Seems like people are always coming up with new and interesting ways to cook food. Then they tell everyone on the internet how to do it. This week the latest craze is eggs.
It seems that folks on Pinterest and Facebook are offering instructions on how to hard cook eggs in the oven. I actually heard some of my neighbors talking about this last week too. Another friend tells me she’s been doing it for years as when making fancy Italian Easter cookies and breads with decorated eggs baked in the dough.
As they say: Please don’t try this at home or at least if you do USE CAUTION.
Linnette Goard, Extension Field Specialist in Food Safety and Assistant Professor with Ohio State University has concerns with this latest rage. She says the eggs could easily explode when heat builds up inside the shell. It’s not that you would get a foodborne illness from this cooking method—the eggs are cooked—but you might get hurt from the hot flying food. Not to mention the possible mess in the oven.
In searching the internet, I found several references to this method. One source baked the eggs in muffin tins and another directly on the oven racks. I did note that one of the recipes says to put a backing sheet underneath “just in case the egg breaks.” The typical baking time is about 30 minutes.
Other potential problems: the eggs could scorch because of the direct heat contact with the muffin tin. Comments mention that this method takes longer than regular cooking methods and the eggs tend to have scorch marks on them. Another thought, I’m not an energy specialist, but it seems to me that 30 minutes in an oven would use more energy than cooking them on top of the stove. The decision is yours, but be careful.
Just before Easter, this seems like a perfect time to talk about eggs in general.
I have a personal “pet peeve”. Did you note that I didn’t say “hard-boiled egg”? I always try to say “hard cooked eggs”, because eggs should NEVER be boiled. Overcooking—as is frequently done when boiling an egg—causes that ugly green “halo” around the yolk. This green ring is harmless but doesn’t look great when making deviled eggs or serving hard cooked eggs. It is a reaction between the sulfur in the egg white and the iron in the egg yolk. It occurs when the eggs have been cooked too long or at too high a temperature.
I’m really not sure why people are looking for an easier way to hard cook eggs. It’s fairly simple. With the method recommended by the American Egg board you don’t boil them and get perfect eggs very time.
To hard cook eggs: place the raw eggs in a saucepan large enough to hold them in a single layer. Add cold water to cover eggs by one inch. Cook over high heat JUST to boiling. REMOVE from burner and cover pan. Let the eggs stand in the hot water for about 12 minutes for large eggs (9 minutes for medium and 15 minutes for extra-large.) Drain immediately and serve warm or cool quickly and completely under cold running water or in a bowl of ice water. If you don’t cool them quickly you may still get that green ring, because the eggs continue to cook inside the shell. Store the cooled eggs in the refrigerator.
How long can you keep hard cooked eggs? Hard cooked eggs can be safely refrigerated for up to one week. Once peeled, eggs should be eaten that day. Don’t store hard cooked eggs at room temperature for more than two hours. If you’re coloring eggs and using them for Easter decorations these eggs should NOT be eaten if you keep them at room temperature. That goes for those cookies my neighbor makes with the baked eggs inside, too, they need to be refrigerated.
How can I get hard cooked eggs to peel easier? For easier peeling, eggs should be 7-10 days old. When an egg is fresh the white is very attached to the shell making it difficult to peel. As the egg gets a little older, an air sac forms around the egg and helps to separate the membranes from the shell.
Posted by: Linnette Goard, Field Specialist, Food Safety, Selection and Management, Family and Consumer Sciences, Ohio State University Extension. This article was written by a colleague of mine, Cheryle Syracuse, who works for the North Carolina Extension Service in Brunswick County. She also writes for the Brunswick Beacon, Shallotte, North Carolina.
Sources: Ohio State University Extension, The American Egg Board www.incredibleegg.org
