I know you have a go-to method of making hard boiled eggs - me too! For decades I used the same method that I grew up with - boil the dog-wallop out of them, then refrigerate. Anyone can make a hard-boiled egg, right? It was years before I learned that yolks should remain a bright yellow color and not turn olive green after boiling.
The perfect hard-cooked egg
Now my criteria for the perfect hard-cooked egg is:
- both the yolk and white should be cooked through, but not tough
- no green coating around the yolk!
- relatively easy cooking process
- cooked eggs should be easy to peel
In search of the best cooking method
For our high mountain elevations, I explored four methods for hard-cooked eggs at high altitude. In my analysis, the method that consistently produced outstanding hard cooked eggs was the steamed method from Cook's Illustrated magazine.
What about using an Instant Pot?
I'm also a big fan of hard-cooked eggs in an Instant Pot. The eggs are perfect every time and all you have to do is:
- set them at high pressure for 5 minutes (don't forget that you'll have 10 minutes to get the pot up to pressure),
- 3-5 minutes of natural release, then
- 10 minutes in an ice bath.
Still...I prefer steaming for hard-cooked eggs because it takes about the same time and I don't have to drag out my Instant Pot.
Food safety tips
Wearing my food safety hat...no matter what cooking techniques you use hard-cooked eggs should be stored in the refrigerator within 2 hours of cooking. Yes, this means that hiding your colored, hard-cooked eggs for an Easter egg hunt can be unsafe. It would be better to let the kids hunt the plastic eggs instead of the real eggs. This also prevents you from the nasty surprise of finding a random undiscovered hard-cooked egg in your sofa next June.
Eat the hard-cooked eggs within a week and use an ice pack if you are packing them in a lunch box.
Easier peeling
For the easiest egg peeling, use your oldest eggs. Eggs have a membrane inside the shell that forms an air pocket. As an egg ages, this air pocket expands making it easier to peel after hard-cooking.
Funny quick-peel video
My favorite way to hard-cook eggs in the Boat is to steam them for 17 minutes. Give this steam method a try and then leave a comment to let me know if it works at your altitude. I'd love to hear about your experience and exactly how long you steamed your eggs.
Recipe
Steamed Hard-cooked Eggs
Equipment
- steamer basket
Ingredients
- 6 large eggs
- water
Instructions
- Pour one inch of water into a medium saucepan with a tight-fitting lid. Place an empty steamer basket over the water and turn heat to high until the water begins to boil.
- Gently place the eggs in the steamer basket. When the water returns to a boil, reduce the heat to medium-low, cover and continue steaming for 17 minutes. (Adjust this time to your elevation - see note below.)
- While the eggs cook, prepare a large bowl with 2 cups of ice and 2 cups of water. Plunge the steamed eggs into the ice water for 10 minutes.
Notes
- Steam for 13 minutes at sea level (Cook's Illustrated recommendation)
- Steam for 15 minutes at 5,000 feet above sea level - Longmont & Fort Collins, CO (Elisa & Lyndy's recommendation)
- Steam for 17 minutes at 6,800 feet above sea level - Steamboat Springs, CO (Karen's recommendation)
- Steam for 20 minutes at 10,000 feet above sea level - Leadville, CO (Elisa's recommendation)
Diana
Thank you for posting these instructions! I tested your method on 2 eggs straight from the refrigerator and got PERFECT results on the very first try! (Timing for my altitude in Denver was 15 minutes.) After the 10-minute cold water bath, my 2 test eggs were surprisingly easy to peel. I will definitely be steaming my eggs in the future!
LC
You are the bomb. Perfect eggs — 18 minutes at 7500 feet. We don’t own an Insta pot and thought that was a really silly thing to use it for.
JESSICA COPELAND
I just steamed eggs for the first time and they turned out PERFECT! Steamboat at 17 minutes...Now the easy peel method was a disaster, but that's my fault...I did it with warm eggs...I'll try it again once the eggs cool
Karen
I'm glad that you gave steaming a try Jessica! You are right, cooling the eggs before peeling (no matter what technique you use) is an important step. Thanks for letting me know that you gave it a try!
Ramona Beggs
Steaming eggs are the way to go. I’ll have to reduce the cooking time to17 mins. I usually steam them for 20 Minutes. Then I run cold water over them as I’m peeling them since our water is like ice cold. Be sure to capture the water and use the water and egg shells for your plants.
Karen
Let me know how the 17 minutes works for you. I’ll have to remember to save the shells for my plants. Thanks!
Vickie Miller
I’m in Greeley, CO and 15 mins was too long. I had one crack. I am trying again at 13 mins. Will see how it goes. But I loved the result anyway. My fresh eggs peel so much easier this way!
Go
THANK YOU FOR THIS!!!!!!! I've been struggling with my eggs for over 2 years. 18 minutes @ 9000 ft worked like a DREAM!!!!!
Maureen
Cool! I'm going to try it! Thanks Karen and Jack!
ann
This is great information! I will definitely be sharing it!
Todd
I don't know if I'll steam my eggs this year, but Jack's new 'peeling eggs with gusto' has me convinced that it's the only way to peel eggs. I think you have a viral hit here!
Karen
As you can tell, we had fun making this video!