Boiling eggs is much harder than frying eggs: when you are frying eggs, you can look at them in the pan, and see how much they've cooked. You can't peer into a boiling egg without cracking its shell, and that would quickly turn your boiled egg into a poached egg!
The following method will work for either soft-boiled or hard-boiled eggs &mdash the only difference between them is the length of time you leave them to boil. Here's what I recommend:
- find a push pin (see photo at right) and keep it in a drawer or cupboard in your kitchen
- before boiling an egg, make a hole in the shell, at the larger end, using your push pin (this releases the air from the egg, so it is much less likely to crack while boiling)
- put a small amount of cold water into a pot, and gently place your (holed) eggs into this pot
- add more cold water, until the eggs are mostly covered with water
- put the saucepan onto a burner, and turn the heat to high
- get ready to start timing your eggs; an egg timer is best, but you can use any watch or clock, provided it has a second hand
- as the water starts to heat up, small bubbles of air will start to rise to the surface; the water is only simmering as yet
- the water is really boiling as soon as large bubbles of air start regularly rising to the surface
- once this happens, start timing how long your eggs should boil, as follows:
- 3 minutes: very soft, runny eggs; 3 minutes and 25 seconds: soft-boiled eggs; 3 minutes and 50 seconds: medium-boiled eggs; 5 minutes: hard-boiled eggs
- as soon as the desired time has arrived, take an oven mitt or pot holder, grasp the handle of the pot, and bring it to the sink
- gently tip over the pot, and pour out most of the boiling water (without losing the eggs into the sink)
- set the pot in the sink, under the tap and run cold water over the eggs, for about 30 seconds (if you don't do this, the eggs will continue to cook in their shells, and will be too hard for your taste)
- as soon as the eggs are cool enough to handle, take each one out of the pot, crack the shell (anywhere on the egg), and return it to the pot (if cold water gets between the cooked egg and the shell, the shells will be easier to remove)
- let the eggs sit in the coolish water for another 30 seconds (or so), then remove them from the pot and serve
Some people put the boiled egg into an egg cup, remove the shell from the top, and eat them that way. Another way to eat them, is to completely remove the shell, put the eggs into a bowl, chop them into a few large chunks with a spoon, top with a small pat of butter, and some salt, and eat while hot. Whichever way you choose, eggs are good for you and delicious too!
Disclaimer: while these hints are the result of years of experience and/or lots of research, in the end they are just my personal opinion. If you try something I suggest and it doesn't work, please don't sue me — I guarantee nothing. Best of luck!
Page created and maintained by A. Steinbergs
Last modified: November 28, 2011