Experts' Experts: How to Make a Perfect Hard-Boiled Egg

[A perfectly cooked egg (L) will have a uniformly moist yolk and tender white. An overcooked egg (R) will have a dry yolk with a telltale green ring between yolk and white.]

From Cook's Illustrated:

Producing a hard-cooked egg with a uniformly moist yolk and tender white can be a challenge even for experienced cooks.

The method we developed 25 years ago is still the best we've tried, yielding consistent results with minimal effort and no guesswork.

Best of all, since our approach cooks the eggs with residual and ever-decreasing heat, it is virtually impossible to overcook them.

This method will work for up to 1 dozen eggs as long as you put them in a saucepan in a single layer.

1. Place the eggs in a saucepan in a single layer and cover with 1 inch water. Bring to a boil over high heat. Remove the pan from the heat, cover, and let sit 10 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, fill a bowl halfway with cold water and ice cubes. Transfer the eggs to the ice-water bath with a slotted spoon and let sit 5 minutes. Peel and use as desired.

A perfectly cooked egg [top, left] will have a uniformly moist yolk and tender white.

An overcooked egg [top, right] will have a dry yolk with a telltale green ring between the yolk and the white.