How to Boil an Egg

Mothers Day came and went and my hint of an egg cup plus tea bag went un-noticed on the kitchen table. I found myself grumbling at the cooker while putting rashers on bagels and swearing to be away in a hotel this time next year. My 9 year old claimed he couldn’t boil an egg. If the truth be told I couldn’t always boil an egg myself. They always cracked in the pot and ended up with half the egg stuck to the outside of the shell in a bulbous heap. Old wives tales of putting vinegar or salt in the cooking water to standing on your head while saying a decade of the rosary were all bandied about. Nigella says she puts a matchstick in the water, never tried it.

In my year in

Germany

(I lived there for 4 year) I found a place where the simple boiled egg enjoyed cult-like status. German breakfast would be a plate of cold meats, salami, cheese and various salads and bread rolls, but always accompanied by the holy egg. The eggs in

Germany

never had bits stuck to the outside of them and were mostly cooked to perfection with the yolk just starting to cook on the outside but with the inside golden and runny. So what’s the secret? No it’s not vinegar or anything Wiccan, it’s the hole in the egg that does it.

The eggs bottom, the fatter end, has a white membrane on the inside that creates an air pocket. When exposed to heat, hot water in this case, pressure builds up on the inside and the egg has to crack to release it. The next time you crack an egg have a look inside and you’ll see this. How to solve the problem is to make a tiny pin-prick in the eggs bum. You can do this by carefully sticking a pin into it, harder than it sounds. Otherwise there is a kitchen implement tot do the job, it’s called an Egg Pricker, yes really. I looked on Amazon but they are all out of stock, I think from lack of interest more than anything. Otherwise if you are in

Dublin

pop into Stock on

South King Street

, D2. They have a good one for €6.95 and Kitchen Compliments on

Chatham St

, around the corner have a more basic version for €4.95. The

Kitchen

Range

,

Catherine St.

in

Limerick

does one for just €2.95. (Mention my blog if you go in and buy one, pleeeeeeze)

After the hole comes the egg. Of course the better the egg, as in organic, happy, fresh eggs, will taste better. As a friend said “If the farmers at the markets are telling the truth the eggs should be really fresh and tasty for the huge price”. As a child we occasionally got a tray of feather covered eggs from a farmer somewhere. The difference in the colour of the yolk was like primrose versus sunflower. Next comes the egg size. A small egg takes 3 minutes, medium takes 4 minutes and a large egg takes 5 minutes. Eggs don’t need to be stored in the fridge unless you live in

India

. The temperature should be room temperature or they will take longer to cook.

How to boil an Egg

1. put a small pot of water on to boil

2. Make a hole in the bottom of the egg

3. Put the egg on a spoon and carefully lower into the water. The water should keep boiling unless your eggs are too cold, in which case time them from when the water starts bubbling again.

4. Cook the egg for the right amount of time and meanwhile make your toast, you gotta have soldiers!

5. When the time is up pour out the hot water and pour on some cold. This will stop the egg cooking and you can leave the egg in the water like this for a few minutes, but it will get cold.

6. Put the egg into the egg cup, with soldiers and salt and pepper at the ready. Crack open and enjoy!

You can cook eggs like this to bring on a picnic too; they will stay soft on the inside.

If you do this leave me feedback please!!!

Comments

[ernie whalley]

Like the blog, nice work.

[Laura]

Hi Val
I was talking to Deb and she told me to check out your site. Now I can boil an egg!!
hello from Australia!!!
Laura
xx
I have a great recipe for Chickpea patties! They must be good...lachlan ate them!!!

[Jen]

Val, have already mentioned your blog at the Kitchen Range's cookery demos, referenced your one about the market last week as we were talking about how it should get more publicity,so it was rather apt.

[Deborah]

I managed to constrain myself to a mere €45 euro... even used the laser! :-) I think that's a new record for a kitchen shop. Thanks for the link... I'll tell the husband you think I'm... should give him a laugh! :-)

[Val]

Hi Tom
For now you can have a look at my post Chicken noodle Soup
http://www.valskitchen.com/vals_kitchen/2006/11/chicken_noodle_.html
This may be a bit ambitious, the chorizo pasta is a no-brainer though. Try it and let me know. Will work on some more.
Val

[Tom Raftery]

Hey Val - thanks a million for starting the Cooking for Dummies (like me) series.

Now that I know how to boil an egg flawlessly, how about posting something simple (and by simple I mean extremely simple!) that I can cook which will suit the family.

Beans on toast? ;-)

[Val]

Hi Deborah
I'm sure another 5 euro won't send you over the edge. Kid number 1 loves boiled eggs. Number 2 only eats the whites. That's kids for you
Val

[Deborah]

Oh God Val... already have a full cart at Kitchen Compliments... WHY did you have to do tell us about that? :-) Will have the credit card maxed in no time!

[Deborah]

I've never heard about the pricking a hole... interesting... will have to try it. I always just bring it to a boil, take off the heat, put a lid on and leave for 5-10 min. depending on how cooked I want it! This sounds much easier! :-) Now do you have any tricks for getting the kids to actually eat them? :-)