To cook a perfect hard boiled egg, you need ice cubes. Really - you do. And you need a good supply of ice cubes.

Let me explain. In a pot, place the raw eggs that you want to cook. Cover the eggs with cool water until there is about one inch ( 2.5 centimeters ) of water over the top of the eggs. On medium high heat, bring the water to a full boil. Once there is a full boil, immediately remove the pot from the heat source and cover the pot with a lid. Let the eggs sit in this hot water for seventeen (17) minutes. Time this. It should be exactly seventeen (17) minutes.

Now, here is where you need the ice cubes. The eggs have been cooking - and now the focus is to stop the cooking process. For this, you will need a bowl of ice water. Remove the eggs from the hot water and set them into the cold ice water. This will stop the cooking process. Leave the eggs covered with the ice water for three (3) minutes. Remove the eggs from the ice water. To peel, first tap the wide end of the egg gently on a hard surface and then tap the sharp end of the egg on a hard surface. Then, roll the egg on a towel-covered hard surface. The egg shell should be easy to remove now. And you will have the perfect hard boiled egg.

Go on - admit it. You want to try this.

Catherine Forsythe

Tags: perfect hard boiled eggs, ice cubes, ice water, cooking, timing