Alton Brown's Trick For Keeping Yolks Centered In Boiled Eggs

There are several reasons you might want to boil eggs. Hard-boiled eggs are a great quick snack and an excellent source of nutrient-dense protein, per Healthline. There are also numerous other delicious reasons to boil up some eggs. There are classic recipes like deviled eggs and egg salad. Or you might be hard-boiling eggs for a potato salad, Cobb salad, or Salad Niçoise.

In most of these instances, you'll want to have eggs that boil in a uniform manner where the yolk is dead-center in the middle of the egg. This way the egg yolk to white ratio is even when you cut them which is aesthetically pleasing when serving deviled eggs. With raw eggs having a more free-form gelatinous interior, though, getting the yolk to settle in the middle can be a hard task to achieve. Aside from gently asking your eggs to fall in line as you put them in the pot, where do you even start? King of the kitchen hack Alton Brown might have the answer.

According to Alton Brown (via YouTube), getting the yolk of an egg to settle at the center of the egg isn't as difficult as you might think. He suggests that you lay the egg carton on its side while storing it in the fridge. A safe way to do this is to use a couple of strong rubber bands to hold the egg container shut. Cuisine at Home notes that you don't have to do this very long before you begin cooking. The site's suggestion is that you turn your carton on its side just 24 hours before you plan to boil your eggs.

Looking to save some water while you prepare boiled eggs? Alton Brown notes that you can place "a minimum of four eggs" into a steamer basket with half an inch of water in the pot and steam them over low heat. Be sure to shock them in an ice bath to ensure they stay tender. This will also help you peel them. With these handy hacks, your boiled eggs might turn out perfect.