They are the only kind of egg I enjoy.
I’ve not had a problem before. I usually boil them 20 min, then let them sit 10 minutes in the water before rinsing and fridgeing.
This time I shortened the boil time and the whites feel rubbery.
Should I have boiled longer?
Boiling them too long is what makes them rubbery.
I start with cold tap water, put the eggs in, 15 minutes on the burner on high, then dump the water and quench the eggs under cold running tap water.
If you are starting with hot or boiling water, boiling 20 then letting them steep in the just-was-boiling water for another 10, you’re cooking your eggs about three times as much as I do.
You might try making a couple my way and see if that’s a revelation. Not a whole dozen since you’re pretty particular about your eggs, and I’d hate to cause you to waste food.
I have usually boiled them long and they came out okay.
Maybe its just this batch. I only made 5.
Was my post a haiku?
Use the method Kenji Lopez uses.
Add salt to the water. More than you think. Works with older eggs. I don’t know why. Just does.
I think you’re right! I didn’t do it this time.
I put the eggs in the pan, add just enough cold water to cover them, then put it on a burner on max heat. The second the water reaches a rolling boil, I take it off the heat, cover it, and let it stand for 20 minutes.
The result - perfect hardboileds that aren’t overdone.
Yes, steaming eggs results in perfectly cooked eggs that peel perfectly easily. Start with cold eggs. I haven’t tried it with room temperature eggs, so I can’t verify, but I’ve read that it works best with cold eggs. I just steamed a dozen eggs last week and they were perfect. I went 13 minutes and the yolks were perfectly cooked. The whites were not rubbery.
Steaming is also less cleanup than boiling, as none of the eggs ever cracks and leaks.
We don’t hard boil eggs these days but when we took the Girl Guides camping, we often needed a couple of dozen or more. We would bring a large pot to the boil and put the eggs in a net so they could be lowered in.
10 minutes boiling and a thorough rinse in cold water produced excellent results every time.
We’ve been doing hard boiled eggs in the Instant Pot lately. Easy and they come out great. 5 - 5 - 5:
Add 1 C cold water, then the eggs. Cook for 5 min (there’s an egg button on the Instant Pot)
Let stand for 5 min (leave in the Instant Pot for 5 min then release the pressure)
Cold water bath for 5 min
They always peel very easily too.
Yes. Hard-boiled eggs were always my culinary Achilles heel (the peeling, not the cooking.) With the Instant Pot they almost peel themselves. The membrane gets released. I cook for 4 minutes though, because at 5 some of the shells occasionally burst.
I use an egg streamer. The amount of water you put in determines if you get soft, medium or hard eggs. It’s cheap, easily fits in a drawer (it’s about the same size as a steamer basket) and fool proof. It also poaches. Peels come off easily every time.
https://www.amazon.com/Dash-Rapid-Egg-Cooker-Scrambled/dp/B0168CNYRE/
IME, anything that converts an egg into a stream makes a big mess. 
I just made a batch of Instant Pot hard boiled eggs. I do a 6 minute cook because I like them a little harder-- 5 minutes and they come out more of a medium boil; from my Instant Pot, anyway.
I got a chance to try a hard-boiled egg trick I saw on a TikTok-style YouTube short I’ve been wanting to try-- usually Instant Pot eggs are easy to peel, but I have had some batches that were very difficult to peel-- pulled off a lot of white with the shell and ended up a mess. So the trick is, before boiling, tap on the large end of the raw egg with a spoon gently until you hear a ‘snap’, which I guess is the membrane separating from the inside of the shell. It does work, I was kind of surprised to find (so many of those types of videos are fake)- I heard a definite loud ‘snap’ sound. I left a couple unsnapped eggs as a control.
Didn’t seem to make a difference peeling though-- a snapped and an unsnapped egg seemed to both peel very easily. The unsnapped was even a bit cleaner than the snapped, which did pull off a tiny bit of the white with the shell. Maye it works better with a batch of eggs that do have problems peeling-- I think it has something to do with the age of the eggs-- younger ones are harder to peel, I think?
That’s interesting. The “recipe” also says that you should use room temperature eggs. I try to remember to take the eggs out to sit for a while. I wonder if that makes a difference for peeling too? I can’t remember ever having an issue peeling them when I cook them in the Instant Pot.
I hadn’t heard the recommendation to let the eggs get to room temp before boiling, thanks. Will try that next time.
Most of the time my Instant Pot HB eggs peel very easily, but it’s been just a couple times they’ve been a mess to peel. Like I said, it might be the batch of eggs, or it may have been when they weren’t cooked enough. My Instant Pot is several years old and it doesn’t seem to cook as well as it used to-- I find I have to set things for longer times now. So I do 6 minute HB eggs where a 5 minute cook used to be enough.
I cook mine in the air fryer. 250 degrees, 15 minutes, put into ice water for 10 minutes.
You can also bake them in a muffin tin in the oven. 350 degrees for half an hour, but I haven’t tried this.
The “snap” is the shell cracking very slightly. Try it, paying really close attention, and you’ll see it when it happens. Which can let enough water in to allow for easier peeling.
Membranes don’t crack - they’re wet. That’s just BS spread online.
Holy boiled hockey pucks, Batman! That would be way, way too long even if you were living on top of Mount Everest!
I was about to say that this is exactly how I do them, but then I read more carefully. No, my method is a little different. I start the way you do, but once the water boils, I turn off the heat and take the pot off the burner and let the eggs sit in the hot water, covered, for 11-15 minutes. It’s not all that different from your method except that by actively boiling for that amount of time you’re probably slightly overdoing them. I used to let them sit for 15 minutes but a fine chef on CBC Radio while I was driving home one day gave that exact recipe with a sit time of 11 minutes. I usually compromise at about 12.
The concept of “letting it sit” needs to be mitigated by things like what kind of range top it is (mine is glass top which retains heat for a long time, so taking it right off the burner is important). The timing also only applies if it’s at least a medium size heavy saucepan that retains heat.
I had a light dinner tonight and was feeling a bit peckish so this thread inspired me to boil three eggs which are currently in the cold-water cool-down phase. I’ll consume at least two of them in the form of Wolfpup’s Lazy Imitation Deviled Eggs – cut in half and anoint with mayo, Dijon mustard, and bit of paprika.