Whether you are using your hard-boiled eggs as a quick and easy breakfast, to make the popular appetizer of deviled eggs, to add some variety and texture to your salad, or just as a high-protein snack, you will need to perfect the art of proper hard boiling. Although the process is relatively simple, if not done correctly, you could end up with rubbery or foul-tasting eggs.

Hard boiled eggs are quick and easy to make— all you'll need is some eggs, water, salt and a few basic kitchen utensils. You can cook your eggs traditionally on the stove top or in the microwave. Once cooked, the eggs can be stored in the refrigerator for up to ten days, so hard boiling is an excellent way to extend the life of your eggs if they are about to expire. Mahalo's guide on how to make hard boiled eggs will make a hard-boiling expert out of you in no time!

The ingredients and cooking utensils are very basic. Odds are that you will already have everything you need in your kitchen cupboards.

• Eggs

• Water

• Salt

• Ice cubes

• Vinegar (optional)

• A stove
• A saucepan that is big enough to fit all the eggs and an inch of water
• A bowl or pan for cooling
• A timer
  • or
• A microwave
• A microwave-safe container or a microwaveable egg cooker

• An egg consists of four main parts: the yolk, egg-white, albumen and shell. The albumen is a thin membrane that separates the egg from the shell. The more separation you get between the albumen and the egg yolk/white, the easier it is to peel after it's boiled. There are two ways to create space between the albumen and the egg: storage and cooling. We will focus on the storage portion now. To learn how cooling affects eggs, refer to Step 4.

1. Fresh eggs are harder to peel after they've been boiled. This is because as an egg matures, the carbon dioxide in the albumen decreases, thus decreasing the acidity. The longer you store your eggs, the lower the acidity and the easier they will be to peel. You should store your eggs for 7-10 days, or as long as you can hold off your hard boiled egg craving.Kitchen Savvy: Peeling Hard-Boiled Eggs

2. When your eggs are ready, take them out of the refrigerator and allow them to adjust to room temperature before placing them in the water.Kalyns Kitchen: How to Make Perfect Hard-Boiled Eggs and Recipes Using Hard-Boiled Eggs

• The worst thing you can do when boiling eggs is to overcook them. Overcooking results in a greenish-gray color around the yolk, and a sulphuric taste.Simply Recipes: How to Make Perfect Hard Boiled Eggs

1. Place the desired amount of eggs in the pan and fill with water until there is an inch of water covering the eggs.
2. Add a tablespoon of salt and a tablespoon of vinegar.Vinegarbook: Vinegar articles - Cooking tricks with vinegar
   • Adding salt and vinegar helps keep the egg from cracking and spilling out of the shell and also makes the eggs easier to peel.Simply Recipes: How to Make Perfect Hard Boiled Eggs
3. Place the pot with the eggs on the stove and bring to a boil.
4. Cover the pot and boil for 10 minutes.

Cooking eggs on the stove is not the only way to make hard boiled eggs. The microwave has another trick up its sleeve—cooking hard boiled eggs. Forget about the saucepan and all the time it takes to hard boil eggs on the stove. All the egg cooker needs is water and eggs—the microwave takes care of the rest. You can buy egg cookers at, as well as most other kitchen appliance stores.

• Cooling the eggs is the last step in achieving hard boiled status. You will want to make the water as cold and icy as possible so that the shell separates from the egg and makes it easier to peel.DVO.com: Perpetually Perfect and Peelable Hard-Boiled Eggs

1. Drain the hot water from your pan or microwaveable egg container.
2. Once you have drained the hot water, you will need to cool the eggs with cold water and ice. This can be done two different ways: In the same pot, or in a different container.
   1. In the same pot. Pour cold water in your pot. Do this and drain a few times so that the eggs and the pot cool off, then add ice.
   2. In a different container. Fill a bowl or container big enough to hold the eggs with cold water. Scoop the eggs into the new bowl/container and add ice.
   • If you microwaved your eggs, you can cool them by placing the container under the faucet and pouring cold water on them until they are cool enough to touch. Once they are cool enough to handle, place them in an ice bath.
3. Let the eggs chill for 10 minutes and then dry them off.
4. If you're not eating your eggs right away, store them in the refrigerator in a container that will lock in the odor.

• Now it's time to peel off the shell to see how your eggs turned out. If you have waited at least a week before you boiled your eggs and if you have given them a proper ice bath, then the shell should peel right off. There are several different ways to peel an egg, but the method that seems most efficient involves rolling and cracking the shell.

1. Take the egg and crack both ends on a hard surface. Your counter will work just fine.ThriftyFun.com: Peeling Hard Boiled Eggs
2. Now take the egg and lay it on its side on your countertop. Press your palm to the top of the egg, apply some pressure and roll the egg so that you crack the body of the shell.
3. The egg should be cracked all over. Start with any piece and begin peeling. If you have waited at least a week before boiling the eggs and given them a proper ice bath, you will notice that the shell comes right off.
4. Rinse the egg under water so that all pieces of the shell are gone.