Hard-boiled eggs are easy to make -- if you know the secret

Easter is Sunday, which means many people need to learn how to properly hard-boil an egg. Emphasis on “properly.”

You probably already know how to make hard-boiled eggs the wrong way: Boil the eggs until the kitchen gets stinky with that sulfur-y, rotten-egg smell and you’re left with rubbery whites and a distasteful green ring around the yolk.

But fear not. This is the Easter when you learn how to properly make hard-boiled eggs, courtesy of the L.A. Times Test Kitchen and Food Editor Russ Parsons. And you won’t believe how easy it is. Here it goes:

“Place the eggs in a pan just big enough to hold them in a single layer,” says Times Food editor Russ Parsons. “Cover them with cold water and bring them to a rolling boil. Cook for one minute, then remove them from the heat. When the water has cooled enough that you can put your hand in (about 20 minutes), the eggs will be perfectly cooked.”

Told you it was easy.

This method for hard-boiled eggs addresses a variety of problems. Starting with cold water helps prevent cracking -- so does putting the eggs in a single layer in a snug pan. The short cooking time also reduces the risk of jostling and breaking.

The result is hard-boiled eggs with perfectly cooked yolks that are moist and a deep yellow hue. No green ring in sight.

If you want to know more about the science of hard-boiled eggs -- including the source of that stinky sulfur smell -- Parsons explains all here.

Once your eggs are hard-boiled, you can channel your inner Martha Stewart. She has dozens of ideas for fancy Easter eggs, including creating a Spring menagerie, covering them with marbleized swirls, and turning them into yarn-covered bumblebees.

Or you can take the easy way out with this spectacularly simple (and non-messy) idea: Cover those hard-boiled Easter eggs in glittery stickers.

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