high-grade eggs with small air cells and plenty of thick albumen As eggs age, the albumen loses water and becomes more dense, which makes the yolk rise Industry studies have found that you can increase the proportion of centered yolks somewhat by storing eggs on their sides instead of their ends Various cooking strategies have also been suggested, including rotating the eggs around their long axis during the first several minutes in the pot, and standing them on end None of these is completely reliable Green Yolks The occasional green-gray discoloration on the surface of hard-cooked yolks is a harmless compound of iron and sulfur, ferrous sulfide It forms at the interface of white and yolk because that’s where reactive sulfur from the former comes into contact with the iron from the latter The alkaline conditions in the white favor the stripping of sulfur atoms from the albumen proteins when heat unfolds them, and the sulfur reacts with iron in the surface layer of yolk to form ferrous sulfide The older the egg, the more alkaline the white, and the more rapidly this reaction occurs High temperatures and prolonged cooking produce more ferrous sulfide Yolk greening can be minimized by using fresh eggs, by cooking them as briefly as possible, and by cooling them rapidly after cooking Long-Cooked Eggs An intriguing alternative to the standard hard-cooked egg is the Middle Eastern hamindas (Hebrew) or beid hamine (Arabic), which are cooked for anywhere from 6 to 18 hours They derive from the Sephardic Sabbath mixed stew (called hamin, from the Hebrew for “hot”), which was put together on Friday, cooked slowly in the oven overnight, and served as a midday Sabbath meal Eggs included in the stew shell and all, or ... heat unfolds them, and the sulfur reacts with iron in the surface layer of yolk to form ferrous sulfide The older the egg, the more alkaline the white, and the more rapidly this reaction occurs... stew (called hamin, from the Hebrew for “hot”), which was put together on Friday, cooked slowly in the oven overnight, and served as a midday Sabbath meal Eggs included in the stew shell and all,... alternative to the standard hard-cooked egg is the Middle Eastern hamindas (Hebrew) or beid hamine (Arabic), which are cooked for anywhere from 6 to 18 hours They derive from the Sephardic Sabbath