How to Boil Eggs
Choose your preferred style of boiled eggs., Choose your method., Prepare the egg., Remove hot eggs with care.
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Choose your preferred style of boiled eggs.
Are you someone who prefers a soft-boiled egg or a hard-boiled egg? Occasionally, you might even have to make different levels of boiled egg just to please every member of the household! The times suggested throughout this article are dependent on personal preference, so some experimenting should take place.
The types of boiled egg are:
Coddled, or soft-boiled – very gooey yolk.
Mollet eggs – these will have a semi-liquid yolk; outer white is firm enough for shell to be peeled.
Hard-boiled – yolk is cooked to firmness. , As you will see from the following various suggested methods, making boiled eggs is something of an art form that has arisen through trial and error for many centuries.
If you don't already have a preferred method, perhaps try out each method to achieve the desired result before choosing one that you intend to rely on.
For soft boiled eggs, the rule of thumb is to use the shorter cooking times for softly set whites and runny yolks.
Increase the cooking time for firmly set whites and slightly set yolks.For hard-boiled eggs, bear in mind that cooking the eggs any longer than 12 minutes should not be done because this risks turning the whites rubbery and the yolks crumbly.If you want the egg yolk to remain centered (often important for appearance when using a hard-boiled egg for a special dish), cook the eggs in cold water from the start and slowly bring to the boil.
Stir gently using a wooden spoon as this happens, until they're boiling, and you'll find that the yolks stay centered.Note that when a method suggests boiling once the eggs are in the water, that this means simmering.
Rapid boiling will cause the eggs to turn rubbery and tough.
High cooking temperatures toughen the protein in eggs, and since eggs coagulate with heat, the best cooking methods will always involve cooking slowly at a low temperature., Eggs that have been refrigerated for several days have a higher pH and are more likely to crack, but they are easier to peel.
Cooking expert Rose Elliot recommends pricking the egg at its rounded end prior to boiling.She suggests that doing this helps the air to escape and prevents the egg from bursting or cracking.Special egg-prickers can be purchased, or you can use a needle.
Alternatively, if you've never found this to be an issue with the eggs you use because you've kept them at room temperature or they're fresh from the hens, then you probably don't need to worry about it.
In each case, you can boil more than one egg at a time; just be sure there is sufficient room.
It is possible to purchase special egg holders for more than one egg boiling – speak to a kitchen retailer for more details.
If the eggs do crack, a few drops of vinegar will stop leakage from the shell.A cracked egg can also be wrapped in aluminum foil and boiled., Use a slotted spoon to remove eggs from boiling water and take the usual precautions around hot water. -
Step 2: Choose your method.
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Step 3: Prepare the egg.
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Step 4: Remove hot eggs with care.
Detailed Guide
Are you someone who prefers a soft-boiled egg or a hard-boiled egg? Occasionally, you might even have to make different levels of boiled egg just to please every member of the household! The times suggested throughout this article are dependent on personal preference, so some experimenting should take place.
The types of boiled egg are:
Coddled, or soft-boiled – very gooey yolk.
Mollet eggs – these will have a semi-liquid yolk; outer white is firm enough for shell to be peeled.
Hard-boiled – yolk is cooked to firmness. , As you will see from the following various suggested methods, making boiled eggs is something of an art form that has arisen through trial and error for many centuries.
If you don't already have a preferred method, perhaps try out each method to achieve the desired result before choosing one that you intend to rely on.
For soft boiled eggs, the rule of thumb is to use the shorter cooking times for softly set whites and runny yolks.
Increase the cooking time for firmly set whites and slightly set yolks.For hard-boiled eggs, bear in mind that cooking the eggs any longer than 12 minutes should not be done because this risks turning the whites rubbery and the yolks crumbly.If you want the egg yolk to remain centered (often important for appearance when using a hard-boiled egg for a special dish), cook the eggs in cold water from the start and slowly bring to the boil.
Stir gently using a wooden spoon as this happens, until they're boiling, and you'll find that the yolks stay centered.Note that when a method suggests boiling once the eggs are in the water, that this means simmering.
Rapid boiling will cause the eggs to turn rubbery and tough.
High cooking temperatures toughen the protein in eggs, and since eggs coagulate with heat, the best cooking methods will always involve cooking slowly at a low temperature., Eggs that have been refrigerated for several days have a higher pH and are more likely to crack, but they are easier to peel.
Cooking expert Rose Elliot recommends pricking the egg at its rounded end prior to boiling.She suggests that doing this helps the air to escape and prevents the egg from bursting or cracking.Special egg-prickers can be purchased, or you can use a needle.
Alternatively, if you've never found this to be an issue with the eggs you use because you've kept them at room temperature or they're fresh from the hens, then you probably don't need to worry about it.
In each case, you can boil more than one egg at a time; just be sure there is sufficient room.
It is possible to purchase special egg holders for more than one egg boiling – speak to a kitchen retailer for more details.
If the eggs do crack, a few drops of vinegar will stop leakage from the shell.A cracked egg can also be wrapped in aluminum foil and boiled., Use a slotted spoon to remove eggs from boiling water and take the usual precautions around hot water.
About the Author
Carol Hill
Writer and educator with a focus on practical crafts knowledge.
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