Handle your Easter eggs with care
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EmailLearn the steps to safely hard cook your Easter eggs. Hard cooked Easter eggs must be carefully cared for if you are going to eat them.
It’s Easter egg time! Eggs are a healthy and affordable food, and when made into Easter eggs they become beautiful as well.
Hard cooked Easter eggs must be carefully cared for if you plan to eat them. Once cooked, your eggs should not sit out at room temperature for more than two hours. If you plan to have your Easter eggs sitting out on the table to admire for more than two hours, make very sure that absolutely no one eats them!
To safely cook your Easter eggs:
- Place your eggs in a single layer in a saucepan.
- Add enough water to come to at least one inch above the eggs and quickly bring them to a boil. When the water reaches a rapid boil, turn off the heat.
- Remove the pan from the burner and let the eggs stand, covered, in the hot water for 12 minutes for medium eggs, 15 minutes for large eggs, and 18 minutes for extra-large eggs.
- Drain the eggs and immediately place them in ice water.
- To remove the shells, crackle the egg gently by tapping it all over. Then roll the egg between your hands to loosen the shell.
- Start peeling at the large end of the egg. Hold the egg under running cold water or dip in a bowl of water to help ease off the shell.
If you cook your eggs this way there is little possibility that they will have a green ring around the yolk. That green ring is caused by boiling and over cooking and then not cooling the eggs quickly. The green ring is not harmful in any way, it is just unattractive.
If you hide Easter eggs inside or outside make sure that they haven’t been out at room temperature for more than two hours. Also make sure that they are thoroughly scrubbed with a vegetable brush or a clean cloth under running water before cracking them open. Hard cooked eggs in the shell will last up to one week when they are properly refrigerated. To learn more about handling your eggs safely visit the consumer information about egg safety from the Food & Drug Administration.
If you have any questions about whether your Easter eggs are safe remember the saying, “When in doubt throw them out!”
