Boiling an Egg
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jennyema
Chef Extraordinaire
I use Sara Moulton's method, that she simplified from Julia Child's method. Place large eggs in a saucepan and cover with water by a couple of inches. Cover. High heat until just boiling, remove from heat, leave covered. From there, it's a matter of time. I've never done them for runny yolks, but I'd guess maybe 5-6 minutes or so. A "soft" hardboiled egg is 9-10 minutes, totally cooked hardboiled egg is 11-12 minutes. Empty hot water and fill pan with cool water as soon as time is up. They always cook perfectly and never have a green ring or that sulfer smell.
I've been using a trick lately that I learned from Jacques Pepin. Shake, rattle and roll the eggs in the empty saucepan until the shells are well cracked, then fill with cool water and let sit for a few minutes. They have been peeling really easily, whether new or old eggs.
I've been using a trick lately that I learned from Jacques Pepin. Shake, rattle and roll the eggs in the empty saucepan until the shells are well cracked, then fill with cool water and let sit for a few minutes. They have been peeling really easily, whether new or old eggs.
Dawgluver
Chef Extraordinaire
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Shake, rattle and roll sounds like a great idea, Med. I often have trouble peeling the eggs after they've cooled, this would help.
Kayelle
Chef Extraordinaire
Medtrain's method is perfect. The time for soft boiled with a runny yolk and cooked white is 4 minutes. Crack the egg in half with the back of a
table knife and scoop out the halves with a tea spoon.
RPCookin
Executive Chef
roadfix
Chef Extraordinaire
I'm one of those people who can have eggs cooked and served in any way possible. I'll eat them. They're all good.
CharlieD
Chef Extraordinaire
Cold water, egg, fire. Bring water to boil, cook for 3 minutes. Bam. Done. Soft yolk. Depends on size of the egg and how cold egg was when it went into pot, there will be a different end result.
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Sent from my iPhone using Discuss Cooking
di reston
Sous Chef
I also asked, in my case, my nephew, who's a chef in York, how to get 'soft hard boiled eggs', that is, not runny, but like a stiff cream and definitely not hard-boiled, and he said, 'put the eggs in cold water, bring to the boil and boil for 5 minutes, not a second more'. It works, and I use them like that in mixed salads, salade Niçoise, and all sorts of other dishes. There is a traditional English fish dish, Kedgeree, using smoked haddock and fresh haddock, rice, saffron, curry powder and eggs, and I do the eggs as my nephew told me and they work very well.
di reston
Enough is never as good as a feast Oscar Wilde
di reston
Enough is never as good as a feast Oscar Wilde
Caslon
Executive Chef
Because my eggs are cold from the fridge, it takes 5 minutes for my soft boiled eggs.
Sorry for not returning to this thread. I only saw the one reply and felt a bit bad about asking the question. I was unaware there were other replies because I wasn't notified about them.
I just wanted to know what other people's experience was with boiling eggs. Is boiling the water first before putting in the egg first better or putting the egg into cold water? I have one every few days for breakfast, preferably soft, with white set. I don't like the dipping 'soldiers' in it idea, so I put it in an egg cup, slice the top off, then scoop out the inside and spread it all over a slice of toast, covering as much of the toast as possible.
Getting the white set and the yoke runny at the same time is the challenge. The best I've been able to do is white just set and the yoke sort of gooey.
Gillian
I just wanted to know what other people's experience was with boiling eggs. Is boiling the water first before putting in the egg first better or putting the egg into cold water? I have one every few days for breakfast, preferably soft, with white set. I don't like the dipping 'soldiers' in it idea, so I put it in an egg cup, slice the top off, then scoop out the inside and spread it all over a slice of toast, covering as much of the toast as possible.
Getting the white set and the yoke runny at the same time is the challenge. The best I've been able to do is white just set and the yoke sort of gooey.
Gillian
Or use an egg cup.
I had never heard of an egg coddler before until someone got me one to match my Royal Worcester Eversham dishes as a gift. I had no idea what to do with it, but it came with instructions...basically just crack and egg into it, cover and pop in simmering water. I loved the consistency (I gag if I get some loose white in my mouth) and it is just so pretty for serving!
Since this is an egg thread, has anybody ever gathered duck eggs from wild ducks? By wild ducks, I mean Muscovy and hybrids with other true "wild" ducks. We have a pair that just insist on laying eggs in a spot next to our home. Craig has tried putting down rocks, bricks, taking the eggs away, shaking them up or freezing them so they won't hatch, our neighbor on that side has sprayed them with the hose, etc., but the female apparently thinks that spot is her idea of perfection. We've kind of been tossing around the idea of checking it out a couple of times a day and gathering the eggs to use. I know we'd have to chase them off to gather the eggs, but haven't really thought beyond that whether there would be any health risk, how different they would taste, etc. I suspect she'll be laying soon given how I've seen the male (and other males) following her around and bothering her, and there are plenty of ducklings already hatched in the neighborhood, so just wondering.
Lots of people love duck eggs... I'm just not one of them. They are much bigger of course, but they have a gamey flavor that I just can't get past. You need to clean the shell well (you can buy egg wipes at an agriculture store or on line) or just clean them off well with warm (not hot) water briefly. I like the egg wipes better.
i've been experimenting recently with eggs.
I've tried Jamie Oliver's trick of wrapping in plastic wrap, drop them in boiling water and I find 4 - 5 minutes is perfect. I sometimes take them off the heat at 4 and by the time I've spread the butter on the toast then cut them open... perfect. Whites are done and yolk is runny.
Cloud eggs where you bake the white as a meringue (2-3 minutes) and then drop the yolk in the centre and another 3 minutes, max! the difference in times are for how many you are doing. I also use the toaster oven for this.
I've discovered I never get the grey/green circle if I use the eggs the day I boil them... if a day or two after - it's there!
I smack the shells all over with a spoon, start off at the air pocket and slide the spoon between egg and membrane. Lifts off the shells in about 3 peels.
I've tried Jamie Oliver's trick of wrapping in plastic wrap, drop them in boiling water and I find 4 - 5 minutes is perfect. I sometimes take them off the heat at 4 and by the time I've spread the butter on the toast then cut them open... perfect. Whites are done and yolk is runny.
Cloud eggs where you bake the white as a meringue (2-3 minutes) and then drop the yolk in the centre and another 3 minutes, max! the difference in times are for how many you are doing. I also use the toaster oven for this.
I've discovered I never get the grey/green circle if I use the eggs the day I boil them... if a day or two after - it's there!
I smack the shells all over with a spoon, start off at the air pocket and slide the spoon between egg and membrane. Lifts off the shells in about 3 peels.
I love coddled eggs. The way I do it is take the eggs I want to coddle out of the refrigerator the night before and leave them in a dish on the counter. In the morning, I brush olive oil inside my coddlers for however many eggs I'm cooking. I bring a 3 quart pan of water to a rolling boil, remove it from the heat and put the eggs in. 1 egg 5 minutes, adding 30 seconds for each additional egg.
Perfect, just set whites and a thin gooey layer of yolk, then liquid yolk in the center.
I find that with cold eggs, the yolk gets too well done by the time the white is set - get the eggs to room temperature before coddling them.
Perfect, just set whites and a thin gooey layer of yolk, then liquid yolk in the center.
I find that with cold eggs, the yolk gets too well done by the time the white is set - get the eggs to room temperature before coddling them.
med, that is how I do my eggs as well. Have for quite a few years. Most times I don't get the ring and I've never had the smell so not sure what that is about.
Years ago I heard that aluminum pots would do it, then again, no - wasn't them...
It's almost like gremlins running around doing odd things now and then and changing the rules.
But truth to tell... I don't care if I get them or not. If I'm splitting the eggs open to take out the yolks for whatever reason, the green/grey disappears in the mix. Even slicing or cubing them.. I never notice it in the finished dish. Guess I really don't know what the fuss is about.
Actually a green ring is an overcooked egg. There is iron in the yolk and, hydrogen sulfide in the white. As any chemist will tell you, combine those two, you get iron sulfide and, it is a green/gray color. Heat allows them to combine - too much heat for too long and, you've got a little chemistry experiment going on inside your eggs.
Fortunately that doesn't affect the taste of the egg since we generally eat white and yolk together anyway so, get the combined flavor, but it is a cooking error and, it look ugly if you aren't smashing up the yolks.
Besides, that vibrant yellow yolk is gorgeous in dishes using sliced eggs so, a bit of patience and, minding your times will get gorgeous eggs every time.
Fortunately that doesn't affect the taste of the egg since we generally eat white and yolk together anyway so, get the combined flavor, but it is a cooking error and, it look ugly if you aren't smashing up the yolks.
Besides, that vibrant yellow yolk is gorgeous in dishes using sliced eggs so, a bit of patience and, minding your times will get gorgeous eggs every time.
GotGarlic
Chef Extraordinaire
Kenji from the Food Lab on Serious Eats has shown that steaming eggs is the best way to cook them evenly and make them easy to peel. This is because steam is hotter than boiling water (when water hits 212°F, it turns to steam) and the hotter temperature quickly coagulates the membrane between the shell and the white. This means they won't stick together and it will be easier to peel.
http://www.seriouseats.com/2014/05/the-secrets-to-peeling-hard-boiled-eggs.html
http://www.seriouseats.com/2014/05/the-secrets-to-peeling-hard-boiled-eggs.html
