Yes, You Can Reboil An Egg

I had an inkling of how my day would be yesterday right after I decided to eat my breakfast.  Being uncharacteristically organized the day before, I had boiled a pot of eggs thinking it would be a good low-calorie alternative to my usual breakfast of cold pizza or leftovers.  I poured a nice glass of orange juice, selected one of the eggs, tapped the shell on the kitchen counter to gently crack it open, and was promptly surprised by gooey egg snot dripping onto my hand.

Totally grossed out, I examined the egg quickly and saw that although it was not raw, it hadn’t cooked very well.  I tossed the dripping egg into the trash and decided to do a google search to see if you could reboil eggs that hadn’t cooked all the way through the first time.  I really hate to waste anything, and I usually cook about eight eggs at a time when I hard-boil them.  I couldn’t figure out why this particular pot of eggs didn’t cook so well when I made them the exact same way I always do.  I usually use large eggs (which these were), I bring them to a boil, put a lid on them and cook over low heat for about 25 minutes.  This produces perfectly hard-boiled eggs–except for yesterday’s batch.

Several forums said that yes, indeed, you can reboil an egg.  So I put the seven little survivors in a pan, covered them with water, and started cooking.  About a half-hour later, my curiosity made me peel and try one.

The verdict — yes, you can reboil an egg.  It will emerge with a hard yellow center.  Just don’t expect to enjoy it.  It had a very rubbery consistency.  If  I hadn’t eaten that sucker, I’ll bet I could have bounced it like a super ball.

I’m still not giving up.  I’m going to chop up the remaining eggs into small rubbery pieces, and hope that I can make an acceptable egg salad.

14 Responses to “Yes, You Can Reboil An Egg”


  1. 1 So Much More Than A Mom January 22, 2009 at 4:06 pm

    I seriously laughed out loud. “gooey egg snot” – hilarious! 🙂

  2. 2 sheribear9202 January 22, 2009 at 5:30 pm

    haha… me too… OMG. I was wondering what the eggs were doing in the sink.

    …now you made me hungry for egg salad…

  3. 3 John and Perla January 30, 2009 at 7:56 am

    Wow, you must be gettin’ old. You can’t even boil an egg right anymore.

  4. 4 clergygirl June 29, 2009 at 8:04 pm

    Thanks for your advice on the eggs! I did the same thing and now I’m wondering if I can reboil them. I’ll give it a try, but sounds like they won’t be as good!

  5. 6 eff May 16, 2011 at 2:38 pm

    25 minutes? That’s too long, unless you prefer a sulfur taste.

    And then reboil for another 30 minutes? No wonder they were rubbery.

    For perfect boiled eggs, place the eggs in a single layer in a large saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil and boil for 1 minute. Cover, turn off flame, and allow to sit undisturbed for 13 minutes. Rinse in cold water or ice bath. Refrigerate until ready for use.

    Enjoy!

    • 7 les@mamaneeds2rant May 16, 2011 at 2:55 pm

      Thanks, eff. But normally, and I know a lot of cooks will disagree, this is what works for me–Bring eggs to a decent boil, then put a lid on the pan and turn burner to low. I keep simmering on low for @ 27 minutes, then immediately drain hot water and cool boiled eggs in cold water to prevent ugly colored yolks.

      I think on this particular day I didn’t bring water to a full boil. I know a lot of people don’t even recommend bringing the water to a boil–but when I don’t, the eggs don’t cook all the way. Maybe I’ll try your way with one or two eggs and see how they turn out!

  6. 8 poisoncontrol June 20, 2012 at 9:35 am

    are you still alive today? hello.

  7. 10 fre October 31, 2012 at 2:22 pm

    Had recent problem and was looking for an answer to this qiestion….first time it happened not sure why think i’ll just pass on the re-boil thanks guys for your responses. May try differnt techniques to boiling for quality outcome…

  8. 11 Estella June 22, 2013 at 11:41 pm

    Heya! I just wanted to ask if you ever have any problems with hackers?
    My last blog (wordpress) was hacked and I ended up losing many months
    of hard work due to no data backup. Do you have any solutions to stop hackers?


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