Making perfect hard-boiled eggs may seem easy, but it can be disheartening when the eggs keep cracking. The result will still be perfectly edible, but you won’t get that perfectly even texture so many people crave. So, how do you keep eggs from cracking while cooking them? We’ve collected some expert-approved tips!
Use a Steamer
The Fresh Eggs Daily Cookbook author, Lisa Steele’s trick is to use a steamer rather than a pot for boiling eggs. She explained, “The benefit of steaming is that the eggs are sitting quietly in the steamer basket over the simmering water, not banging into each other loose in the pot. The heat is more gentle also, so as an added bonus, you don’t get that weird green ring around the yolks.”
How to Make Perfect Eggs
According to Steele, putting eggs in a steamer basket above boiling water is the way to go! She suggests placing the amount of eggs you want to make in a basket, making sure to leave space between each one. The reason for this is that you want each egg to be fully surrounded by steam. Steele then puts the basket over a pot of 1-2 inches of boiling water and covers the pot with a lid.
She likes to cook her eggs until the yolk is hard-boiled, which takes roughly 10-12 minutes. The next step is to use tongs to transfer the eggs from the basket into ice water until they cool down. Lastly, pat the eggs dry, peel them, and enjoy your perfectly hard-boiled eggs!