Most people prepare hard-boiled eggs using hot water. It is the standard way to make them. But it is not the only way to make hard-boiled eggs.
Not too many people know that you can cook hard-boiled eggs with no water and no pot. That’s right. You can enjoy hard-boiled eggs prepared using hot air.
If it sounds too good to be true, the best way to prove it is to see for yourself by turning to your oven. Your oven is all you need to give you perfect hard-boiled eggs for your egg salad, Easter eggs, egg curry, or deviled eggs. Your oven will do an amazing job.
Read on to find out just how to do it.
Get your Temperature Right
Setting the oven temperature is the first step to preparing hard boiled eggs in the oven. Set your temperature to 325°F and your eggs will cook perfectly with their shells on.
The next question on your mind probably has to do with how long you should cook the eggs. We are going to break down just how long to time the oven depending on how well you want your eggs to cook:
If you want your eggs to come out somewhat runny, you want to cook them for 20-24 minutes. The whites will be set, but the york will be just turning to a jam like consistency.
If you want your yolk to come out firm but still not solid, you want to set your oven for 25-27 minutes. The york will have acquired a nice dark golden yellow. It is easy to spread but can almost start to crumble.
If you want your egg to come out nice and firm, you want to cook them for 28-30 minutes. The eggs will come out firm enough to make a good egg salad or deviled egg salad.
Some ovens are not correctly calibrated. So if you find that your oven boiled eggs don’t come out as promised, that is probably the reason why. Or it may be that your eggs are cooler than normal or really fresh.
If it happens to you, you can adjust the temperature accordingly and use the timings specified. You will soon have it properly mastered down to a T.
Cooking the Eggs
You could simply place the eggs on your oven rack, but you could also do it in a better way. A muffin pan is even better than a normal oven rack. A typical muffin pan can accommodate a dozen eggs because it has a dozen cups.
Laying out the eggs on a muffin pan allows you to put the eggs in and out easily, because they cannot roll off in any direction.
In the absence of a muffin pan, you can still work with any pan that is safe to use in the oven.
Why do the Eggs Come out with Brown Spots
Oven-baked eggs often come out with brown spots on their shell exterior. When you wash the eggs, the spots may rinse off. But sometimes they don’t rinse off. Sometimes the brown spots show on the egg whites.
This usually happens at the spot where the egg shell touched the hot metal. Paper muffin liners on your muffin pan can prevent these brown spots from occurring by forming a barrier between the egg and the hot metal.
The eggs with brown spots are just as good to eat as those without. They are mere blemishes.
Giving the Eggs a Cooling Off in an Ice Bath
When your eggs are ready, cool them quickly with an ice water bath. An ice water bath not only cools the eggs, but it stops them from cooking any further and preserves the texture of the eggs as it is.
One added benefit of the ice water bath is that it makes it a lot easier to peel the eggs. A large water bowl with at least a dozen ice cubes inside the water works best for cooling the eggs. Transfer the eggs to the ice bath immediately and allow them to rest for 10 minutes. You can now peel the eggs.
