Here's What Happens If You Overcook Hard-Boiled Eggs
After painstakingly prepping and combining all of your ingredients, there's nothing worse than realizing you accidentally overcooked your dinner. Because while overcooking a ribeye won't ruin it, most of the time, overdoing your food means you're stuck with ordering takeout. And if you do choose to chow down on the dish you cooked for too long, due to it being overheated, you'll be dining on a meal depleted of most its nutrients (per Netmeds.com).
But despite how disappointing overcooking any dish is, some foods are undoubtedly easier to overcook than others. And when you think of foods to be wary of overcooking, like rice and pasta, boiled eggs are probably at the very bottom of the list. However, despite being a dish where you're supposed to simply leave eggs in boiling water for an extended amount of time, boiled eggs are just as vulnerable to being overdone as any other of your favorite foods. And there are a few ways to know if you've left your eggs on to boil for too long.
These are sure signs your boiled eggs are overcooked
According to The Kitchn, the first sign that your boiled eggs were left on the stove too long is if their yolks are a strange gray or white color, or seem to be falling apart. The other indicator that your eggs were over-boiled is if they smell like sulfur after you freshly peeled them. And if you find your eggs are showing signs of being over-boiled, while Prepared Cooks notes that eating overcooked eggs isn't bad for you, they won't taste very good.
To avoid over-boiling your eggs in the future, The Kitchn recommends that, instead of leaving them on heat, you take them off the stovetop after your water starts to boil. The outlet then stated you should place a lid over your pot and allow your eggs to cook without heat for a minimum of 10 minutes and a maximum of 15. However, if you still prefer to leave your eggs on heat to boil, Prepared Cooks notes you should be sure to dump your eggs in cold water as soon as they have finished cooking. The website stated this will stop the eggs from continuing to boil on their own due to still having heat inside of them from boiling on the stove. But no matter which tip you choose to follow, taking either outlet's advice will help you cook up perfect boiled eggs.