How To Perfectly Hard-Boil (and Soft-Boil) Your Eggs

It's almost as easy as boiling water. Almost.

Photos by Lauren Zaser/ Graphics by Chris Ritter/ BuzzFeed

Hard-boiled eggs are pretty much the easiest thing you can make in a kitchen.

All you need is a pot of water and a timer.

But beware the pitfalls! That green ring around the yolk? That's an overcooked egg. Hard to peel? Yeah, there's a trick for that.

Read on to unlock all the secrets behind the perfect hard-boiled egg.

Start by placing eggs in a medium pot in a single layer and covering them with water. It's important they don't overlap and the pot isn't too crowded so they all cook at the same time. Bring them to a boil, remove from heat and cover. Let sit 10 minutes.

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You know that creepy green-grey color that sometimes appears around the egg yolk? Well, there's a whole science-y reason behind why that happens.

When cooked or heated, egg whites produce hydrogen sulfide. When this mingles with the iron in the egg yolk, it creates a reaction = green-grey color and sulfur-y smell.

The good news: It only happens when eggs are over-cooked or not cooled quickly enough. So it's preventable. You have the power. That's why this next step is IMPORTANT.

Transfer the eggs to a bowl full of ice water to cool them down quickly. This will keep the yolks *bright* yellow.

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To peel, crack an egg all over on a counter, then give the egg a little roll, pressing slightly till it's cracked all over. Then peel.

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The fresher the egg, the harder it will be to peel. (Annoying, I know, but that's just how it is.) If your eggs are giving you trouble, take a deep breath and run them under cold water. The water will loosen the shell from the egg.

Then you can make THESE deviled eggs.

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Halve peeled hard-boiled eggs lengthwise and scoop the yolks into a medium bowl (save the whites). Using a fork, smash the yolks into a paste and add some mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, salt and pepper. Maybe you like chopped up scallions or pickles in there, too. Who knows? Go crazy. Just make sure it tastes amazing.

Fill a ziplock bag with this ~amazing mixture~ and snip a little hole in the corner. Fill the egg whites with the yolk mixture, then sprinkle some paprika and chives over the top.

Oh look! A video!

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But what if you'd rather have a soft, delicious, just-a-little gooey yolk? Read on!

Photos by Lauren Zaser/ Graphics by Chris Ritter/ BuzzFeed

The perfect soft boiled egg has a just-set yolk, with a center that's still slightly runny, almost jammy.

To me, it's kind of like if a fried egg and a hard boiled egg had a baby. So, yeah, it's the perfect food.

So, just cook it like a hard-boiled egg but for less time, right?

Not exactly. This technique is different than the hard-boiling above because It's easier to know for certain how long an egg is cooking when you drop it into boiling water rather than bring it up from cold. When you're aiming for a perfectly almost-cooked-but-still-kinda-runny center, the timing needs to be exact.

To start, bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Then, using a large spoon, gently lower in a few eggs (keep them in an even layer and don't crowd the pot). Boil them, uncovered, for 6 minutes.

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Then chill in an ice bath to stop the cooking (lest the yolk become...hardboiled), and peel as usual.

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Then you can really fancy-up your store bought ramen, like THIS.

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Cook store bought noodles as per usual. For the broth, use as much of the seasoning packet as you like (I use about half), then go ahead and add some soy sauce, toasted sesame oil and a splash of rice wine vinegar. Top with some crushed chile flakes and add bamboo shoots, a handful of herbs or chopped scallion, a few sheets of seaweed snacks (!!) and half of a perfectly soft boiled egg.

And a video for you, too!

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For more tips on how to perfectly cook every type of egg, head HERE.

Photos by Lauren Zaser/ Graphics by Chris Ritter/ BuzzFeed