I’m sitting here tonight thinking about eggs and waiting for Nancy to get out of the shower so we can watch a movie. Tomorrow I’m going to have a group over for breakfast, Father’s Day, and I’m going to make omelets and baked eggs, with bacon and toast (I will share my foolproof way to make bacon without the mess tomorrow). I started looking around for tips on eggs and then thought it would be a great idea to post a quick note about eggs, specifically about boiling them. So here we go!
How to Buy – I only buy free range eggs and mostly organic. I like animals and want them to be treated as humanely as possible before they come my way. We are also lucky that a few of our customers happen to be farmers and bring us fresh farm eggs. This works for cooking, but not for baking as the eggs are all different sizes. I always look in the box as well to make sure none are broken.
Where to Put them – In the refrigerator and store them in the back on the bottom shelf where it is coldest. Eggs are good for about a month after you buy them, but if it takes that long to eat them, something is wrong.
Now on to the fun part, preparing them by boiling….
Bring the water to a boil (about 4 cups per egg), reduce to a simmer and then add the egg(s) to the water. Leave them for approximately 4 minutes to have soft boiled eggs and 10 minutes for hard boiled eggs. If you are having trouble with them cracking you can make a small pin hole in the larger side of the egg, air sac side. This will allow the pressure to escape.
If you are making hard boiled eggs, drop them in a ice bath of cold water to stop the cooking. Times are approximate and will change if the eggs come right from the refrigerator one time and then sit on the counter for 20 minutes the next. Also the more eggs you cook will increase the amount of time required. Experiment, that is the fun of cooking!
It seems that everyone has their own perfect way to hard boil egg and some prefer to start the eggs in cold water. Put the eggs in the water on high heat, as soon as the water boils, remove from heat, cover and let sit for 10 minutes then move to the ice bath.
I’ve had a ton of fun experimenting with different boilings times. I’ve done everything from soft boiled eggs with the whites firm and the yolk runny at about 4 minutes to a thicker yolk at 6 minutes to hard boiled at 10. A good piece of multi-grain or sourdough toast and a few of these eggs starts my day off well.
Good luck!
