Best Way to Boil an Egg

Boiling eggs used to be a hit-or-miss project for me. Sometimes they just didn't turn out like I wanted, and often the shells were really hard to get off without tearing up the egg.

So one day I decided there must be a right way to do this and get more consistent results. With a little research, I narrowed it down to 2 methods and then tried them both. This is the method that gave me the best results:

Start a pan of water heating. Set the carton of eggs out so they start to come closer to room temperature. When the water reaches the boiling point, add the eggs one by one using a slotted spoon. Set a timer for 15 minutes. When the timer sounds, remove the pan from the burner and immediately pour out most of the hot water and start to pour in cold water from the faucet. To completely cool the eggs quickly, add some ice cubes into the cold water. After 5 minutes or so, refrigerate the boiled eggs. I keep them in a certain container in the refrigerator all the time so my family knows which ones are boiled. When you get ready to use them, they will almost always peel quickly and easily, and be perfect on the inside.

You need to choose the cooking pan carefully because some pans will be damaged by pouring cold water into a hot pan. For this reason, I use an blue enamel-coated pan I bought at the Army-Navy store. It also serves as a reminder when I set it out on the stove that I need to boil some eggs.

Eggs are very nutritious, especially if you choose the kind that come from grain-fed chickens and have extra essential fatty acids. In the past they had a bad reputation, but that's been disproven now.

Simple recipe for Egg Salad:
Serves 1.

• 2 boiled eggs, chopped (I use an egg slicer)
• 1 tablespoon real mayonnaise
• 1 teaspoon mustard
• 1 tablespoon pickle relish
• chopped onion, optional
• salt and pepper to taste

Mix together and serve on bread or with chips or crackers. As always, I don't actually measure, but just toss the stuff in and stir it up. These are things I always have on hand, so I'm just a few minutes away from a good lunch. Add some baby carrots and/or other fresh veggies for a complete meal.