How to boil an egg?
There is not much to it: You put a pot of water on the stove and wait for it to boil. Then you put the eggs in, turn off the heat, and let them sit for about 10 minutes. Take them out, peel them, and enjoy!
Or do you really want me to go into details? How much water? What size pot? What temperature should the water be before I put in the eggs? Should I use cold or hot water? How can I tell when the eggs are done?
These questions have an obvious answer: It depends. The amount of water depends on how many eggs you’re boiling and how large they are. Sometimes the size of the pot depends on how much water you’re using; you need enough room for the eggs to fit comfortably, with some room above them for steam. The temperature depends: If you’re starting with cold eggs, they’ll take longer to cook than if they were already at room temperature. And so on.
If you wanted more information than this article can provide, your next step would be a cookbook. You’d look up “boiling eggs” or “hard-boiled eggs” or something similar. It would probably tell you everything you need to know.
I’ve been asked several times already how to boil an egg. I’m not sure why this should be the case, but in case you find yourself in the same position, here is a recipe.
Take many eggs you like and put them in a pan. Fill with cold water until they are covered, then heat until boiling. Once boiling, if you have very fresh eggs (within 24 hours of laying) and, like your yolks, runny, leave for 3 1/2 minutes before plunging into cold water to cool. If you can’t get very fresh eggs or like your yolks more cooked, leave for about 5 minutes before cooling under running water. When completely cool, store in the refrigerator until needed. To reheat, carefully peel and place in a pan of hot water for about 10 seconds, then serve immediately.
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How to Peel a Boiled Egg?
When making an omelette, one of the most frustrating issues is how to peel a boiled egg. It can be easily solved by using a spoon. The curved shape of the spoon allows you to scoop out the egg with ease.
Place the egg in a bowl. Using a tablespoon, press gently on the top of the egg until the shell starts to crack. Move ( smoothly) Slide the edge of the spoon under the crack and slowly move it around until all cracks are removed. Scoop out the egg and place it in your salad or on your toast and enjoy!
To peel a boiled egg, crack the shell by tapping it all over with the back of a teaspoon.
Make sure to hold the egg under cold running water while you remove the shell.
Alternatively, hold the egg firmly and ease off the shell with your fingers.
Put the peeled egg into cold water to prevent discoloration.
How do you peel a boiled egg? The modern method is to crack the shell, blow on the egg, and then peel off the shell. That works okay, but the result isn’t great:
The modern way
The old-fashioned way is more successful. You shake the egg vigorously in a jar. At first, nothing seems to be happening:
Shaking an egg
Then suddenly, there is a loud cracking noise, and when you open the jar, the egg looks like this:
Egg just after cracking
Now it’s very easy to remove the shell. It flaps off in one or two pieces:
Peeled egg
This method has three advantages over the modern method:(1) It gives better results. (2) It’s more fun. (3) It’s what your grandmother would have done.
One of my eggs cracked while boiling. Can I still eat it?
What about the egg that cracked while boiling? You can still eat it, but be careful; this is the most dangerous kind of cracked egg because the egg white will leak out through the crack into the water and then get resorbed through the shell back into the egg. This means bacteria can enter too. The usual advice, in this case, is to add vinegar to the water which supposedly helps prevent bacteria from entering.
Personally, I never bother with this step. I simply boil my eggs a bit longer and then discard any that are cracked.
If you like to keep your boiled eggs in the shell (say, to make deviled eggs), you can use the following method:
Drop your eggs into boiling water and cook for 30 seconds. Remove them from boiling water immediately after 30 seconds and place them into cold tap water or ice water.
Keep them in cold water until they are completely cool (about 15 minutes) then peel them as usual. For me, this works like a charm!
While we haven’t tested this specifically, my guess is that it depends on how badly the egg cracked.
A small crack in the shell of an egg is probably fine to use. You should be able to catch it while examining the egg for cracks before you use it in a recipe. If you do find a crack, just be sure to check the egg for freshness before using it.
To tell if an egg is still good, drop it into a bowl of water. If the egg sinks, then it is still good. If the egg floats, then throw it out. This happens because as eggs age, they lose moisture and their air cell grows larger. This air cell is located at the broad end of the egg and becomes larger as the egg loses moisture and air enters through its pores (ref). As an egg age, carbon dioxide escapes and air enters through these pores, which increases buoyancy. to read more visit this page.
