mindstalk: (food)
I don't have a clear memory of how I was thought to cook soft-boiled eggs, which is sad given that I did it a fair bit. I have a dim memory of slipping eggs into boiling water to sit for a couple minutes, but I don't know. What I have done for years is to bring eggs in cold water to a boil, turn the heat off, and let them sit for 3 minutes. (For hard, sit for 15+.) That worked well.

Worked well with my old pot, anyway. Now I'm in a new place, with someone else's pots... so I tried making them against yesterday. "Bring to a boil" was a bit problematic, as the lid has a vent hole in it. And I let the eggs sit for four minutes because I got distracted. Result: eggs much closer to hard than soft, with no runny yolk. :(

I tried again today! I didn't even let the water come to a full boil, and waited exactly 3 minutes. Plus, instead of taking out each egg one at a time, I moved all three to a cold water bath before dissecting them. Result: some runniness, but yolks still partially hardened.

So I'm thinking the greater mass and size of the pot I'm using is a factor. Maybe there was something to the "slip eggs into boiling water" idea, though that has risks of splashing with boiling water, thus why I stopped.

Friends have suggested egg timers, though ones based on temperature sound more useful than simple timers. I can use a stopwatch just fine.

Date: 2018-01-26 20:32 (UTC)From: [personal profile] mtbc
mtbc: photograph of me (Default)
Mmmm, a larger pot may well make a significant difference to the timings. You may want to acquire your own traveling pot.

We've had artificial facsimile eggs before, somewhat see-through for judging resulting yolk hardness but I have not used them enough to form an opinion of their fidelity.

Poaching may be a more reliable alternative. There are those simple silicone floating boat things that the egg sits on. Maybe that wouldn't help, actually.

I'm afraid that I usually just fry them instead, a final few seconds flipped over onto the previously top side reliably gives me cooked whites and runny yolk. Especially lovely with duck eggs.

Profile

mindstalk: (Default)
mindstalk

January 2026

S M T W T F S
    1 2 3
45 6 7 8 910
11 12131415 1617
18 19 2021 222324
252627 28293031

Page Summary

Most Popular Tags

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags

Style Credit

Page generated 2026-02-01 17:00
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios