Julia Child's Method For The Best Hard-Boiled Eggs

Iconic cookbook and TV personality author Julia Child is known for bringing the art of fine French cuisine into American kitchens, but that doesn't she mean she wasn't just as big of a resource for simple tricks for everyday dishes, too. One of her most game-changing tips for home cooks, for example, is for the humble but hearty, ubiquitous hard-boiled egg. Although, to call Child's improved egg hard-boiled is a bit of a misnomer.

We tried a variety of ways to cook hard-boiled eggs, but according to another celebrity chef, Sara Moulton, the trick Julia Child mastered was to stop the cooking process just short of that actual boil. Moulton worked for Child as a food-stylist in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where she learned the culinary legend's technique. Moulton revealed on the "Homemade" podcast that Child would put the eggs into cold water in the pot, and then heat the eggs and water up together. Just when they were at that right-about-to-boil point, she'd remove them from heat and let them sit for 13 or 14 minutes before draining and getting them as quickly as possible into ice water — ice baths are vital for eggs because they halt the cooking process. They'd hang out in that ice water for 15 to 20 minutes before she'd peel them. The payoff for this careful "hard-cooked egg" process? Much more tender egg whites, per Moulton, that are never dry or rubbery. The fast cooling also prevents that unappealing green barrier that can form between the yolk and the white.

The reason Child's method succeeds is because when eggs boil for even a moment too long, their proteins overcook, which is why you get that rubbery quality and a too-firm bite. When you start with cold water and let the eggs' temperature rise with the water's, they get a more thorough, evenly measured heat-up that keeps the yolk custardy and cooks the whites without overdoing it. If you've long tried to perfect your own process for cooking a hard-boiled egg, you know that subtle tweaks like Child's heating but not actually boiling method can make a world of difference — it's really all a matter of timing. 

Add Child's hard-cooked egg technique to your repertoire alongside another genius egg hack from the beloved chef. She was also known for her unrivaled poached eggs, which she would achieve by poking a hole in the shells with a needle, then placing into the boil for 10 seconds before cracking and poaching. This helps keep the egg intact during the poach. Fittingly, Child's protégé, who has helped spread the word of Child's hard-cooked egg method, has also developed her own approach: For perfect poached eggs, Sara Moulton uses a strainer — she hits it against a hard surface with the egg in it, detaching its stringy whites. Between Child and Moulton, all of our egg dishes are about to get remarkably better.