Want to know how to cook great eggs for a family breakfast? Moodie Foodie has all the tips you need to boil, poach, fry and scramble eggsellently!
Whether you like an egg boiled, poached, scrambled or fried there are a few handy tips for achieving eggy excellence. Everyone has their own ways of cooking eggs and I’m certainly not here to tell you that my way is better than yours or your grandma’s. But these egg-cooking methods have stood the test of time in my house and I have some pretty picky eggsperts – okay, I’m going to stop with the egg puns now…
How to cook perfect boiled eggs
· Start with room temperature eggs
· Place eggs in a saucepan of cold water until water is just covering the eggs. Make sure the saucepan is big enough to hold the eggs but not too big that it takes too long to boil the water.
· Bring the water to the boil and reduce heat to a gentle simmer.
Once simmering:
· Soft and gooey: simmer for 3 minutes
· Soft but set: simmer for 4 minutes
· Hard boiled: simmer for 6-7 minutes. If you want to cool them for a salad or scotch eggs, place the eggs in a bowl of cold water to cool.
How to make perfect poached eggs
· Start with the freshest eggs at room temperature.
· Bring a deepish saucepan of water to the boil and add a little vinegar or lemon juice.
· Crack each egg into a ramekin – just makes it easier to pour into the water rather than trying to crack it straight from the shell.
· Take a whisk or spoon and stir it around the water to make a whirlpool. The whirlpool ensures the white will form around the yolk.
· Place the egg into the whirlpool going with the tide – in the direction that the water is moving.
· Cook for 1-2 minutes for a softish yolk and 2-4 minutes for a harder yolk.
· Scoop out with a slotted spoon and drain on absorbent paper.
How to scramble great eggs
· I like to keep my eggs light and so I use a non-stick pan and oil spray instead of butter. But if you just can’t have your eggs without butter, then go right ahead.
· Heat your pan on a medium heat.
· While the pan is heating, whisk your eggs with a little splash of milk. If it’s just me then I use 1 full egg and 1 egg white to cut down on the fat a little but it’s up to you.
· Once the pan is heated, spray lightly with oil and add the eggs. Gently stir around with a spoon or spatula keeping an eye on them because it really doesn’t take long to get from uncooked to an overcooked disaster.
· Eggs will be ready when they are just holding together and are still lovely and glossy. Once they reach this stage, take them off the heat, season with salt and pepper and eat, eat, eat!
How to fry eggs sunny side up
It can be difficult to get a perfect sunny side up egg because you want the yolk soft but the white cooked. Here’s how to do it:
· Heat a non-stick frying pan on medium heat.
· Spray lightly with oil.
· If you’re using an egg ring, spray it lightly with oil and place it in the pan. We use egg rings to make it fun for the girls and you can buy some gorgeous ones.
· Turn the heat on low and crack in your egg. Cover the frying pan with a lid and cook slowly for 3-5 minutes. Keep an eye on them from the 3 minute mark and if the white still looks a little wobbly, cook for longer checking frequently as it won’t take long to move from eggcellent to eggsplosion (I’m so sorry about that but I couldn’t help myself…)
· If your frying pan doesn’t have a lid, just use a plate.
Egg fact file
· Buy the freshest eggs you can find and store them in the fridge in their carton.
· An egg ages 7 times quicker when left on the bench than when it is properly stored in the fridge.
· If you do a lot of baking, which requires room temperature eggs, keep a small carton in the fridge and take the required amount of eggs out for cooking the night before.
· You can tell if an egg is fresh by putting it in a glass of water. If it floats, it’s getting older as the air cell is larger. If it floats to the top, throw it away as it’s getting a bit dodgy.
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