Reuse Cooking Water If the water is being used in something like pasta, then there's no problem with reusing the water when cooking another type of pasta, potatoes, boiled eggs, vegetables or other types of foods.
Basically: After you boil a bunch of eggs in their shells, the water left over is more calcium-rich than ever, and not a bad option to repurpose for watering your houseplants. You want to make sure that you let the water return to room temperature before you add it to your plants' soil.
You can also use water from boiling eggs, which is full of calcium your plant needs to grow. This method of watering your plants works because it acts like a fertilizer to give your plants the nutrition they need to survive. This is a great alternative if you do not have the space or time to develop a compost pile.
Then remove the pot from the heat and leave the eggs in the hot water to finish cooking. Depending on how you like your eggs, you might leave them in the water anywhere from five to 15 minutes before cooling them in ice water.
Place the peeled eggs in a bowl. Fill the bowl with just enough cold water to cover the eggs. Store, uncovered, in the fridge for two to three days. Replace the water every day to keep it fresh.
Leave eggs in the ice bath for 10+ minutes to allow for thorough cooling/easy peeling (you can place them under running cold water instead, but without the cold shock from the ice bath, you may have a harder time peeling, especially if your eggs are farm fresh like ours).
To avoid getting a green yolk, cook your eggs just long enough to reach the desired doneness—no more. And quickly plunge the cooked eggs into cold water to stop the cooking process and minimize the iron-sulfur reaction. Some people also say that the cold-water plunge makes eggs easier to peel.
If you boil an egg for five or 10 minutes, it becomes firm and cooked. If you boil it for hours, it becomes rubbery and overcooked.
-- Never let eggs sit in water. Once the temperature equalizes the egg can absorb contaminants out of the water. -- Dry and refrigerate eggs quickly after washing.
Leave the egg in the water for 24 hours. Osmosis will occur; that is, the water will migrate from the side of the membrane where water molecules are abundant (i.e. outside the egg) to the side where water molecules are less abundant (inside the egg). After 24 hours, the egg will be plump again!
Benefits of Using Whole Eggs as Fertilizer
Eggs contain high levels of calcium. This is an important nutrient for plants, especially vegetables and fruits. Eggs will leach the calcium into the soil for root uptake during composting, which can conquer such problems as blossom end rot.
“Boiling vegetables causes water soluble vitamins like vitamin C, B1 and folate to leach into the water,” Magee said. “So unless you are going to drink the water along with your vegetables, such as when making soups and stews, these vitamins are typically poured down the sink.
Which plants shouldn't you try this with? Don't add eggshell fertilizer to plants that prefer acidic soil, like blueberries. Ericaceous plants such as mountain laurel, pieris and azaleas also fall into that category.
Salt – Salting the water makes for perfect hard boiled eggs because it: Increases the temperature of boiling water. This causes the egg white to cook a little faster, which makes it easier to prevent overcooking the yolk. Helps seal and cracks or leaks.
A boiling start for 30 seconds to a very gentle simmer for 13 minutes, then an ice bath at the end makes perfect, easy-to-peel hard-boiled eggs.
In Europe, farms vaccinate chickens against salmonella. That means the cuticle is still intact when eggs are sold. Refrigerating eggs with the cuticle intact could actually cause mildew to grow. Which could cause… you guessed it salmonella contamination.
Hard-boiled eggs, peeled or unpeeled, are safe to eat up to seven days or one full week after they were cooked. To make sure they stay fresh, allow the cooked eggs cool a bit, and then store them in a sealed container in the refrigerator.
Keeping Hard-Boiled Eggs Fresh
For maximum freshness, leave them in their shells until you are ready to eat or prepare. The shell will help to protect the egg from bacteria, and can help prevent them from absorbing odors from other foods in your refrigerator.
After boiling your eggs, ensure that you label and date them. If they are older than the date you mark them, they are likely spoiled and should be thrown away. If the yolk is watery or gray, the egg is likely rotten.
Gently drop one egg into the glass, and observe where it settles. If the egg sinks to the bottom and lays on its side, it should be fresh and ready to eat. If it floats all the way to the top, the egg may be spoiled.
The ice water will also cause the egg to contract and pull away from the shell, which will make it easier to peel. Let the eggs sit in the ice bath for at least 5 minutes. If you live in a climate where tap water runs very cold, you can run cold water over the eggs for 5 minutes rather than preparing an ice bath.
If you see any of these colors, discard the egg immediately. Off-color egg white, green or iridescent – Spoilage due to Pseudomonas bacteria, a very common type of bacteria that healthy people often carry without knowing it. This bacteria produces a greenish, fluorescent, water-soluble pigment in the egg white.
Place eggs in a medium pot and cover with cold water by 1 inch. Bring to a boil, then cover the pot and turn off the heat. Let the eggs cook, covered, for 9 to 12 minutes, depending on your desired done-ness (see photo).
Once the water is boiling, reduce the heat to low (so that there's no bubbles) and use skimmer to gently and slowly add the eggs to the water. Then, turn the heat back up to a boil. Set a timer and cook the eggs for 6 to 7 minutes for soft-boiled eggs and 12 to 14 minutes for hard-boiled eggs.