Photo essay 1

1. Sort the eggs. Place them in a bowl of salt water—if the egg floats it means it is fresh. Place the fresh eggs gently in an empty pot. Be sure to do so one by one to avoid breaking the egg. Similarly, do not place more than four layers of eggs in the pot.^[1]
   
   
   • To prevent cracking of the eggs, place folded cheese cloth on a bottom of a pot (on a table, not a hot stove.)
   • If you accidentally crack an egg, add salt and/or vinegar to the water. This may help the proteins in the egg white coagulate faster, thus plugging the cracks in the shell.
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   Fill the pot with enough cold tap water to cover the eggs completely. There should be about 1 inch (3 cm) of water over them. Although it increases cooking time, be sure to use cold water. This will help keep the eggs from overcooking. Likewise, do not place cold eggs in a pot of hot water, the shells will crack immediately and the egg will run. Place the pot on a stove and turn it on. Cook the eggs on medium heat; if boiling is too intense the eggs can jump and break.
   
   
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   Add a pinch of salt to the water. This will make the eggs easier to peel because, as mentioned earlier, the proteins coagulate and firm up, making the white easier to separate from the shell. Eggs that are slightly less fresh are also easier to peel because their higher pH strengthens the membrane. This can be simulated by making the cooking water more alkaline with a half teaspoon of baking soda per quart of water. ^[2]
   
   
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   Put on a lid. Bring the water to the point of boiling over high heat. From here, there are two main schools of thought regarding how to get a perfectly hard boiled egg. The following method assumes you started with cold, refrigerated eggs. See the video below for the other method.
   
   
   • As soon as the water boils, turn off the heat, but keep the pot on the warm stove. Do not remove the lid. Leave the eggs in the hot water for ten to fifteen minutes.^[3] It is important you do not start the timer until you turn off the heat. Too much time will make the eggs discolored and smelly, while too little time will cause them to be runny.
     
     
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   Stop the cooking process. To see if the egg is hard boiled, whirl it fast on a table. If it turns fast, it is hard boiled. If it turns slowly, it is soft boiled. Chill the eggs by placing them under cold running water or in a bowl of ice water. After that, immediately remove them from cold water and set aside or store in a refrigerator. Chilling the eggs helps to separate egg shell from the egg. However, this effect is lessened if you leave the eggs in cold water for too long.
   
   
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   Peel the eggs when they are cool enough to handle. It's easier to peel them under cold running water. Roll egg on a flat surface to crack the shell slightly prior to peeling. Start peeling from the thick end of the egg. There is a slight indentation under the shell there that will facilitate the peeling process. Once you crack the shell, be sure to grab the membrane directly under the shell as well. Doing so will make peeling a lot easier. Some people say that really fresh eggs are harder to peel, so try boiling eggs that you have had for a few days.