank you.

The eggs were cooked perfectly and came out of the shell easily.

OK, I cheated and I put 9 eggs in the water cuz that was what I had left in my carton. Things were going along smoothly, until I peeled just one egg that was a mess. I should never have cheated!!!! The other 8....perfect. Man, that is the last time I tweak this recipe!!! Thanks Ken!

Followed the instructions exactly and got purrrrfect hard boiled eggs! Lovely, creamy-textured yolks with no ring of green, tender whites, and they peel like a charm (the shells come off all in one piece after cracking the entire surface). Of course, I used the eggs that I let sit in the fridge for a week to increase the air space around the egg and make peeling easier.

Wow. They were actually perfect. First time I have ever done that I think!

Yep, this makes perfect eggs! No more gray-ish yolks for me! Wish I would have know this method 30+ years ago! Thanks for the instructions.

Just tried this and for the first time ever, I have shells that slide right off and don't stick! Thanks for the great recipe. No I can have perfect looking deviled eggs!

Finally no more screaming and yelling that i cant get the eggs to peel. This worked great. I made Shorecook's Mother In Law Eggs with it. this will be my new go to way to hard boil eggs. thanks ken!

The eggs were fine, but I didn't think they were any easier to peel. In fact, the first one I peeled was a mess.

I've never had success in getting the shell neatly off eggs so decided to try this method. I followed the directions exactly and they were indeed easy to peel. Yay! The four stars is because the yolks had the grey ring around them. A perfect egg wouldn't :D

Always Perfect !

I have had such a hard time making hard boiled eggs that I can peel easlily every time. Tried everything including using older eggs. This is the one recipe that works every time for me. I love this. Thanks so much!

Great advice and recipe. I have cooked easy to peel, perfectly cooked hard boiled eggs for years without the advice in this recipe. My problem is that we have retired and are living in our RV and cooking with Propane. Over the past 3 years, cooking with propane, I have tried every technique and until today I have not been able to cook a hard boiled egg that wasn't difficult to peel. I tried this recipe today and was elated! Finally, I can return to the days of easy t peel, perfectly cooked hard boiled eggs! Thank you!

I made these eggs exactly as directed. They are amazing...the egg is cooked to perfection and the shell falls off the egg when cracked-how much more easy can it be!? Thanks Ken for a terrific recipe!

Truly, I cannot thank you enough for finally giving me a NO-fail way to make the PERFECT hard boiled eggs! I was reduced to purchasing boiled eggs I was that bad at it before I came across this version. I thought I had tried every trick out there but with these slight modifications I can finally, and proudly, make some eggs :-) I did follow this recipe to the "t" even though some reviews said you can do it without the vinegar and/or salt...so long as you plunge them in the ice bath - perhaps I'll try that out later but for now just too happy with my results to worry about straying from the recipe.

The correct time for hard boiled egg is 8 minutes starting with cold water place eggs pot in on a high heat and remove them 8 minutes later and run under really cold water to stop the cooking process... The reason for your eggs bot peeling correctly is because the eggs have been over cooked...

I was skeptical on this method but it works great with fresh eggs. Takes forever to get the water to boil on my stove.

Ken--you are the Egg Meister. For the first time ever (And I Mean Ever) I got perfect hard boiled eggs even though I messed up on the preparation. I didn't get them to boil, and then I turned up the heat too high and boiled them too hard, but they still came out easy-to-peel and perfectly cooked. A few of them absorbed a lot of water, and even those were perfect. Was it the vinegar or the cooking time? Was it that the eggs were quite elderly? I have no idea, but this willl be my go-to egg recipe from now on. Thanks for sharing!!

PERFECT! I needed to make deviled eggs for Mother's Day and forgot to buy them ahead of time. This recipe saved the day! I have never been able to peel fresh bought eggs. I followed this recipe to a "T", even measuring the water. It worked perfectly. Thank you Ken for sharing this PERFECT recipe. I raved about this recipe to my daughter. We used it while making our Mother in Law eggs for a party. The eggs wouldn't peel. Perhaps she didn't measure as carefully as I did...the solution is we put them in the freezer for 5 minutes and they peeled like a charm! If an egg gives you a problem try the freezer for 5 minutes.

Why argue with success? I'd read that old eggs peel better and plunging them in cold water helps, but this addition of salt & vinegar did make them peel perfectly! Ken, you've helped make Easter easier. Now onto the deviled eggs...

FINALLY!! No more effort peeling off the shell! This recipe was perfect, I followed it exactly. And my husband said it was one of the best hard-boiled eggs he has ever had! Thanks!

This was definitely NOT the perfect boiled egg for me! I don't know if it's my high altitude or what, but I've never had so much trouble peeling eggs-I definitely won't try this again.

This worked out great for me. Used the whole dozen and still didn't have an issue. Thanks.

I did not have the success this recipe claims. I have tried several times, and with more and less vinegar. For me the difference is always the age of the eggs. The older the eggs the easier they are to peel after boiling.

this was my first attempt at hard boiled eggs and they did indeed turn out "perfect"! i didn't have distilled white vinegar, so i just used what i had on hand and they turned out perfect. recipe aside, ken was right about being careful adding the eggs to the boiled water - the slightest bump/touch against the bottom of the pot and they pop. i used a measuring cup to gently roll/place them into the water. thanks!

The shell sticks to the egg when the eggs are quite fresh. I saw a science-based food show once that explained that adding vinegar changes the Ph of the egg, thereby allowing the shell to release easier. Likewise as an egg ages, the Ph changes, so an older egg won't have a problem with sticking either, but who wants to eat that! Someone commented that it's the ice water that does the trick, but I think there's merit to the vinegar thing. So, thanks for figuring out the right ratio.

After reading all of the rave reviews, I was very excited to try this method. Unfortunately; despite following the instructions precisely, my eggs were anything but perfect. The yolks were not cooked all the way through and I didn't have one egg that I didn't lose some of the white on when peeling.

These came out perfect! They came right out of their shells and they yolks were the perfect shade of yellow.

Quite possibly the biggest disaster I've ever had. The skin stuck to the eggs, and I had so many divets in them once pealed, they are useless. My Easter is ruined.

Don't see the reason for vinegar or salt. I put my eggs in water, bring to a boil, turn the heat off as soon as it comes to a boil, wait 12 min, and then put them in ice water. Just don't crowd the pot. and they won't crack.

Perfect. Even following my Betty Crocker cookbook, I couldn't get them right. Now I have a secret I can pass on to my girls.