Can You Really Make Hard-Boiled Eggs in the Oven?

Our stovetop method is tried and true (and works like a charm every time), but when a different method for cooking hard-boiled eggs — like baking them in the oven — presents itself, I have to give it a try.

Can hard-boiled eggs really be made in the oven? And if so, how do they compare to hard-boiled eggs made using the good old stovetop method?

While it takes more time, hard-cooking eggs in the oven seems pretty simple. The biggest variable is oven temperature. Some tips suggest cooking the eggs at 325 degrees, while others opt for 350 degrees.

The tip works like this: Preheat the oven to 325-350° Fahrenheit, place a whole (unbroken) egg in each cup of a standard-size muffin tin, then transfer the tin to the oven to cook for 30 minutes. Remove the tin from the oven and immediately place the eggs in an ice bath. Once they’re completely cooled, peel and eat.

→ Read more: How to Make Hard Boiled Eggs in the Oven via WikiHow

Once my oven was heated to 325 degrees, I placed a standard-size muffin tin — with two large, whole eggs in the center cups — in the oven. I started with two eggs because, well, there’s no reason to potentially waste six at once. I cooked the eggs for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, I cooked a pot of hard-boiled eggs on the stovetop, so I’d have a comparison for the oven-cooked eggs.

Once the 30 minutes were up, I removed the pan from the oven and used tongs to transfer the eggs to an ice bath to cool.

I cooked another batch of eggs at 350 degrees, following the same procedure.

Once all the eggs were totally cooled, I peeled them and cut them in half to examine the results.

Overall, there was very little to no difference between the eggs cooked at 325 degrees and those cooked at 350 degrees.

• Peeling: Before trying this for myself, I read about a few instances where people complained that the oven-cooked eggs were difficult to peel. I didn’t find this to be the case at all. I tapped the shell on a hard surface, and it easily peeled away. Peeling the eggs was no easier or harder than peeling eggs that were boiled on the stovetop.
• Appearance: Once the eggs were peeled I noticed an immediate difference. There was a small reddish-brown spot on the side of both the egg and the shell, as well as on the bottom of the shell. I’ve never seen anything like this before. I also noticed some moisture on the bottom of the shell. Also, the cooked yolk was skewed far to the left or right, rather than in the center, as with boiled eggs on the stovetop.
• Taste: Before tasting I noticed that the white of the eggs cooked in the oven felt a little rubbery and less soft than the eggs cooked on the stovetop. The eggs cooked in the oven also gave off an eggy odor. After seeing the reddish-brown spots on the egg I was a little nervous about tasting them, but I did. I generally find the whites of hard-boiled eggs to be very mild, if not flavorless. I was surprised that the oven-cooked eggs, including the yolk itself, had a more distinct egg taste. It wasn’t bad, but I also didn’t enjoy it.

Verdict: This is a not a mind-blowing tip.

While you can very easily make hard-cooked eggs in the oven, I don’t think I’ll be using this method again. The eggs were perfectly fine, but I was a little turned off by the taste. I much prefer the taste of hard-boiled eggs on the stovetop.

Have you ever tried to make hard-boiled using a different method than on the stovetop?