What constitutes the perfectly boiled egg could be debated endlessly as it really comes down to your personal preference & if you fall into the runny or firm yolk camp. For us? We like to dip a trotter into the best of both worlds and say it really depends on what exactly you're doing with said egg. Dipping buttery ciabatta toast into your boiled egg? Runny yolk with firm whites to scoop out at the end thanks. Potato salad with crispy bacon & sweetcorn? Let's go jammy set yolks with firm whites that don't crumble when you cut them into wedges and scatter with careless abandon across your salad & life in general.
How long is a piece of string...(or a perfectly boiled egg)
As always you might want to tweak slightly to find your version of perfect, but as a general rule, stop at 3 minutes for runny soft-boiled eggs or keep the eggs in the water for up to 15 minutes for very firm hard-boiled eggs that you can use for things like devilled egg sangers. If you're heading into hard territory though, can we recommend trialling the 6-10 min range first? 15 mins is VERY cooked and can be crumbly and dry.
- 3 minutes = Runny soft-boiled eggs (barely set whites)
- 4 minutes = Slightly runny soft-boiled eggs
- 6 minutes = Custardy-yet-firm soft-boiled eggs
- 10 minutes = Firm-yet-still-creamy hard-boiled eggs
- 15 minutes = Very firm hard-boiled eggs
Ingredients
- Eggs (crazy huh?)
- Medium pot filled with cold water
- Ice bath at the ready - 50/50 ratio of ice to cold water
Method
- Put your eggs in the pot of cold water, covering the eggs by at least an inch of water so they cook evenly.
- Bring the water to a rolling boil (uncovered) & once bubbling exuberantly, take off the heat, cover & start your timer.
- Pending on how cooked you want your eggs (see above times), keep an eye on the timer & remove at the time point that matches your egg plans (i.e. you start the timer from the moment you take the pot off the heat and cover).
- Prepare your ice bath if you haven't already.
- After your chosen time is up, remove the cooked eggs from their warm steamy bath and tap each gently on the countertop to crack the shell in a few places. Skip this step if your egg time was for very soft-boiled with runny yolks & handle carefully or with a tea towel as they will be hot little fellas.
- Place the eggs into their icy cold plunge pool & leave them there for at least 1 minute to contemplate their life choices & journey ahead.
- Peel and prepare to feel wildly impressed at your eggcellent skills.
Some cracking ideas from us...
- Top tip? Buy the best eggs you can afford. The quality of the food & care that the hens get makes a huge difference to the colour, texture and flavour of your egg. We love local and have worked with our feathery friends at Little Creek Pastured Eggs for many years now. Their hens are free to roam in the rolling hills of Toodyay & whilst they may come across as feathery divas (did we mention they have guard alpacas named Starsky & Hutch to protect them from predators? #fabulous), the eggs are so full of flavour with vibrant yellow yolks that show how well they are cared for. Aim for pastured or organic where possible and do your research on the farmer as even "free range" can be misleading.
- Try our recipe for soft boiled eggs with vegemite soldiers with fresh chives here.
- Slightly older eggs will be much easier to peel, keep your super fresh guys for things like brekky boiled eggs that you don't need to peel completely.
- Baking with eggs and there is some shell in your mixing bowl? Run your fingers under the tap before trying to fish it out, makes it SO much easier.