How to boil an egg

[ATOMIC SUPLEX]

mine straight from the fridge

From the fridge? Don't you worry about cracks?

6 minutes is still a very long time for a soft boiled egg. I don't like runny white either but I do 3 mins in boling water.

To poach, boil water then turn in down and take the lid off so it's just below simmer (no bubbles). Use a ladel to gently put your egg in the water and leave it for two minutes.

Scoop out, and enjoy. If there looks like there are still white runny bits leave for a few second more (you will be able to see before you take the egg out).

 

[hiccup]

You don't prick the hole in the egg, just in the shell.

This is to prevent the inside-material of the egg from leaking out while cooking- Something which often happens

You make a hole in the shell to stop the egg leaking out? Now that's my kinda logic.

 

[Structaural]

From the fridge? Don't you worry about cracks?

6 minutes is still a very long time for a soft boiled egg. I don't like runny white either but I do 3 mins in boling water.

To poach, boil water then turn in down and take the lid off so it's just below simmer (no bubbles). Use a ladel to gently put your egg in the water and leave it for two minutes.

Scoop out, and enjoy. If there looks like there are still white runny bits leave for a few second more (you will be able to see before you take the egg out).

I do exactly 1:30min boiling (not too madly) and then turn off heat for 1:30 then scoop out, works every single time - bit intense on the time keeping though.

 

[Structaural]

The key question is how do you get the top off the egg? As a child I was taught to bash it with a teaspoon around the top and peel of the cracked bits of shell. Other people cut the top off with a knife. Nowadays I use my favourite little gadget that works like a camera iris. A circular metal ring goes over the egg and you squeeze two handles similar to those on a pair of scissors. A set of pointed teeth come out and close around the egg to cut through the shell. This is great fun.

Want one.

 

[tarannau]

I used to have one of those as a kid - it made boiled egg eating convenient and exciting.. It was like robot claws man had come to sever the little end off your egg.



It rusted up in my parent's overstuffed kitchen cupboards years ago. Anyone know where you can get one these days?

 

[Xanadu]

You don't prick the hole in the egg, just in the shell.

This is to prevent the inside-material of the egg from leaking out while cooking- Something which often happens

Are you keeping the eggs in the fridge too cold? Try letting them get to room temp before cooking them.

 

[Chester Copperpot]

To stop the eggs cracking use room temperature eggs - not chilled from the fridge.

For a nice cooked soft boiled eggs I cook then for 4:45 seconds.

 

[aqua]

my eggs hardly ever crack and i use them from the fridge

the times they do its cos Ive dropped them into the pan

 

[Donna Ferentes]

Isn't there a ruck yet?

In the old days this used to be right up there with cats v dogs for a scrap.

 

[tarannau]

Yeah, but you boil them in already bubbling water for 8 minutes. You wouldn't notice cracks - they'd be pretty much hard boiled!



PS: Only wangers keep eggs in the fridge

 

[ATOMIC SUPLEX]

PS: Only wangers keep eggs in the fridge

Indeed, I stand firmly behind the out of the fridge line.

 

[Donna Ferentes]

Only wangers keep eggs in the fridge

....in England.

 

[tarannau]

Fair point. But I like a good generalisation once in a while.

(Non-refrigerated) British eggs for British people!

 

[boing!]

as long as you don't put them straight into boiling water chilled eggs shouldn't crack. not that I keep eggs in the fridge, mind...

Does no-one else use an egg timer for boiling eggs?! I have no idea how long in minutes it takes to boil and egg, i just turn the egg timer over and wait till the sand has fallen down. Has never failed me so far.

 

[tarannau]

Surely that depends a fair bit on how big the eggs are though? Unless your egg timer has special powers that my watch hasn't?

 

[Phenol]

Delia makes a big fuss about eggs cracking while boiling. I haven't had this problem in a long time. and I don't bother putting a pinhole in them. However I always buy free-range eggs, perhaps the shells are not as thin. I can't say that I have noticed any difference in flavour though. I just don't like the idea of battery hens.

Those egg temperature gizmos work well, once you get used to recognising the amount of greyness around the edge that represents your favourite result. I mostly use a timer though, it saves keeping having to look in the saucepan. I give 4 minutes from the time the water starts to boil. Egg white coagulates at lower than boiling point so I turn the heat down to simmering temperature.

It does make a difference if you put the egg in the cold water as opposed to plunging it into the water at boiling point. The former cooks the egg as the water heats up - but it takes longer for it to heat up. You start the timer once it is boiling of course.

The key question is how do you get the top off the egg? As a child I was taught to bash it with a teaspoon around the top and peel of the cracked bits of shell. Other people cut the top off with a knife. Nowadays I use my favourite little gadget that works like a camera iris. A circular metal ring goes over the egg and you squeeze two handles similar to those on a pair of scissors. A set of pointed teeth come out and close around the egg to cut through the shell. This is great fun.

I've got one of those and it is the most rubbish gadget ever made!!!! Just does not work!!!

 

[tarannau]

No way. My one was the don-daddy da da of the egg-cracking world. Even to my then unskilled 7 year old hands, eggs were decapitated with ridiculous ease. I think fondly of my parents' gadget, misty eyed memories of perfect boiled eggs with cleanly-sheared off tops. I want one again now!

You bought a cheap one didn't you...

 

[Badger Kitten]

a trick to see if egg is cooked without breaking the shell

does anyone check to see if the egg is done by getting it out the pan and putting it down away from the steam, and staring at it whilst counting to eight seconds ( one fat elephant, two fat elephants...)

A perfect egg ( solid white runny centre) should have dried off at c. 8 seconds.

If it is fresh, then it might take a bit longer but the main point of this trick is to see if it is undercooked.
If it still has wet patches then it is not done and back into the pan he goes.

 

[Part 2]

Is a soft boiled egg when the yolk is runny and the white is part cooked?

Who the fuck would eat that then?

Possibly the most disgusting thing I could imagine.

I'm hit and miss with egg cooking, generally about 6 1/2 minutes, but I prefer poached thesedays.

 

[feyr]

depends on how long the eggs have been in the fridge too, room temperature eggs need less time - about 4 mins usually for soft yellow, hard white.
The best thing I saw but never bought was this:
http://www.amazon.com/Burton-Plastics-Perfect-Egg-Thermometer/dp/B0000CFGB5

i got given one of those for xmas a few years ago, used it about 3 times before throwing it away. it always got it wrong and filled the kitchen with a horrible hot chemical smell

 

[Structaural]

i got given one of those for xmas a few years ago, used it about 3 times before throwing it away. it always got it wrong and filled the kitchen with a horrible hot chemical smell

Yeah I was reading the reviews on there yesterday - stinks of fibreglass I'll keep that away from my easily permeable eggs.

 

[Chairman Meow]

Well if anyone has one of those egg thingies going begging I'd be happy to take it off their hands - I'm sick of brick like eggs.

 

[Structaural]

Is a soft boiled egg when the yolk is runny and the white is part cooked?

Who the fuck would eat that then?

Possibly the most disgusting thing I could imagine.

I'm hit and miss with egg cooking, generally about 6 1/2 minutes, but I prefer poached thesedays.

The white should be cooked, yolk runny; soldiers, pile of salt, sorted.

 

[ringo]

I had one of those colour changing things, it was rubbish. Chaned colour at a different point every time, much less reliable than timing. I binned it too.
Boil water, add egg for 5 mins = perfect dippy egg for littlun.

 

[ringo]

Not sure about this eggs in the fridge business, doesn't seem necessary.

 

[Crispy]

Poached is the way forward for perfect runniness, as you can see it all happening.

 

[Mrs Miggins]

Get one of these. It steams your eggs and there is a wee water measuring thingy so they steam for the right amount of time to be soft or hard boiled. And it's very cute. And is called "Petra"

My two-pennorth: 3 minutes is nowhere near long enough IME for a boiled egg to be edible. 3 minutes only part cooks the white so it's still all runny and vile - boke!

 

[Structaural]

Get one of these. It steams your eggs and there is a wee water measuring thingy so they steam for the right amount of time to be soft or hard boiled. And it's very cute. And is called "Petra"

My two-pennorth: 3 minutes is nowhere near long enough IME for a boiled egg to be edible. 3 minutes only part cooks the white so it's still all runny and vile - boke!

They use something similar here at work - works a treat.

 

[Mrs Miggins]

I bought one for a couple as a wedding present once but unfortunately, it turned out neither of them ate boiled eggs. Weirdos.

 

[maya]

You make a hole in the shell to stop the egg leaking out? Now that's my kinda logic.

Everybody does that where I come from, it's common knowledge- We even have a special tool to do it which looks a bit like an egg cup, only with a needle in the bottom which shoots out when you press the egg down...
And please refrain from making fun of my bad english and/or unintentional grammar/meaning mistakes, us foreigners don't always speak perfect english you know...
We keep the eggs in the fridge, too.