• For a quick snack, grab a hard-boiled eggegg image by Allyson Ricketts from Fotolia.com
  
  

Consider the Size of the Egg

• The American Egg Board recommends boiling eggs 12 to18 minutes to make them hard boiled. "Basic Hard-Cooked Eggs" instructions on the American Egg Board website suggest the following method: Place an egg in a saucepan, add enough cold water to cover 1 inch above the egg. Turn on the stove and let the water boil. As soon as the water boils, remove the saucepan from the heat and cover it. Let the egg sit in the water: 12 minutes for a medium egg; 15 minutes for a large egg; and 18 minutes for an extra-large egg. Remove the egg and plunge it in cold water.
  
  

Microwave Method

• For busy cooks, author and cooking expert Carolyn Dodson suggests cooking an egg in a microwave from 45 seconds to 1 1/2 minutes for a hard-boiled egg style. In her book, "Definitive Microwave Cookery," Dodson says that you should crack a raw egg into a small microwavable container sprayed with cooking spray. Pierce the yolk, cover the container with plastic wrap and microwave the egg at 50 percent for 45 seconds. If the egg isn't hard-boiled, microwave it an additional 15 seconds, and keep adding 15 seconds until it's done. Piercing the yolk allows steam to escape so that the result is the same texture as an egg boiled on a stove.
  
  

Bottom Line

• On its website, The Georgia Egg Commission recommends both methods, but adds that microwaves cook "with a minimum of clean up!" Whether you boil or microwave an egg, if you don't eat it right away, the United States Department of Agriculture recommends storing a hard-boiled egg in a refrigerator for no longer than seven days.