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This recipe assumes the eggs have been refrigerated and have just been removed from the refrigerator before beginning.
Boiling eggs in the shell pretty much starts the same way - by bringing water to a boil. The amount of water is variable depending on the size of pot and the number of eggs being boiled. An easy way to determine how much water is needed is by placing the eggs into the pot selected and pouring water in until there is at least 1 inch (more than 2 cm) of water covering the eggs.
You really need only about 1/2-in. (more than a cm) of water above the eggs for this to work well, but I find that some amount of water will escape as vapor while it is boiling and waiting for eggs to be deposited. Depending on how often you check on the pot, water loss can be substantial, so try to make sure you have at least an inch of water over the eggs before you start.
Remove the eggs from the water and place the pot (with its lid on) onto the burner on medium-high to bring to a boil. The water is ready once it reaches a rolling boil (large bubbles rising cause the surface of the water to tumble and roll).In the original article I wrote, the eggs were placed into the water and boiled for 5 minutes before being shocked in ice water. After more testing with another couple dozen eggs, I'm now advocating the following method:
Once the water is boiling, place refrigerated large eggs into the boiling water, cover, and remove the pot from the heat. Allow the eggs to steep in the nearly boiling water for seven minutes.
As soon as seven minutes are up, remove the eggs and place into an ice water bath. This will chill the exterior of the egg serving two purposes. When rapidly cooked, eggs, like most dense foods, do not heat evenly. The outside portions of the egg (the egg whites) are much hotter than the interior (the egg yolk). By shocking the shell with ice water, we lower the temperature of the egg whites to a temperature below that of the egg yolk and this causes the egg yolk to stop cooking. Otherwise, the yolk would continue to draw heat from the whites and raise its temperature while the egg white temperature lowered resulting in overcooked egg yolks.
The other reason for shocking the eggs is that it causes a little bit of shrinkage in the egg, hopefully making it easier to peel.
After about 1 minute, peel the eggs. I find it easiest to do this by tapping the egg lightly (just enough to crack the shell) all over starting with the fat end (I start here because there's an air pocket and I feel more comfortable using a little more force to break the shell without damaging the egg). I then run a thin stream of cold water to help pull away the shell and membrane as I carefully peel the egg. Be careful, it's not as hardy as a hard boiled egg due to the liquid core.
If the soft boiled eggs are too cold after you're done peeling them, you can submerge then into the cooking liquid (which should be just around simmering at this point in time) to reheat. About two to three minutes will bring it back up to temperature.
Served with a light sprinkling of kosher salt, a soft boiled egg makes a great addition to breakfast or a pleasant surprise accompanying your dinner entree.?}?>If this is your first time using this recipe, I suggest cooking one or two eggs with this method first. Breaking into the egg, you should find the whites almost fully cooked (solid) with the yellow yolk thickened and viscous.
Note: For individuals with a poor immune system, the young, or the elderly, it is not advisable to consume soft boiled eggs or undercooked yolks.
Soft Boiled Eggs
| whole large eggs | steep in covered pot of just boiled water for 7 minutes | shock in ice water | peel |
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I would have thought that 5 minutes at a boil would mean they were overcooked.
Might have to try it some time for comparison!
Are you kidding me? Such a waste of effort, just guess about the water height, but most importantly you DO NOT need at least an inch of water above the eggs. I just made some perfect hard boiled eggs tonight with water that didn't even quite cover the eggs. I make soft-boiled eggs all the time the same way.
The only reason I can think of for putting a lot of water, is the same reason you want a lot of water when boiling pasta: so that the water doesn't cool down a lot when you add the room temperature/fridge temperature eggs/pasta to the water. But if you're doing one egg, having extra water in the pot won't make a huge difference. Secondly, if you have less water, even though the water may cool down a bit, it will heat up fast anyways when you are doing the keep-the-pot-on-the-element method.
Kitt
http://www.kittalog.com
This is kind of straying from topic, but I tried making tea eggs recently and I really like them.
These eggs are hard boiled all the way, then the shell is cracked but not peeled. Then you steep the eggs in tea in the fridge for a day or too. If you do it right, the egg gets a pretty cracked shell pattern, and the tea gives the egg a nice complimentary flavor.
Most of the ones I have made I cracked the shell too finely, and the tea seeped in and just colored the entire egg. Still tasted good, but not something I would serve at a party.
I think the secret it to tap the egg with a butter knife instead of rolling it, and using really strong tea to steep in.
Next, deviled tea eggs...I'm sure I will come up with some really horrendous combinations in the beginning...scallions, ginger, something that colors the egg yolk to compliment the marblized white...add texture...truffles...ham...beans...hash...hmmmm, not all together though
I'm retesting the cooking method with a couple different pots as we speak. I'll probably update the recipe with a non-boiling recipe once I'm done with my tests. Stay tuned.
there are purpose made "egg piercers" - I have used an ice pick in a pinch.
Regards,
Pierre
Greg,
if your concern about cracked eggs are on the whites running out, i would suggest adding a tablespoon of white vinegar in the boiling water. that should keep the whites in.
or if it's the cracks that bother you, i usually wait about 30 seconds to 1 minute before i put in cold eggs. that had so far kept mine from cracking, and still cooks the eggs to my satisfaction. by the way, i take the eggs out of the fridge before i even start filling the pot with water to boil.
In the end the last bit of peel sticks still to the Egg and hinders complete peeling without breaking the Egg.
At which point could I have messed up.
perhaps at no point <g>
it is rumored that really fresh eggs can be more difficult to "peel" -
another theory says start with the eggs at room temp
for the cold water "quench" I like to use actual ice water - a bowl of cold water with a bunch of ice cubes....
and then there are some eggs that simply will _not_ cooperate even when asked nicely.....
Ah, here freshness of the eggs makes a difference. Older eggs are less likely to crack when you have ample water because they float (due to the air pocket in the big end) and won't smack into the bottom of the pan.
Follow all instructions up to removing the pan from the heat. Turn off the burner, but leave the pan on the heat for 5 minutes. Remove eggs, shock in cold water, enjoy .
Maybe the make of my pan lets the water cool more quickly or some other reason. Whatever the reason, this slight modification worked perfectly for me. I've never managed to make soft boiled eggs that perfectly.
Also, for peeling, I gently tap with the dull side of a table knife to crack all over, then gently peel.
This is how I do it:
1. Cut a square of plastic film about 25x25 cm
2. Cover the inside of a cup with the plastic film, spray the film with olive oil
3. Crack an egg in the cup, add salt and pepper to taste
4. Carefully make a small package and tie the edges with some thread (I have used dental floss)
5. Boil the egg 5 to 7 min.
6. Without pinching the egg, cut the thread and remove the egg from the plastic, sometimes it sticks, so be careful.
Ps: I learnt this technique from Jose Mari Arzak @ Restaurante Arzak in San Sebastian, Spain,
http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics3/640/ND2_6234_LR.jpg
Looks yummy :-)
http://www.cookingforengineers.com/pics3/640/ND2_6234_LR.jpg
Looks yummy :-)
It's a hash brown patty (from Trade Joe's).
Altitude affects cooking because air pressure is reduced at high altitudes. With a reduction of air pressure comes a lowering of the boiling point of water which will reduce the maximum temperature that water in an unsealed container can be brought to (and thus how much a food cooks in a given amount of time). The difference between ten to twenty feet (an indeed a few hundred feet) will not make much of a difference. However, being 5,000 ft above sea level will affect your ability to replicate a recipe that was developed for use at or near sea level.
First, it's really a bad idea to put the eggs straight from the fridge in the boiling water. Most "commercial" eggs will crack. Drilling a small hole in the shell may do the trick, though.
Second, the optimum time period to get a runny yolk (just a pinch thickened is best) and a solid while is very narrow. The most forgiving method is the one in which one brings the eggs to a boil, then immediately turns off the heat and waits a certain time.
Third, whatever the method, the timing depends on so many factors (heat level and type, water quantity, egg count, egg size, atmospheric pressure) that one must not trust someone else's time and instead experiment on his/her own setup.
Everytime I moved, I had to recalibrate the method. However, for me the struggle is over: about two years ago a stumbled upon an egg cooker, a simple electric gadget that controls the timing by how long it takes a calibrated amount of water to evaporate completely. It's very easy and with perfectly consistent results.
Alternately, I remember reading in a cookbook about the fact that temperature at which the yolk hardens is about 5-6*C higher than of the white (which is 70*C?). Therefore, one can get perfect soft-boiled eggs by controlling the water temperature at a point between the two and keeping the egg at that temperature long enough for the white to harden.
http://khymos.org/eggs.php
If the shell is a problem, there is an easy solution, get rid of it before cooking.
This is how I do it:
1. Cut a square of plastic film about 25x25 cm
2. Cover the inside of a cup with the plastic film, spray the film with olive oil
3. Crack an egg in the cup, add salt and pepper to taste
4. Carefully make a small package and tie the edges with some thread (I have used dental floss)
5. Boil the egg 5 to 7 min.
6. Without pinching the egg, cut the thread and remove the egg from the plastic, sometimes it sticks, so be careful.
Ps: I learnt this technique from Jose Mari Arzak @ Restaurante Arzak in San Sebastian, Spain
I love San Sebastian. It's a great great city, especially the fireworks in summer. I would love to go back and try all the famous restaurants there. Now, maybe a stupid question: do you remove the plastic out of the cup or do you leave it in? I guess you take it out, but I'm not entirely sure from your description.
Michael, I have always heard that shocking the eggs to make them peel easier is a complete myth, and that the only thing that matters here is how young/old the eggs are. Any thoughts on this? Do you have scientific proof on the shocking-theory?