Eggs	Aug 5 16:12 UTC 2007

I thought we had an item about eggs but apparently not... [Maybe we
talked about them  somewhat in another one of the items here.]  

So do you have any cool recipes using eggs [omeletes, deviled eggs, how
to fry or poach  one? How about related tips?

response 2 of 30:

Aug 5 16:27 UTC 2007

Centered Yolks

Hey,

I have a question. I read your recipe for boiling eggs perfectly  but 
what can be done  to keep the egg yolks from moving to the side i.e,
what can be done to keep them in  the center of the egg???? When I boil
them for deviled eggs, I often find the yolks at  the end of the oval  I
want them in the middle.

Thanks a Million
Lil Gibson

 
Hi Lil,

One of our readers wrote this tip for keeping yolks centered.  I found
this confirmed in  several other places, though I've not tried it
myself.

"I find that gently stirring the eggs as they come to a boil will keep
the yolk centered  and add a tsp of vinegar keeps them from cracking"

Also, use grade AA when making hardboiled eggs.  Their yolks are more
centered to  begin with.  Eggs are placed in their cartons large end up
to keep the air cell in place  and the yolk centered.  So keep them
stored that way in your refrigerator, too.

Hope this helps,
Desi @ DVO

response 4 of 30:

Aug 5 16:30 UTC 2007

Hard-Boiled Egg Tips 
Notes from Folks... 




Speaking of hard boiled eggs: the eggs that crack while being violently
rolled around in  the boiling water can be very messy. To keep the egg
from "leaking", splash a little  vinegar or lemon juice in the water
before turning on the heat. The acid "seals" the  egg.

And if you plan to store some of the boiled eggs in your refrigerator,
you will be able to  easily tell them apart from raw eggs if you put a
drop or two of food coloring (color of  your choice) in the water while
boiling the eggs.

Thanks for all your great recipes and cooking tips!

Pam Ratcliffe




For some time now, I've been using the following tips for boiling eggs,
and usually only  get an average of 1 out of ten problem eggs.

There are several challenges standing between the cook and the perfectly
cooked hard- boiled egg: for most recipes the yolk should be fully
cooked, but over cooking will turn  the white of the egg rubbery; the
egg shells should remain intact until the egg is fully  cooked, but a
rapid change in temperature usually causes the shells to crack and spill
 some of their contents; finally, the unattractive greenish ring around
the yolk needs to  be eliminated for reasons of appearance and taste.
Follow this method for perfect hard- boiled eggs every time.

Hard-Boiled Eggs

Place the eggs in a saucepan and cover with 1 inch (3 cm) of water. To
help make  newer eggs easier to peel, add 1 tsp Baking Soda to the
water. Bring the water to a boil  over high heat. As soon as the water
boils, cover the pot and remove it from the heat.  Allow to sit for 10
minutes, or 8 minutes if you prefer the center of the yolks slightly 
creamy. Drain the water from the pot and crack the egg shells - this can
be  accomplished simply by shaking the eggs vigorously in the pot.

Cover the eggs with cold water and let them sit for 30 minutes. Cracking
the egg shells  allows the sulfur compounds that cause the yolk to turn
green to escape, and since  these compounds are water soluble, and the
cold water will draw them from the egg.  Peel the eggs beginning at the
large end.

Donald Speer

response 6 of 30:

Aug 5 16:35 UTC 2007

[More stuff later!  I don't want to make this new item too
overwhelming/long so that the  rest of you won't read and contribute!]

response 8 of 30:

Aug 5 17:01 UTC 2007

The single most useful tip I know about for avoiding
shell-won't-come-off-easily is to NOT use fresh eggs.  If I'm preparing
them for a customer, I buy them at least a week before I need to hard
boil them.  

response 10 of 30:

Aug 5 19:03 UTC 2007

Hmm, I've had omelette's with onion and cheese but haven't ever
caramelized the  onions first. I'll have to give that a try the next
time I have one with onions.

Something to debate, perhaps:  What way do you prefer your
omelette's--the way that  my cousin taught me years ago where you beat
the egg whites first [not necessarily to  really stiff but to a fairly
fluffy state] and then gently blending in the yolks [that you  have
already stirred up by themselves] and then cooking them [in butter or
whatever  you use] to a lightly browned state on the bottom [not
stirring them after the eggs are  in the frying pan] and then lightly
browning the top under the broiler... [and then add  the other
ingredients of choice to half of the omelette, folding over, then
sliding on your  plate... 

vs

Beating the eggs [yolks and whites together] and preceding as Colleen
described as  above?


I do like both ways; I like the 'fluffiness' of the first way but the
flavor seems more  apparent in the 2nd option.

response 12 of 30:

Aug 6 13:29 UTC 2007

For scrambled eggs, I've started adding bits of broccoli and fresh onion
while scrambling. Adds a little something to an old standby.

response 14 of 30:

Aug 6 15:46 UTC 2007

Colleen, you could not be more correct.  If I use fresh eggs, I'm 
always screwed when it's time to peel.  

response 16 of 30:

Aug 6 17:54 UTC 2007

Here's how I do hard-boiled eggs.  

I cook 1 dozen at a time, and store them in the carton in my
refrigerator. I *always* start with week-old eggs.

I use a pan big enough to hold all 12 of them in a single layer.  I fill
the pan half way with water, then place the eggs in it (water helps keep
the eggs from cracking against each other and the sides).  Then I add
enough more water to cover the egg by about an inch.

Then I let them sit until they come to room temperature.  Sometimes, I
use warm water in the pan to help this process along.  

Bringing them to room temperature helps keep them from cracking because
of different expansion rates between the shell and the white.  

I put the *covered* pan on a burner, turn the burner all the way up, and
bring the eggs to a boil.  The cover helps the contents reach the
boiling point faster, and in the summer, keeps your kitchen from filling
with steam.  

As soon as the cover starts jiggling, I turn down the heat to a very low
boil, and start an 7 minute timer.  When the timer goes off, I turn off
the burner but leave the eggs covered and on the stove.  (This is the
electric burner method  -- gas burners go for 8 minutes).  

At the end of 10 minutes from the start of boiling, I pour out all the
hot water, cover the eggs with the coldest tap water, and let them sit
for a minute.  The water heats up, so I pour it off, and cover them
again with cold water.  Sometimes you need to do this twice.

The idea is to cool the eggs as quickly as possible.  

Once they are room temperature again, I put them back in their labeled
carton, store them in the refrigerator, and use the "crack each end,
then roll" technique before I start peeling.  

The green comes from the sulfur compounds, but the way to eliminate it
is to cool the egg, not crack the shell.  

Hard boiled eggs will keep for a couple weeks in the fridge, as will
uncooked eggs.  I've been in places where people keep the eggs in a
basket on the table for a week or so, but I've never needed to do that.
   They will, however, be fine for a couple days on the counter.  

response 18 of 30:

Aug 6 18:32 UTC 2007

I know, it seems wrong.  But think about it.  Those eggs don't go bad when
left in the nest for several days.  

In 3rd world areas without electricity and refrigeration, the eggs are not
collected and eaten the second they are laid.  Sometimes they are left on the
nest, sometimes they are collected and left on the table.  

Personally, I keep them refrigerated.  But there are areas of the world where
they are gathered and used under very different conditions.  

response 20 of 30:

Aug 7 03:36 UTC 2007

Ok, I have some stuff on fried eggs [from a website, of course]:

How to Fry Happy
The secret behind frying an egg is to get a really good non-stick pan.
This is so  important that I have three 8-inch non-stick pans that I
bring to work with me every  day and take home every night. This may
sound extreme to some, but when you take  into account that I may need
to make up to 20 omelets and many fried eggs each day,  you see that
taking care of the equipment is key. One good 8-inch pan should take
care  of all your egg needs.

Remember not to scrub the pan. Instead, rinse it in hot water and dry it
with a soft  cloth. Never put anything metal in it and it will last
years. You will also need to get a  good rubber spatula.

Where to Get This Stuff
You could go to that cool cooking equipment store they have at the mall.
You know the  one, the name is in French and all the prices are in
triple digits. If how much you pay  for your pan is that important, then
by all means go have fun. But the real deal is this:  a decent pan can
cost as little as $20. Believe me, an expensive pan is not going help if
 you don't know how to fry an egg. Practice will make you a better cook.
If you can t  find a restaurant supply store in your town or if you just
want to see what professionals  are using, go to Surfas and take a look
around. Yes, you will find some very expensive  stuff there, but you
will also see that the professional cooks don t spend $20 on a frying 
pan or even a sheet pan.



Ok, So Let's Cook an Egg
There are only two options to frying an egg:

Yolk up
Yolk down
This is what you need to do: put your pretty new pan over a medium flame
and put a  little butter into it, enough so that when it s melted it
just barely covers the bottom of  the pan.

Take your eggs and crack them into the pan. Throw the shells away. If
you are making  sunny-side up eggs, you can just cover the pan and let
the egg cook for about two  minutes. You don t want to over cook them.
The eggs will continue to cook after you  take them out of the pan (this
is called carry over) so sometimes eggs that are done in  the pan are
rubber on the plate. You might as well chew on the spatula. If you have 
your oven on at about 350 degrees Fahrenheit, you can just take the pan
and pop it  into the oven until the eggs are done. There you go--sunny
side up eggs.

For over easy eggs, there s a little more to it but not much more. Over
easy eggs just  take practice. Get the eggs into the pan and let them
cook for a minute, then tilt the  pan so the eggs slide all the way to
one side. Put your spatula under the eggs and then  give them a gentle
flip. I just flip them in the pan with a little wrist flick. You can do 
that, too, but I would suggest a bit of practice on your own before
trying it in front of  someone. For over easy, cook the second side for
just 30 seconds or so. The more firm  you want the yolk, the longer you
need to cook it.



How to Fry an Egg
Now that you know how to fry an egg, I'll give you the real secret to
over easy. For  some reason, it is easier to flip two eggs than one. So
if you are not very experienced  with the egg flipping part, I suggest
practicing with two eggs at a time. I would also  suggest inviting some
friends over for brunch so you don t have to eat all those eggs 
yourself, but that s up to you. Two last points:

Never salt eggs while they are cooking. It will just make them hard.
Cold eggs give better frying results than room temperature eggs.

response 22 of 30:

Aug 7 04:16 UTC 2007

You make fried eggs sound good.  I've never been able to stomach runny yolks.

response 24 of 30:

Aug 7 13:18 UTC 2007

I wasn't successful in frying my eggs  in the past... It's been years
since I've tried, so I  like finding hints and suggestions to make them
easy enough for me to do. My mom used  to make great fried eggs.