Your hard-boiled egg white turned gray because of a harmless chemical reaction between sulfur in the white and iron in the yolk, usually caused by overcooking, which forms ferrous sulfide, a gray-green compound; cooling eggs quickly in ice water stops this, but the color is still safe to eat, though unappealing.
The dreaded grey ring on boiled eggs, explained
When eggs are cooked for too long or at a temperature that's too high, a chemical reaction occurs. The sulphur in the egg white reacts with iron in the egg yolk to form iron sulphide, which gives the eggs a greenish grey colour, according to BBC Science Focus.
google days ``A greenish-grey ring around a hard- boiled egg yolk usually indicates overcooking, where a chemical reaction occurs between sulfur in the egg white and iron in the yolk, creating iron sulfide which appears greenish-grey; while not visually appealing, it's considered safe to eat according to the USDA. ``
Eliminate the ring by avoiding overcooking and by cooling the eggs quickly after cooking. Run cold water over the just-cooked eggs or place them in a bowl or container of ice water until they have completely cooled. Then refrigerate the eggs in their shells until you're ready to use them.
But to answer your question, as long as the eggs are fresh, they are safe to eat even if the color/texture is a bit off.
According to Rubin, the best way to tell if hard-boiled eggs have gone bad is to smell them, especially if they've been in your fridge for around seven days. "Of course, smell may be hard to determine because hard-boiled eggs already have a strong smell," she says.
The green ring is harmless and occurs when eggs have been cooked for too long or at too high a temperature. The American Egg Board suggests that you cook eggs in hot, not boiling, water, and then cool immediately to minimize the green ring.
Discoloration due to overcooking does not impact food safety and these eggs are safe to eat.
If you boil them not long enough, they're not completely hard. If you boil them too long, the yolk gets unattractively blue and the egg will smell and taste slightly of sulphur, though not nearly as bad as rotten eggs.
Salmonella, the name of a group of bacteria, is a common cause of food poisoning in the United States. Most people infected with Salmonella develop diarrhea, fever, abdominal cramps, and vomiting 12 to 72 hours after infection. Symptoms usually last 4 to 7 days and most people get better without treatment.
The unhealthiest way to eat eggs involves high-heat frying in large amounts of unhealthy fats (like butter, bacon grease) or unhealthy oils, which adds saturated fat and calories and can oxidize cholesterol, plus adding processed meats or excessive cheese, turning a nutritious food into a heart-unhealthy meal high in inflammation triggers, though raw eggs pose a risk of salmonella and biotin deficiency, note Health Digest, Eat This Not That.
A bad egg white would have a pinkish or dark brown tint to it, even sometimes appearing 'pearly'. If a couple of whites you want to use or have tried to preserve turn that way and they smell bad, it's probably best to toss them out.
There's nothing wrong with grey yolks , btw. They're just not as appealing to look at as yellow yolks but there's no need to throw them out, they're perfectly safe.
Is it safe to eat a discolored egg yolk? They may look unappealing, but yes. While green hard-boiled egg yolks might be visually off-putting and have a bit of a chalky texture, they are safe to eat.
Dietary Cholesterol and Cardiovascular Risk
In a British study of health-conscious individuals, both dietary cholesterol and egg consumption significantly increased coronary risk. In animal models, dietary cholesterol causes atherosclerosis[7–9]. A single jumbo (65 g) egg yolk contains 237 mg of cholesterol.
For more consistent results and easier peeling, it's generally better to bring the water to a boil first, then gently lower in the eggs (ideally at room temperature) and start your timer; starting eggs in cold water is also common but can lead to sticking and less precise timing, though it reduces cracking risk from sudden temperature shock.
The "555 egg method" is a popular technique for making easy-peel hard-boiled eggs in an Instant Pot or other pressure cooker, involving 5 minutes of high pressure, a 5-minute natural pressure release, and a final 5-minute ice bath to stop cooking and loosen the shell, though results can vary, with some finding it perfect and others needing adjustments.
Then one day I was talking to a farmer about it and he said, you should never keep eggs in the fridge, the reason being the humidity of the fridge causes a break down of the shell membrane which allows the bacteria which is found on the outside of almost every egg to penetrate into the egg.
Hard cooked eggs can be stored in the refrigerator up to seven days, either left in their shells or peeled. Make sure eggs are refrigerated within two hours after cooking, and don't leave refrigerated cooked eggs out at room temperature for more than two hours.
Poached eggs - 5 minutes over boiling water. Soft-cooked eggs - 7 minutes in the shell in boiling water. Egg mixtures such as egg bakes, quiches and casseroles are safe if they reach an internal temperature of 160 F.