Oven hard-cooked eggs

Soak a kitchen towel with cold water and wring it out: thoroughly moist, not sopping wet.

Lay the towel directly on the oven rack (one towel per rack) to keep the eggs off the metal bars, which could discolour them.

Line the eggs up on the towel so they are not touching.

Set the oven to 320F and cook 30 minutes; do not put the eggs into a hot oven.

variation: instead of the towel, spread heavy-duty aluminum foil on the rack and nestle the eggs into it; they may discolour at the contact point and be harder to peel. Afterwards slide the foil out onto a sheet pan or cooling rack.

While still hot, move the eggs to a big straight-sided pot or casserole and jiggle to crack the shells slightly without mangling them.

Chill in an ice bath of water and ice for 3 to 5 minutes.

To peel, find a big crack, work a finger under both the shell and the membrane until the smooth white shows, then wipe the shell off with the flat of the thumb, rolling the egg; under running water or under water helps.