Boiled Egg – Best Start To The Day
Go to Work on an Egg? Well if you are old enough to remember that slogan, you will also know that eggs have had a mixed press through the years. There was for a time fear about the cholesterol in eggs, but they definitely have the ‘all clear’ now and a boiled egg is an excellent, healthy breakfast. Most people prefer a soft boiled egg for breakfast
A hard boiled egg can also be an excellent addition to a picnic or packed lunch or as a sandwich filling.
Satisfying, easy to prepare, delicious and healthy. This is nature’s fast and pre packaged food at its best! Great start to the day!
The cholesterol in one egg a day, is now no longer considered to have any ill effects.
It is the cholesterol in saturated fats which causes the real danger. Of course if you are in any doubt you can consult or GP or a dietician. High in protein and vitamins, they do give you a full feeling and an egg cooked ‘just right’ is a delicious and easy way to start the day.
How To Get A Boiled Egg Cooked Just Right
However, in spite of the egg often being used as a symbol of the easiest thing to cook,(as in ‘I don’t even know how to boil an egg’ – meaning ‘I can’t cook anything at all’), some people shy away from the task, afraid of failure. It can seem a little tricky, not being able to see inside to see if it is done enough – and of course once it is cracked open – it is too late to change!
It is always a disappointment to open your egg and find there is still gloopy, transparent stuff where the more solid white of the egg should be! Well happily there are a few ways that you can ensure an egg is perfectly cooked – and actually it is really is easy – once you know how.
But first – A few notes on eggs:-
1. There is no difference between brown eggs and white eggs, in nutrition, taste or anything else
2. The Best Before Date represents a maximum of 28 days after the egg has been laid. It is wiser not to consume an egg after this date.
3. A freshly laid egg will lie horizontally in a glass of water. The more upright it sits, the older it is. This is because the air pocket in the egg gets bigger gradually after it has been laid. If an egg floats, it is likely to be bad.
4. Current advice is that eggs should be stored in the fridge to keep them fresher longer and to reduce the risk of any salmonella growing.
5. Eggs are best stored in an egg box as the shell is porous and can absorb flavours and odours from other items in the fridge.
And here is an old ad – Remember Go To Work On An Egg?
I always use free range eggs. These can be bought are much cheaper in local farmers markets and local shops and suppliers than in the supermarkets, so do shop around!
You will need:-
Saucepan large enough for eggs to be covered with water
How To Boil An Egg
Ingredients
- 1 or 2 large eggs per person
- 1 saucepan cold water
Cooking Directions
- Place the eggs in Cold Water
- Cover the pan and bring to the boil
- Once boiling properly (big bubbles!) turn the hob down a little
- Time 4 minutes exactly and then remove from pan (If you want a hard-boiled egg leave it for 6 minutes)
Dear Penny
Thank you for your interesting website. I was looking for a recipe for a cut and come again cake to use up the left-over ingredients after making my Christmas cakes, and yours looks just right. My Mum used to make these cakes when I was a child. She wasn’t a Yorkshire woman but my Dad was definitely a Yorkshireman and I guess these cakes were his choice.
The reason for making this comment on your egg-boiling page, which I found when I was browsing at random, is to ask why you make no reference to the size of the egg in your timing guidelines. My local supplier keeps a few hens in his garden and the eggs I buy from him might range in size from, say 47 gm to 74 gm in the same box. Even those which you can buy from shops at standard sizes vary quite significantly according to whether they are classed as small, medium, large, extra large and so on. I would not boil, say, a 55 gm egg for the same time as a 65 gm egg.
This question has intrigued me for ages and I’ve never yet found a set of instructions which mentioned the size of the egg, but I can’t understand why!
Thanks again.
Thank you for your comment and I think it is a really good question! I will investigate further and get back to you. But I would say I always use large size eggs and I will add that to the details! It does at least narrow the size down a bit.