First of all, I have to tell you that I *heart* experiments. I am a former laboratory scientist and I miss testing variables, so sometimes I have to make up my own tests at home. Yes, I realize that what I just wrote is kind of sad. But to your benefit, I have harnessed this crazy scientist energy to give you this awesome egg-cooking method! And by awesome, I mean repeatable and consistent… a win-win for all! Check out this method to steam boil eggs.
Weight of Large Eggs
So, first I have to say that I used LARGE eggs. Extra-large and jumbo will take longer. Secondly, even within the same carton, there is some variation. My carton of a dozen eggs ranged from 54 to 62 grams, which is 1.9 to 2.2 ounces. In order to minimize variation, I chose 7 eggs that were 54 to 57 grams each, which is 1.9 to 2.0 ounces.
Cooking Method
I wanted to try my best to make this method as repeatable as possible. Since I have always started with cold water and boiled my eggs, it is difficult to be consistent with exact cooking times. The reason I did this test is because of a different recipe that I will post soon that uses soft boiled eggs. As you can see from my picture of the cooked eggs, the yolk goes from runny to firm somewhere between the 6 to 8 minute range. This timing is critical if you’re trying to get the perfect soft-cooked egg for my recipe for Fancy Ramen Noodles.
In my pre-experiment planning, I read that you are over-cooking your eggs if you get that green ring around the outside of the yolk. At some point, there is a reaction between the white and the yolk that happens when the eggs are boiled for too long.
I wanted the method to be easy as well, so I used eggs straight from the refrigerator. I didn’t want to use ice water to cool them down because, once again…. variables! Just kidding, the real reason is that our ice maker is broken so we have been using ice trays for over a year, which is a pain. Instead of ice water, I used cold tap water, which I measured at 62 degrees in Minnesota in November. I think it’s more important to have a large pot of water to distribute the heat of the eggs than to have an exact temperature, but recorded it because, well, that’s what scientists do. I promise I didn’t sign and date my notes.
I have two of the same Calphalon 4 quart soup pans (affiliate) and used one to steam the eggs and the other to cool them down. I poured 2 cups of water into my pan and added my steamer basket (affiliate). Then I brought the water to a strong boil on high on my stove top. Use a pair of tongs (affiliate) to add the eggs to the steamer, then place the lid on top of the pan.
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Easier Egg Peeling
Steam the eggs to the desired doneness, then remove them with tongs and place them in the cold water. After 5 minutes, I cracked the peels by rolling them on the countertop and peeled a small amount of shell and membrane away at the larger end of the egg. Then I put them back in the cold water for an additional 15 minutes before peeling them completely. My eggs were fresh and most of the eggs peeled pretty easily.
For my pictures, I should note that I cut through the 6 to 7 minute eggs as quickly as possible so I wouldn’t lose too much yolk.
Rating
- 2 cups water
- Large eggs (straight from refrigerator)
- Pour 2 cups water into 4 quart soup pan
- Add steamer basket
- Bring to a strong boil
- Use tongs to add refrigerated eggs to basket and cover with lid
- Steam for the time needed for your desired doneness for LARGE EGGS:
- Six to seven minutes for runny yolks
- Eight to nine minutes for medium set yolks
- Twelve minutes for completely set yolks
- After cooking, move eggs to a large pot of cold tap water
- After 5 minutes, crack each egg shell and roll with palm on a hard surface/countertop, but do not peel yet.
- Remove some shell and membrane at the large end of the egg and return the egg to the cold water for an additional 15 minutes. This will allow water to seep in between the egg and shell to make peeling later easier.
- After a total of 20 minutes, peel the egg completely.
No way! I love my eggs hot and runny, I peel them after 1-2 minutes in cold distilled water, never tap, yuck and then put them on bread with pure butter and Himalayan salt! POW!!!
Thank you. I’m also an ex-lab scientist. My three year old (I gave up my career to be his mum) loves soft boiled eggs. I have an egg cooker which works well, but the marks rubbed off the measuring cup which are critical for its success. I had it replaced once under warranty already. I need to go through the manual and scratch the marks on using the volumes given. Darn I miss those laboratory scales, they would be ideal for this task.
Anyway I can’t do soft boiled eggs on my gas stove. I’m a poor student again and had a craving for noodles haha, and I want to soup up the noodles with a soft cooked egg and a can of tuna. I was using my mother’s method before I got my egg cooker, probably learnt from my grandmother: cold water, put eggs in bring to boil and switch off. Leave on stove for require time then run cold water into pot until water in pot is cold. But it’s difficult to make soft runny eggs like that, it’s different for every stove, I learnt on electric stove with exposed elements. Also it no longer works for my mum she has induction now. Plus you have to put something in the water (baking soda or vinegar or salt or combination) so the shells don’t stick. I read online recently that steaming is the way forward, it seems it is both reliable and consistent, stove type doesn’t seem to matter. The egg cooker in fact steams the eggs. Hmm perhaps I could experiment on times for the egg cooker, and just time it while I am working out how to permanently mark the measuring cup. The amount of water added to the egg cooker dictates the steaming time.
I love that you as a fellow scientist (once a scientist always a scientist) wrote this for us. I am trying it with my bamboo steamer basket today. I’m excited to see the results.
cold eggs? Hell naw