Never run the risk of an over or underdone boiled egg again
Sometimes, there are things that are so seemingly incredibly simple to make that we wholeheartedly believe we have been doing it correctly our entire lives. Other times, we read an article or see a video that shows the accurate way to perform said task and it blows our minds and/or shatters whatever is left of our egos. Be warned: this may possibly be one such article. If you already know the information I’m about to share, you may pat yourself on the back and rest assured that you still have bragging rights over the rest of us for about the next ten minutes or so, that it would take to get through the rest of this article. The conundrum is that you won’t know unless you read it through, and that’s the fun part!
Now that your curiosity has bested you, let’s get right into the topic of boiled eggs. I know, how hard can that be, right? Well, there’s a right and a wrong way to do almost anything and boiling eggs happens to be on that list. Need proof? If you have ever ended up with egg yolks that are grey instead of yellow then keep reading, friend.
Like steaks, eggs can also be cooked to different degrees of doneness using various cooking methods. In the case of boiled eggs, the stages of doneness are soft boiled, medium boiled and hard boiled. Anything further and you end up with the grey yolks I mentioned previously. When overcooked, the sulphur contained in egg whites chemically react with the iron contained in egg yolks forming what is known as ferrous sulphide. This compound is harmless when formed, however it discolours the yolk.
The most common mistake I have observed people make when boiling eggs is that they drop the uncooked eggs into boiling water. This always results in uneven cooking and pretty much guarantees that your eggs will be ruined. As a rule of thumb, eggs should be placed into the pot and covered with room temperature water before placing over a heat source. This ensures that the internal temperature of the egg increases at a proportionate rate as compared to the water surrounding it and allows for uniform heat transfer throughout the egg.
Another crucial step to note is that once the temperature of the water reaches its boiling point, the heat should be reduced to allow the water to reduce to a gentle simmer. This also aids in uniform heat transfer and helps prevent overcooking of the egg. It is at this point that the egg should be timed to determine the specific doneness.
At 5 minutes, after the water is reduced to a simmer, the egg is considered to be soft boiled. At this stage the egg white has just set and the yolk is creamy or runny. Soft-boiled eggs are best suited to be served by themselves, possibly over pasta, with steak or definitely with crisp toast, which can be used to dip into the runny yolks.
At 8 minutes after the water has been reduced to a simmer, the egg is considered to be medium-boiled. The egg white is firm and the yolk is almost completely opaque but may be slightly softer at the centre. These are great for composed salads such as the French classic, salad Niçoise.
At 10 minutes after the water has been reduced to a simmer, the egg is considered to be hard-boiled. The egg white is very firm and the yolk is bright yellow with an almost chalky texture. There are many uses for hard boiled eggs including Asian soups, deviled eggs and egg salad, just to name a few.
Any longer cooking times than those mentioned above and you run the risk of overcooking the egg and dissuading yourself from wanting to serve it to others. Truth be told, I have done it a number of times. You’re not alone.
Aside from the difficulty of getting the egg to the right doneness, there is the sometimes annoying challenge of peeling the egg, especially when it’s one of those where the membrane refuses to peel away from the egg properly. I confess that there has been more than one occasion that I knowingly ate the egg with a considerable amount of shell still attached to it because my patience had run out. I like to think that it was like taking a calcium supplement with breakfast.
There are a few myths out there about making eggs easier to peel such as adding cooking oil to the water, which supposedly causes the shell to slide right off. Other myths include, adding vinegar to the water or chilling the eggs before peeling.
There is one method that I have tried that worked very well—I placed the egg into a container with enough water to cover halfway up the egg, then covered the container with a lid and shook it gently until the shell gradually broke off from the egg. The best practice is to gently tap the egg around its entire surface area to crack the shell, after which it should be peeled under running water. It helps a lot if you are able to remove large amounts of shell with the shell membrane.
So, if it turns out that the information above was new to you and it helped, you’re very welcome. If it wasn’t, then at the very least you can tell the person next to you, “I know that already,” as you silently feel proud of yourself. In which case, you’re welcome too.