How to Cook Boiled Eggs

Boiling an Egg couldn’t be simpler but if not cooked correctly you could end up with a disaster. The trick with boiled eggs is the amount of time you leave to cook.

To cook boiled eggs you will need a saucepan large enough for how many eggs you want to boil, but it cant be to big as this will allow the eggs to much room in the pan which can lead to cracking as the eggs move around to freely.

-          Step 1: Fill the pan with cold water and allow to reach the boil before turning the heat down to a gentle simmer. Make sure you do not put to much water in the pan (it should be deep enough to cover the eggs but as said before not enough to allow the eggs to move freely). You can also add a small sprinkle of salt to the boiled water but this is optional.

-          Step 2: Lower the eggs gently into water using a long handled, metal tablespoon and take special care not to drop the egg into the pan as this can cause the shell to crack.

There are 3 different styles of boiled egg so follow the below instruction depending on your preferences.

Soft Boiled – Simmer for 3-4 minutes. This egg has a runny yolk and soft egg whites. This style of egg is perfect for classic egg and soldiers.

Medium Boiled – Simmer for 5-6 minutes. This egg has a creamy yolk and a firm white set white. This is perfect for warm egg mayonnaise or goes perfectly with a salad.

Hard Boiled – Simmer for 10 minutes. Both the yolk and the egg white will be firm. These eggs are perfect for cold egg mayonnaise, a light snack or for use in more complex recipes like scotch eggs.  

Important Note – if you are cooking hard boiled eggs to be eaten cold make sure that you run them under cold water immediately from pan to prevent black discolouration (iron sulphide), which results from the reaction of hydrogen sulphide in the white, and iron in the yolk during cooking.

How to Cook Fried Eggs

Fried eggs taste the best when accompanied by a few rashers of bacon or even a full English breakfast. If you are having a full English and you have already cooked your bacon, then you already have the ideal fat in the pan. Using the bacon fat and leftover oil is a delicious way to fry an egg as you get your eggs marinated in that delicious bacon taste.

But if you looking to just cook a fried egg without the trimmings of bacon, beans and maybe black pudding then the best way to do it is.

-          Step 1: Heat a tablespoon of oil (the best is virgin olive oil) but sunflower does the job and pour evenly into a frying pan. (non-stick frying pans are the best for eggs)

-          Step 2: Set the pan over a medium heat as you need a decently high temperature for egg frying. Make sure the oil is heated before continuing

-          Step 3: Break your egg into a small cup and slide the egg carefully into the frying pan, taking special care to not drop the egg from a height as this will break the yolk.

-          Step 4: Fry the egg for a few seconds or until the white has set, then tip the pan to the side so that the fat or oil can accumulate at the edge of the pan.

-          Step 5: Now you can baste the egg with the oil collected using a tablespoon. Do this until the yolk and the egg white is completely cooked on top, while taking special care not to over cook the yolk. You can tell that the yolk is beginning to over cook when it starts turning whitish yellow. The perfect egg yolk should retain its bright yellow colour.

-          Step 6: Use a fish slice or a wooden spatula to remove the egg from the pan and let it rest for a few seconds on a piece of kitchen towel in order to absorb any excess oil.

-          Step 7: Enjoy with a slice of toast or a bagel.