Julia Child's Trick for Picture-Perfect Hard Boiled Eggs

The master of French cooking never boiled eggs without doing this one thing first. Julia Child’s easy pinhole trick prevents eggs from cracking while boiling. Relieving pressure inside the egg seems to make peeling easier and shells less sticky. Gently cracking hot eggs before cooling them in an ice bath helps shells come off more cleanly. When I think of Julia Child, I think of her dancing a raw turkey around her kitchen counter. I also think of classic French dishes, the likes of which she wrote several cookbooks about and prepared faithfully on her television shows. Hard boiled eggs may not be the first thing to spring to mind, but Julia was also a master of basics. She dutifully studied and tested methods to ensure she offered up foolproof tips to her readers. In fact, she dedicates a whole section to hard boiled eggs in her classic cookbook,From Julia Child’s Kitchen. I was recently thumbing through the fat cookbook when I found myself reading the “Hard-boiled eggs—the whys and hows” section all the way through. It was packed with clever tips, one of which has changed the way I make hard boiled eggs forever. The Trick to No-Fail Hard Boiled Eggs A common issue with hard boiled eggs is that they are prone to crack while cooking, causing the whites to leak, making them hard to peel, and creating a less-than-perfect-looking boiled egg. Luckily, Julia has a foolproof way to prevent this issue. To relieve pressure inside the egg, create a tiny hole in the air pocket at the bottom of the egg (the wider end). Julia recommends using an egg pricker or, if you’re not into retro single-use gadgets, a push pin. Insert the point into the base of the egg about 3/8 of an inch. The tiny

The master of French cooking never boiled eggs without doing this one thing first.