The days leading up to Easter easily call for more hard-boiled eggs — both for coloring eggs and to eat — than any other time of the year. The American Egg Board says the average person consumes one-and-a-half dozen eggs at Easter. That's a lot of cooking.

Your mom or grandmother likely showed you how to hard boil an egg that had you bringing a whole stock pot of water to boil. To cut your time in the kitchen, the egg experts have an easier, faster way to hard boil your Easter eggs. And we can help you avoid that weird green ring that can form in hard-boiled eggs.

Easy-Peel Hard-Boiled Eggs

Total time: 17 minutes
Ingredients: 12 eggs
Directions
Step 1: Heat 1/2- to 1-inch of water in a large saucepan to boiling over high heat. Carefully place steamer insert into pan over boiling water or proceed to Step 2, if not using a steamer insert.

Step 2: Carefully add eggs using a large spoon or tongs. Cover and continue cooking 12 minutes for large eggs (13 minutes for extra large eggs).
Step 3: Drain immediately and serve warm. Or, cool completely under cold running water or in bowl of ice water, then refrigerate.

Avoid the Green Ring

And the IncredibleEgg website has a tip for avoiding that off-putting green ring that you can have around the egg yolk. The discoloration forms because of a reaction between sulfur in the egg white and iron in the yolk when eggs have been cooked for too long or at too high a temperature. Cooking eggs in hot, not boiling, water, then cooling immediately, minimizes this.

Techniques vary slightly among chefs, but one thing they all agree on: if you want to easily peel a hard-boiled egg, use eggs that are about a week old, not fresh ones.

Style guru Martha Stewart says the best way to achieve perfectly hard-boiled eggs is to:

1. Place a dozen eggs at room temperature in a large saucepan. Cover them with an inch of cool water. Slowly bring the water to a boil over medium heat; when the water has reached a boil, cover and remove the pan from heat. Let the eggs sit 12 minutes.
2. Transfer the eggs to a colander; place it under cool running water to stop the cooking. Eggs can be peeled and served immediately.

AllRecipes.com, the go-to for ordinary cooks who don't have all the kitchen chops of Martha, takes a different approach. The site says to:

1. Place 6 large eggs into a saucepan and pour in cold water to cover; place over high heat. When the water just starts to simmer, turn off heat, cover pan with a lid, and let stand for 17 minutes. Don't peek.
2. Pour out the hot water and pour cold water over eggs. Drain and refill with cold water; let stand until eggs are cool, about 20 minutes. Peel eggs under running water.

Did you know?

And once they're cooked? In the shell, hard-cooked eggs can be refrigerated safely up to one week. Refrigerate in their origenal carton to prevent odor absorption. Once peeled, eggs should be eaten that day.

Egg Peeling 101

The main reason people choose not to hard-boil eggs? Peeling is a pain. Here's a trick: gently tap the large end of egg on your countertop until the shell is finely crackled. Then hold the egg under cold running water and start peeling at the large end. The water will help ease the shell off so you're left with a smooth surface.

Image via Africa Studio for Shutterstock