To ask how to cook an egg?

[Goldmonday]

I am generally a good cook but the one thing that floors me every single time is boiling or poaching eggs.

Can someone please give me step by step clear cut instructions on how to do both of the above?? All 'recipes' online (yes I have looked) aren't specific enough about putting the eggs in before/after the water has boiled or how the time should be amended for medium/large/more than one egg.

I honestly go through a whole pack of eggs every time I try to make eggs and soldiers, I have by default started cracking them over the sink in anticipation of raw egg exploding everywhere.

Thank you

I think you are supposed to put the egg in water when it's boiling or it cracks? Sorry I am rubbish at eggs too!

Cold! I mean put it in when it's cold! See told you.

boiled egg (medium sized):

1. put enough water in pan to cover egg, bring to the boil (use a kettle if you like)
2. Use a large spoon to place egg in water.
3. start timing, make sure water keeps at a gentle boil
4. after 5 minutes, immediately remove egg from water.

PS. If you keep eggs in the fridge, remove first and allow to come to room temperature - about 30 mins.

Delia’s Recipes for both boiled and poached - foolproof (in my experience)

Get one of those egg shaped timers that you pop into the water with the eggs to boil them.

Best way ice found to poach is doing them in the microwave. Put some cold water in a jug, crack a fresh egg in and nuke for about three minutes. (That's in a 700w microwave. Reduce cooking times for more powerful ones)

Boiling is fairly easy too. Put a pan of water on to boil. When it reaches a rolling boil, add eggs. Cook for about four minutes for eggs that are a bit runny.

I do exactly the same as above 5 mins in boiling water

Poached I wont do - DH can tho.

Boiled - fridge eggs - kettle on, about an inch of water in pan, eggs in pan, medium heat. As soon as kettle boils, top up pan til eggs covered, and 4 mins. Only way I don't crack them.

My tip if you're poaching an egg is to place the egg in its shell in the boiling water for about 25 seconds prior to breaking it.This helps the white to start 'setting' and means that the egg stays together better once you crack the egg into the boiling water. Once it looks cooked (once there is no slimy looking white in my opinion), use a slotted spoon to place it in a sieve to allow any excess water to drain off.
I recommend serving with a sprinkling of chives on top- takes lovely :)

You can use cling film I think for poached eggs too. Crack the egg into the cling film and pop it in the hot water.

I always add vinegar to the water, being to the boil and stir it to make a small water tornado before cracking the egg in for poached. Around 4 mins then back out.

I don't like poached eggs that have just been done in water, they end up too stringy. Either use a poacher pan, of those silicone egg poachers.

Put 4 eggs into small saucepan, cover with cold water, bring to boil. Remove two eggs which will have white more or less set, yolk warm, leave other two for half a minute to ensure white completely set. It works for me, but I may be less fussy about eggs than you. DH uses one of those timers pictured above which seem to work very well.

Poached eggs I can do boiled eggs I have tried every way, but they are either hard boiled or snot. I can cook just about anything else from soufflé to complex curries just not eggs. Probably not helped by the fact that I don't really like egg.

This is the best wail to boil eggs.

I keep my eggs at room temperature.

Into gently rolling boiling water, and cook for 4:30-5:00 depending on size of egg. Use a timer, don’t guess. Perfect dippy eggs.

I don’t like poaching eggs in water “au naturel” as they always get too watery for me. I use my poaching pan which is a bit of a faff but I get perfect eggs. Water to a gently boil and poach for 5 minutes again.

Poaching: You need fresh room temperature eggs and lots of water in a pan, brought to a simmer (but not a boil). Crack your egg into a sieve first to get rid of the looser part of the whites.
Make a whirlpool in your pan using a whisl or a wooden spoon and pop your egg in the middle of it. Let it cook for 3 minutes and dont touch it.

Boiling: Room temperature eggs go into cold water. Bring to a boil and start counting when the water boils. 5 to 6mins for a runny yolk and 10 for hard boiled. After they have cooked for your desired time put them straight into an icy water to stop them cooking for longer.

Oh and you can do the same for poached. Into icy water after 3 mins or just straight on top of your toast/salad depending if you want it hot or cold.

I bring a wok of water to a gentle boil, add a teaspoon of white vinegar, crack a fresh egg into the water, keep the water at boiling point for between 2-4 minutes (depends on the size of the egg and whether or not you store them in the fridge), take out and drain on a J cloth for a few seconds.

I second the recommendation for the colour changing timer above. I put eggs into coldish water, bring to the boil until my timer says 'soft', take them out and put them in a bowl of cold water for a minute to stop them cooking (we really like runny eggs!) then serve.
Poaching - get some silicon egg poachers. Crack an egg into each one. Bring water to the boil in a pan and lower the egg poachers in. Turn the heat off, put a lid on and leave for 5 minutes. Perfect runny poached eggs.

I put my boiled eggs into boiling water and time for 6 mins, it used to be 4 mins to boil and egg but eggs are bigger I think.
I have the eggs at room temperature but in an unheated boiler room. You can imagine that the difference in time to cook the egg will vary alot depending on the temperature of the fridge or room they are stored in.

For poached I used a frying pan filled almost to the top with water. Add half teasp salt to water and heat until the bubbles appear on the bottom. Crack in the eggs then turn down temperature , to , say, 3, so it doesn't boil, but keeps cooking the eggs. Once the egg are firm spoon hot water over the tops of the eggs as they are near the surface and take a bit longer to cook. Lift out once the white is solid with a slotted spoon. There might be loose bits of white but eat them or not, it's up to you. If the pan full of water is very heavy use a mug to remove some of the water with a mug before emptying the rest down the sink.

^^This is soft boiled eggs. Hard boiled is 10 mins as mentioned above.

I have tried a poaching pan, eggs went rubbery
Silicone pocket things, eggs stuck to the sides and went watery
Paper Poachie bags, ended up with little bags of slime and hard yolks
Used to poach them in a frying pan and they came out OK
However, have been using the 'vortex' method of swirling the water which kind of works although it stops swirling before I am ready for it.
What am I doing wrong?

it used to be 4 mins to boil and egg but eggs are bigger I think. I agree, the time has definitely gone from 4 to 5 minutes.

The only way to make decent poached eggs is to use really fresh eggs. None of this vinegar / swirling the water / clingfilm business is necessary then.

Crack the egg into a little bowl and slide into boiling salted water. If you lift it up after a couple of minutes you can easily see if it's done or not.

For boiled eggs - always start from room temperature. I find them a bit more hit and miss.