Hard-boiled eggs are a common way to prepare eggs for a nice breakfast dish, as well as being a key ingredient in egg salad, deviled eggs and Cobb salads. While boiling eggs has been the longtime method to prepare eggs in this fashion, it turns out that steaming eggs can yield the same result as a soft or hard boil. In fact, steaming eggs makes it easier to peel the egg after cooking, as water causes the egg membrane to stick to the egg white. On top of that, steaming allows you to cook the eggs evenly, and there's less risk of the egg breaking than if you just drop an egg in a boiling pot. It's worth trying out at least -- read below to see how it's done!
The Steps For Steaming An Egg
What You Need To Steam Eggs:
- A large pot
- Steamer basket
- Eggs
How to Steam Eggs:
- Fill the large pot with one to two inches of water, then place your steamer basket inside the pot.
- Bring the water to a boil. Once the water is boiling, add the eggs into the basket. Make sure to not stack the eggs -- keep them in one layer.
- Cover the pot and let the eggs steam for 12 minutes -- this is the desired length to achieve a proper hard-boiled egg. Adjust the time if you want them to be softer on the inside.
- Be careful that the water in the pot doesn't completely evaporate -- add a little more at the start if you're worried that there won't be enough water for the 12 minute boiling time. If the water evaporates, your eggs might start burning.
- Once the timer is up, use a spoon to immediately remove the eggs from the steamer basket.
- If you want to serve the eggs cold, prepare an ice bath (fill a bowl with ice and water) and dunk the eggs in there after removing them from the steamer basket.
- Peel the eggs -- while the skin should come off easily after being cooked, if you run a soft stream of cold water over the eggs while you peel them, it will make the process even easier.
What You Can Do With Hard-Boiled Eggs
Hard-boiled eggs are commonly eaten at breakfast, but they have found their way in many other types of cuisine. Cobb salads, egg salad sandwiches, deviled eggs, deep fried eggs and sliced hard-boiled eggs over toast are all common ways to make a delicious treat out of this simple item.
