Also, is this starting from refrigerated eggs (USA-style) or room temperature (everyone’s else)? I assume this makes less of a difference with your second method.
Yes, eggs are washed which removes the protective layer that makes them safe without refrigeration. So our eggs look cleaner, but have to be refrigerated.
Edit. Looking into this a little more and it seems to be different ways to combat stuff like salmonella. I guess most of the world vaccinates the chickens, plus the cuticle on the egg prevents bacteria from entering through the shell. In the US we wash the eggs and refrigerate to prevent it.
This is correct, and whenever the topic comes up, there’s always a bunch of misinformation. Like you said, it’s two means to the same end. Early in the washing strategy, like a hundred years ago, some washed eggs from Australia were imported to England, and a bunch of people got sick from them, so Europe decide to go the other route. The US got the washing thing down and decided to keep with it. Today, both approaches work pretty well. Australia, Japan, and some Scandinavian countries also use washing. Worth noting that washing requires an infrastructure of shipping things around refrigerated.
Good call. And elevation if high up. Possibly type of egg too. Even assuming all chicken eggs, some have different ratios of yolk to white. We might be in the weeds at this point though.
I measure from the moment the water starts to boil. 4:30 minutes is a good starting point if you want the yellow to be soft but as mentioned, amount of water, pot, your stove, egg size, it all affects the boiling time quite severely. I wouldn’t add or remove more than 15 seconds either if you want to find that sweet spot because it is definitely not like in the picture. 7-8 minutes is pretty much hard boiled for me, but maybe those are some really fat eggs.
But timing it is surely much easier when the water is boiling. If you just slam it in cold water then you are at the mercy of whatever stove you are using
This looks like “dropping an egg into boiling water” and not “bringing the water to a boil with the egg in it,” which is an important distinction.
I’ve never seen an egg where ten minutes of boiling doesn’t fully solidify the yolk.
Actually, it doesn’t even take that long. I mean, I guess ten minutes would do it, too.
I’m not sure that’s a uhhh credible source. But it cracked me up.
Also, is this starting from refrigerated eggs (USA-style) or room temperature (everyone’s else)? I assume this makes less of a difference with your second method.
They don’t seriously have refrigerated eggs, do they
Yes, eggs are washed which removes the protective layer that makes them safe without refrigeration. So our eggs look cleaner, but have to be refrigerated.
Edit. Looking into this a little more and it seems to be different ways to combat stuff like salmonella. I guess most of the world vaccinates the chickens, plus the cuticle on the egg prevents bacteria from entering through the shell. In the US we wash the eggs and refrigerate to prevent it.
This is correct, and whenever the topic comes up, there’s always a bunch of misinformation. Like you said, it’s two means to the same end. Early in the washing strategy, like a hundred years ago, some washed eggs from Australia were imported to England, and a bunch of people got sick from them, so Europe decide to go the other route. The US got the washing thing down and decided to keep with it. Today, both approaches work pretty well. Australia, Japan, and some Scandinavian countries also use washing. Worth noting that washing requires an infrastructure of shipping things around refrigerated.
Canadian here. I buy them from a fridge so I keep them in my fridge.
See what I mean? There are a lot of variables not listed here.
True and it doesn’t seem to care about start egg temp and number of eggs vs amount of water. Without that info it’s not that useful.
Does egg size not matter or what?
Good call. And elevation if high up. Possibly type of egg too. Even assuming all chicken eggs, some have different ratios of yolk to white. We might be in the weeds at this point though.
Isn’t that how you’re supposed to do this?
It is. Bring the water to a boil, drop the egg(s).
No. If you throw the eggs in early and have them warm up with the water they’re less likely to crack.
Never ever had this problem. 🤷♂️
When you put the eggs in are they fridge-cold?
Yes, why? Does that help or shmelp?
When the eggs go from fridge cold to boiling hot I would assume that would increase the chances of them cracking once they got the water.
I agree. Maybe it does, but some other factors are perhaps more important. 🤷♂️
But how do you work out how long they should be boiling, especially if you’re after somewhere in the soft boil sweet spot?
I measure from the moment the water starts to boil. 4:30 minutes is a good starting point if you want the yellow to be soft but as mentioned, amount of water, pot, your stove, egg size, it all affects the boiling time quite severely. I wouldn’t add or remove more than 15 seconds either if you want to find that sweet spot because it is definitely not like in the picture. 7-8 minutes is pretty much hard boiled for me, but maybe those are some really fat eggs.
Yeah, but then you have to watch your pot for the moment it starts to boil. It’s easier to just boil the water, drop them in and then set a timer.
If you bring the water to boil before adding the egg it is much easier to remove the shell
Edit: I see my comment doesn’t really relate to your comment. I’m tired
Chef here. Use older eggs for boiling as they are far easier to shell than fresh eggs.
That’s a myth and unrelated. But throwing it into the cold water helps preventing the egg from cracking.
But timing it is surely much easier when the water is boiling. If you just slam it in cold water then you are at the mercy of whatever stove you are using
You start timing once the water starts boiling.
But its not like the not boiling but at 90 degrees Celsius water doesn’t affect the egg