Cooking an egg perfectly is an art that everyone has an opinion about. Put all those opinions aside and read in this article how to really cook a perfect egg, because a perfect Easter egg naturally starts with a perfectly cooked egg.
No fresh eggs
When you think of a perfect egg, you quickly think of a freshly collected egg straight from your own chicken coop. Not so. For a perfectly cooked egg, it is better not to use fresh eggs. These are very difficult to peel. After a few days, the chemical composition of the egg changes, making peeling easier.
Eggs have a small air sac that expands as the egg ages. When cold eggs come into contact with hot water, the air in this pouch can expand so quickly that the egg bursts. Therefore, place the eggs in a single layer in a pan of water at room temperature. This way the air can escape slowly and the egg will not crack.
Then quickly bring the water to a boil by turning the heat under the pan to high. From the moment the water boils, the eggs should boil for 1 minute. Then turn off the heat and leave the eggs in the pan for 12 minutes. It is important to rinse the eggs well cold. Drain the eggs and immediately place them in cold water. If you want to process the eggs immediately, a few minutes is enough. If you want to store the eggs, for example if you want to decorate them, it is better to let them cool for at least an hour.
Prefer to cook? Then hold for 5-10 minutes for a perfectly soft or hard-boiled egg.
Temperature management
A common problem when cooking eggs is a greenish-grey ring around the yolk. This ring is formed because protein produces hydrogen sulphide at a high temperature. This hydrogen sulfide reacts with traces of iron that are present in the egg yolk. This creates iron sulphide and that creates that ugly green-grey ring. However, this ring can be prevented by turning off the fire after 1 minute of cooking. The water in the pan will then cool down slowly. In this way the egg gets time to cook without the egg white reaching too high a temperature.
Decorate and decorate
The perfect Easter egg is of course decorated in a creative way. There are plenty of simple and fun ways to decorate your hard-boiled eggs without using ready-made stickers. You can use your perfectly cooked eggs for example:
* splatter. You can do this with a plant sprayer with watercolor or a toothbrush with paint that you move over a grater.
* tattoo. You can buy very nice ready-made tattoo paper in the store with which you can decorate your eggs perfectly.
* wrapping and painting. For example, you can wrap the egg with rubber bands or string and then paint it. When you remove the rubber bands or the rope, a very nice abstract line pattern is created.
* washi tape, string and bows. If you use washi tape, it is best to use a narrow version.
* color in with chalk. You should do this while the eggs are still hot. The colors will adhere during cooling.
* 3D decorating. With a glue gun you can create a 3D effect. After this you can of course paint the eggs.
* decorate with glitter and sticky diamonds.
* just paint. You can use finger paint or poster paint for this, but also special 3D paint 'puffy paint'.
How do you turn your perfectly cooked egg into a perfectly decorated Easter egg? Check out the HelloFresh website for more fun facts about eggs plus some fun egg recipes perfect for Easter!
