How to Make Perfect Hard-Boiled Eggs

Easter is almost upon us. Right now I'm making a dozen hard-boiled eggs for us to color tonight so that my daughter can bring them with her to a church function tomorrow. When I was in graduate school, a fellow student taught me a method for making perfect hard-boiled eggs that has never failed me in the years since. Before learning this method, I would drop eggs into boiling water and guess at how long it took them to fully cook - sometimes I'd overestimate, sometimes I'd underestimate.

So here's how to do it. Start with large sized eggs (extra-large or jumbo will need more time than what I'm describing and I'm not exactly sure what the proper timing is). Place the eggs in a sauce pan, large enough for the eggs to have some space between them. Cover the eggs with cold water. Bring to a rapid boil over high heat. As soon as the water is boiling, cover the pot with a tight-fitting lid and turn off the heat. Set your timer for 10 minutes. When the timer goes off, drain the hot water, cover the eggs with cold water, and then remove them from the pan to a container. Store in the refrigerator.