Perfect Boiled Eggs
Read about how I developed these recipes in The Food Lab: Perfect Boiled Eggs.
Soft Boiled Eggs
Ingredients
3 quarts water
1 to 6 large eggs
Procedure
1. Bring water to a simmer in a medium pot. Reduce heat until water is barely quivering. Gently lower eggs into water with slotted spoon or strainer (do not drop eggs into water, or they might crack).
2. Cook for exactly 6 minutes, then remove eggs with slotted spoon, and serve.
Update (1/4/2010): For best results, heat water to 180 degrees as measured on an instant-read thermometer. After adding eggs, adjust heat to maintain temperature at 180 degrees for duration of cooking time. If you do not have a thermometer, keep the water at the early simmer stage when tiny bubbles are just beginning to break the surface (at high altitudes, the water may be bubbling more vigorously).
Hard Boiled Eggs
Note: If you have a particularly strong burner, a very thin-walled pot, or live at high altitudes or in a very cold or hot environment, initial volume of water may need to be adjusted. Once you figure out the specific volume for your location, use that same volume every time.
Ingredients
1.5 quarts cool water
1 to 6 large eggs
Procedure
Place eggs and water in saucepot. Place over high heat and bring to a bare simmer. Immediately shut off burner and wait at least ten minutes. Peel eggs under cool running water, and serve.
Update (1/4/2010): For clarification, a "bare simmer" should be 180-190 degrees at sea level. For best results, use an instant-read thermometer. If you do not have a thermometer, bring the water to the stage when tiny bubbles are breaking the surface steadily before shutting it off.
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2 Comments:
Hello Kenji,
Thank you for such a great recipe. I am not used to US measures and cooking techniques so I would really appreciate if you could elaborate a bit more.
I tried the soft boiled eggs recipe and miserably failed. Below are a few points that confused me along the way:
1) I guess "3 quarts" means 3/4 of a galloon that equals to 2.8 liters.
2) What exactly do you mean by "Bring water to a simmer" ? Is it when the water starts to smoke, when the first small bubble raises from the bottom to the top or when there are lots of small bubbles around ?
3) What exactly do you mean by "quivering" ? That one I have no clue...
and finally..
4) "Reduce heat until water is barely quivering" - does it means I must increase heat again after the water quivers ? Or is it just the point where I lower the eggs in the water and let the heat as it is (minimum) ?
Thank you a lot for your clarifications.
iFeghali at 9:00AM on 01/03/10
Thanks for the fascinating article and recipes! We tried the soft-boiled eggs last weekend and loved them!
I'm now using every pot in the house to boil 48 eggs for a potluck at work tomorrow -- for deviled eggs (we call them 'dressed eggs' in my family).
My question: should the pot be covered during the 10+ minutes? You don't mention it, which makes me think not. But many other recipes require it. Just wanted to make sure. Thanks!
joematango at 11:08PM on 01/11/10