My preschooler recently discovered a love for hard boiled eggs. I can’t complain, they make a great snack. I think part of the fascination is that she can peal and cut the eggs herself and she thinks that’s pretty neat. We have a simple egg slicer she can use, but cutting eggs with a kid knife is easy as well. There are so many fun things you can do and make with hard boiled eggs and the remaining shells. So let’s start with boiling the eggs…
I used to think hard boiled eggs were a “no brainer” simple task, but I didn’t realize there was a specific time to boil eggs until my husband showed me. There’s actually a “right way” to boil an egg. Peeling success is dependent on the time frame of cooking and how the eggs are cooled – makes a big difference when it’s done correctly.
Here’s how we make our boiled eggs, they are ready to handle in 15 minutes and peal wonderfully.
- Place an egg in a small pan and fill with water until the egg is completely covered.
- Heat on high and bring to boil for 10 minutes.
- While you’re waiting. Fill a large bowl with cold tap water and 1 cup of ice cubes.
- Remove pan from heat, with a large spoon remove egg and gently place in bowl of ice water. Let sit for 5 minutes.
My husband likes to place the hot pan, with the egg, in the sink and run the cold water over it for 10 minutes. This gently cools the water and the egg, however, I prefer the ice water bath as it’s faster and doesn’t use as much water.
Once the egg has cooled in the ice water for 5 minutes, it’s ready to peel. Your preschooler can handle it without risk of burning.
If you haven’t tried hard boiled eggs with your preschooler yet, try it out. You might be surprised as how well they like this “good-for-you” food.
