Monday, July 25, 2011

Once More on Boiling Eggs!

As most of you know, I have been dealing with the failing health of my mother, while trying to shore up my 91 year old father, and it has become almost a full time job! So let me apologize for neglecting the blog so long!

On to food! There has long been a battle raged among foodies about proper technique for boiled eggs. Being a former chef, of course I have my two cents worth and here it is. First of all, with a minimum of patience, it is possible to produce perfect boiled eggs- that is, not too hard and rubbery, not too soft and most certainly without that awful greenish ring around the yolk! Here's the foolproof method:


Place eggs in a boiler/pot and cover with cold tap water. Allow enough room so that the eggs are not touching each other. Place on the burner with the temp turned to high. Add 1 teaspoon of any vinegar for every two to three eggs. Now, here's the patience part- gently stir the eggs around the pot till the water comes to a full rolling boil. Keep stirring and count to sixty. Take the pot off the burner if it is electric or turn off the heat if gas. Ignore the eggs in the cooking water till they are at least lukewarm or even cold. They will finish cooking to perfect consistency as the boiling water cools. They will peel easily, the yolks will be more centered from the stirring (nice if you're making deviled eggs,) and there will be no visually unappetizing greenish ring around the yolks. This is only two minutes of your time, but well worth it!


The other piece of advice is NEVER use very fresh eggs. They are not suitable for boiling. If I know I have bought really fresh eggs, or gotten them from my brother's neighbor who has chickens, I always keep them at least a week to ten days in the fridge before using for boiling.

No comments:

Post a Comment