I remember there were several copies of the student cookbook How to Boil an Egg
Don’t get me wrong I can cook, to some degree, but I don’t enjoy it at all. I have a few go-to meals that I can knock together but I lack confidence to explore and experiment.
If we’re at home on a Saturday morning, Mr C and I like to start the day off with a soft-boiled egg (with soldiers, obviously). It’s become something of a ritual over the past six months but invariably ends in disappointment as the white is too runny or the yolk hard-boiled.
We’ve tried Delia’s technique, (boil the water, then lower in the eggs and simmer for a minute, remove from the heat and leave for six minutes), but have been left with a hard-boiled version even if we’ve reduced the resting time.
We’ve experimented with the BBC’s approach of lowering an egg into boiling water and leaving for four minutes but have found that the white isn’t set however at five minutes the yolk is too hard.
In between we’ve googled and page-turned to find the ultimate egg boiling method but half a year down the line and umpteen eggs later we seem to be a long way off mastering the technique. And so I’m looking to you to help put an end to this breakfast misery! What’s your recipe for creating perfect soft-boiled eggs? Is it too much to ask to have a dippy, runny yolk burst out of the top to be met with a multi-grain soldier? While we’re at it we could also chat about the intricacies of poaching an egg too. Please, please help!
Image source | Dippy Egg
5 minutes in boiling water works for me… I think the eggs aren’t meant to be fridge cold (prevents cracking) so maybe take them out the night before?
If not, I believe that purveyor of solutions-to-problems-you-didn’t-know-you-had (aka Lakeland) sell a dedicated egg boiler 🙂 Not that the catalogue is my favourite bedtime reading or anything. Ahem.
That is the best way to describe Lakeland Katie! I will be buying one of those handy contraptions! x
The timing depends on the size of the egg and how fresh it is or not. You might want to read this! https://newton.ex.ac.uk/teaching/CDHW/egg/
Blimey Victoria. It’s a tricky business, it’s practically rocket science! 😉
Strangely, I was boiling eggs as I opened RMS for my morning fix…
I went for eggs at room temp, into cold water and then bring to the boil for 3 mins. They’re just past the dippy stage, but not bad at all.
The only issue I have with this technique is deciding on when a boil is boiling enough! I can just imagine my mum in the background saying ‘no Faye, that’s a simmer’ or ‘that’s a rolling boil-too much’. Mums do know best.
Good point Faye, I think this might be our problem – over zealous boiling! Hope you enjoyed your eggs this morning x
I use Faye’s techniques, and always have perfect soft-boiled eggs. 3 mins from the time the water starts boiling is right for medium-large eggs. If the eggs are extra large then I leave them in for another minute. Good luck!
I’m not very good with boiling eggs myself 🙁 I have tried the egg boiler device but still ended up with a hard yolk. Really want a boiled egg now!
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Poachies-Egg-poaching-Bags-20/dp/B006VT2OMQ These things are completely amazing for poaching eggs though – cooked whites but runny yolk every time! Although on the packet it says 6 mins in the water and only 3 are required!
I recently started dabbling in egg boiling, having no previous experience.
Like a lot of things I want to learn, I downloaded an app on my iPhone. The app in question is called Egg Timer and the icon has a cartoon of an egg with a smily face. You choose that you want to boil your eggs, specify the size and how soft or hard you like them. There’s a little bar along the bottom and you move the ‘egg’ to your desired level of softness. I found that if I moved it one along from soft it worked best.
This app also explains how to poach an egg although I have yet to try it. For poaching I too went with Katie’s approach and went to Lakeland and bought a set of egg poachers.
Best of luck!
Maxine
The best method I have come across for poached eggs is cooking them in the microwave!
Crack an egg (straight from the fridge works fine) into a mug half filled with boiling water and then microwave for around 45-50 seconds – although this does depend on the power of your microwave.
Word of warning – listen out for a “pop” – if you hear this you’ve probably cooked the egg for too long, and might end up with a microwave coated in egg…
For boiling I would suggest an Egg-Perfect (http://www.lakeland.co.uk/3158/Egg-Perfect) and for poaching reusable green/yellow poach pods (http://www.lakeland.co.uk/12116/Green-poachpod) from Lakeland. Just be careful you don’t come out with more than you went in for!
Thanks everyone for all the methods to try. I think we’ll be having eggs for breakfast, lunch and dinner this weekend x
I pop the egg in the saucepan full of cold water and bring it to the boil then leave it to simmer on low heat for 3 mins. It usually works but sometimes, depending on the size of the egg it can lead to disappointment… the crushing realisation that you cannot dip the soldiers into the goey yolk! 3 mins for medium eggs usually works.
I’m currently trying to master the poached egg! First attempt – looked more like a fried egg and the yolk was hard. Second attempt – looked less like a fried egg but still not quite poached like but was soft in the middle – hurrah!
It’s the simple things that can fox us!
For poached eggs I break the egg into cling film and tie it up and plop into gently boiling water. I find the easiest way to know if its done is taking it out and giving it a squidge. When its done just snip the cling film off. Then your left with a well cooked egg that doesn’t have half the white hanging off!
[…] eggs (and am pleased to report that the Lakeside Hotel have well and truly mastered the art of the dippy egg). After breakfast we had a stroll of the pretty grounds (where guests and non-residents can enjoy […]