How To Steam Hard-Boiled Eggs

Hard-boiled eggs are easy enough to make but difficult to perfect. From adding a little baking soda to the water to starting the eggs at a rolling boil to pricking the egg shells, there are a bunch of tricks out there to help you reach perfection. Well, here's a technique that blows those tips out of the water.

For perfectly cooked hard-boiled eggs, try steaming them.

It's not a new idea. Home cooks have been steaming their eggs to achieve that hard-boiled, or soft-boiled state, for a while. But a YouTube video by Food Wishes, an allrecipes production, illustrates the process of steaming eggs so well that we couldn't keep this not-so-secret but under-appreciated trick to ourselves. Here's how it works: 

Pour about a cup of water into a 3 quart saucepan.

Bring the water to a boil.

Place eggs in the water.

YouTube/Food Wishes – an allrecipes production

Cover immediately, turn stove to medium high and set timer to 9½ minutes.

Remove from the heat and shock the eggs with cold water.

Crack the shells gently against the pot.

YouTube/Food Wishes – an allrecipes production

Let the eggs cool completely.

Then remove the shells with ease.

YouTube/Food Wishes – an allrecipes production

Enjoy perfect hard-boiled eggs every time.

Watch here for the full video.

As Chef John of Food Wishes says, cracking the shells while the eggs cool in the water is optional. But it does make removing the shells a little easier, because water is able to get in and loosen things up a bit. Once your eggs are fully chilled, you can either remove the shells and use the eggs right away or store them in the fridge for later.

Try this trick once, and you'll be on your way to hard-boiled perfection—full steam ahead