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Don’t Use Cold Water When Boiling Eggs, “12345” is the Right Way

Have you mastered the art of boiling eggs? Follow these instructions and ensure that you will be able to cook perfectly soft and easy-to-peel eggs.

Administrator

10 November, 2023

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Do you like eating boiled eggs? And do you know how to boil eggs correctly? Most of us when boiling eggs encounter some problems such as, eggs not being fresh, very dry to eat, shells not easy to peel, egg whites sticking to the shells making the final product ugly. The main reason is the wrong method.

We are sharing with you a secret formula for boiling eggs perfectly, called “12345”. Just remember this formula and you can easily boil delicious eggs. Boiled eggs will have a fresh and soft taste, without losing nutrients, and will be easy to peel. Now let’s follow the correct method to boil eggs!

What does the “12345” formula mean? Let’s consider the correct method for boiling eggs!

First, for boiled eggs, you should choose fresh eggs. Choose eggs with shells that are not black spotted, cracked, and have a darker color because those are good eggs. Touch the eggs with your hands, if the eggshells feel slightly sticky, rough, they are fresh eggs. Do not choose eggs with smooth and shiny shells because those are eggs that have been stored for a long time. Gently shake the eggs, if you hear a sound, do not buy them because those are eggs that have been stored for a long time.

When you bring the eggs home, wash them thoroughly by hand and let them dry. When washing the eggs, check if the eggshells are intact, if there are cracks, the eggs will break when boiling.

Pour an appropriate amount of water into a large bowl, add 1 tablespoon of salt, 2 tablespoons of white vinegar, and stir well. Place the eggs in the mixture and soak them for 3 minutes to allow some water to penetrate inside the eggs. This way, the boiled eggs will have a fresh and soft taste.

At this point, you may wonder whether to use cold water or boiling water to boil the eggs?! You should know that if you boil eggs in cold water, the eggs will be immersed in water for a longer time, and the boiling time will also be longer. Therefore, the eggs will easily be overcooked, not fresh and soft. If you put the eggs in boiling water to cook, the eggs will be exposed to sudden hot water, which can cause the shells to crack and break…

The correct way is to pour hot water into the pot. The temperature of the water for boiling eggs is about 60°C. Because the coagulation temperature of the egg yolk and egg white is about 60°C. Therefore, when you put the eggs into 60°C hot water, the egg yolk and egg white will adapt to the temperature and start to coagulate quickly. When the temperature reaches about 73°C, the entire egg will be fully coagulated. If you boil the eggs for a long time at a temperature of 100°C, the water molecules will be squeezed out of the protein molecules in the eggs. As a result, the egg yolk will become very dry.

How to determine the water temperature most simply without using a thermometer?! Just look at the bubbles at the bottom of the pot. When you start to see small bubbles appearing at the bottom of the pot, it means the water temperature is close to 60~70°C. At this time, you can put the eggs in to boil. The boiling time for the eggs is 4 minutes, and the eggs will be fully cooked.

After 4 minutes of boiling the eggs, don’t immediately take them out. First, turn off the heat and let the eggs soak for about 5 minutes to fully cook them. After removing the eggs, don’t immediately peel them. That will not only burn your hands but also cause the egg layers to easily peel off and look unattractive. What you need to do is prepare a bowl of cold water, gently tap and place the boiled eggs in it, and let them soak for about 2 minutes. At this point, you will find that the eggshells are very easy to peel and almost separate from the egg whites.

Therefore, to summarize the main steps for boiling delicious eggs, you need to pay attention to the following 3 points:

1. Remember the “12345” formula, which means soaking the eggs in 1 tablespoon of salt and 2 tablespoons of vinegar for 3 minutes. Vinegar can soften the eggshells, and when salt penetrates the eggs, it forms sodium glutamate, which helps the eggs become soft and easy to peel. After that, boil the eggs for about 4 minutes, then soak them in hot water for 5 minutes. The eggs will be fully cooked, especially fresh and soft, without becoming “old” or dry.

2. Boiling eggs with cold water or boiling water is a mistake! You should boil the eggs in hot water at about 60°C to allow the eggs to coagulate quickly, with a short boiling time to reduce the loss of water inside the eggs and keep them soft, without becoming dry.

3. Do not immediately peel the eggs when they are just boiled. Gently tap the eggshells and soak them in boiling water for about 2 minutes to cool the eggs and lubricate the gap between the shells and the egg whites. By doing this, the eggshells will be very easy to peel and almost fall off.

According to Trí Thức Trẻ