hard boiled eggs
See also: egg
Whole eggs cooked in the shell in hot water until both white and yolk are fully set, then peeled; eaten as-is, sliced, or worked into dishes like deviled eggs and egg salad.
Buying guidance
Start with uncracked, refrigerated eggs -- but counterintuitively, eggs a week or two old peel more easily than very fresh ones, since the shell membrane loosens from the white as an egg ages. Overcooking is the main failure mode: a greenish-gray ring around the yolk means it sat in hot water too long, so cool cooked eggs promptly in ice water to stop the cooking and make peeling easier.
Substitutions
- Firm tofu, cubed -- mild protein stand-in for salads or garnish, with none of the yolk's richness or egg flavor.
- Omit -- fine in a green salad, just less protein and richness; not a real substitute where the egg itself is the point, as in deviled eggs or egg salad.
Tips & common mistakes
Peel starting at the wide, rounded end of the egg, where an air pocket forms during cooking -- it's much easier to get a purchase on the shell there than at the pointed end.
Storage
Keep them in their shells until you're ready to eat them if possible -- the shell slows moisture loss and keeps out fridge odors, so a peeled egg dries out and picks up smells faster than an unpeeled one. Refrigerated in the shell, they keep about a week.