“She can’t even boil an egg!”
We’ve all heard the remark, indicating that boiling an egg is easy peasy. Yes it is, if you are wanting a hard boiled egg, and even then it can go horribly wrong with a grey yolk and surrounded by a purple ring!
Perfectly cooked eggs with runny yolks and firm whites can stimulate in depth discussions as everyone has their own method and so many have experienced failures.
I personally prefer a perfectly poached egg, but that requires additional skills and it can be a hit and miss affair unless you are well practiced and assured of perfectly fresh eggs.
With summer here I often serve boiled eggs with a salad for a light meatless meal. I find this method works for me.
- Always start with eggs at room temperature. It is not necessary to store eggs in the fridge.
- Bring a pot of water to the boil, ensuring that the water is deep enough to cover the eggs by at least 3cms.
- Have a kitchen timer at hand.
- Use a spoon to gently lower the eggs into the water.
- If you are cooking more than 4 eggs, use a permanent marker to number them, so that you remove the eggs in the order that you placed them in the water, or only boil 4 at a time. This sounds crazy, but I assure you an extra minute in the pan can make a difference!
- Time the eggs from when you place them into the water for 4 minutes. This includes the time that it takes for the water to return to the boil.
- Turn off the heat or remove the pan from the heat.
- Let it stand for 1 minute.
- Drain the hot water, leaving the eggs in the pan, swirl the eggs around to crack the shells and cover them with cold water. The cold water loosens the shells and stops the cooking process.
- After a few minutes gently peel away the shells, I find this easiest done with the egg under water, remembering that the egg contains a soft yolk!
This can be done hours before you use the eggs. To keep them fresh, submerge them in cold water. Either refrigerate or keep at room temperature. I personally prefer eating the soft yolk at room temperature.
If you want hard boiled eggs follow the above instructions, boil for 6 minutes and leave to stand in the hot water for 2 minutes. The yolk with be creamy, but solid and have no discolouration.
Tip: keep the eggshells to crush & spread in your veggie garden. They are lethal for snails & feed the garden with nutrients!