Are my hard boiled eggs safe to eat?

[Deisel Weisel]

Hard boiled them last Sunday, stored in fridge with shells on. Just de-shelled 2, to make egg mayo. When munching them up with a fork I noticed the yellow yolk was surrounded in a grey colour, between the yolk and white. Safe to eat?

[Welshjohn]

Probably .

[Chisinau]

Yeah, that happens sometimes with hard boiled eggs, even when you mash them as soon as they have cooled. People with better culinary vocabulary than me will tell you why, but it's fine, as long as they smell ok.

[Deisel Weisel]

No, they don't smell bad. I think it's from boiling them too long: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=200706...

Thanks.

[Porkbrain]

You can prevent the grey band from forming by running cold water over them to cool them down quickly.

[Deisel Weisel]

I do cool them down quick using cold water, but I think I boiled them for too long, that's the main problem.

[TransverseTight]

Deisel Weisel said:

Safe to eat?

Not whole. Bite a bit off. Much safer.

[craigjm]

Deisel Weisel said:

I do cool them down quick using cold water, but I think I boiled them for too long, that's the main problem.

Thats right thats what causes the grey

[zygalski]

The way to guarantee avoiding the grey yolk surround is to cook them for 10-11 minutes in boiling water, then take the pan off the heat & run cold water into it.
As soon as the eggs are cool enough to handle (about 30 seconds) lightly crack the shells of each one & put them back in the pan. Leave the cold water running into the pan whilst you then begin to peel the eggs.
Finally, leave the peeled eggs in the pan of now cold water for a few minutes before drying unless you want to use them straight away.

[Shaw Tarse]

zygalski said:

The way to guarantee avoiding the grey yolk surround is to cook them for 10-11 minutes in boiling water, then take the pan off the heat & run cold water into it.
As soon as the eggs are cool enough to handle (about 30 seconds) lightly crack the shells of each one & put them back in the pan. Leave the cold water running into the pan whilst you then begin to peel the eggs.
Finally, leave the peeled eggs in the pan of now cold water for a few minutes before drying unless you want to use them straight away.

Boil them for that long?

[zygalski]

Shaw Tarse said:

Boil them for that long?

Yep. Straight out of the fridge & into the boiling water for 10 minutes is always fine.

[Bill]

I don't keep them in the fridge and cook them for 5 minutes.

[zygalski]

Bill said:

I don't keep them in the fridge and cook them for 5 minutes.

That's from cold water though.
I was referring to timings for the boiling water method.

[Bill]

Don't you find they crack?

[10 Pence Short]

They crack because the gas at the fat end expands suddenly when you put them into boiling water.

To prevent this, poke a small hole with the point of a knife into the fat end of the egg before putting in the pan. You'll notice the gasses escaping when you drop the egg in the water.

[B17NNS]

A few drops of vinegar in the boiling water before you put the eggs in also prevents cracking.