Should I make fried eggs or soft-boiled?

[snoopy369]

Originally posted by Felch
I made soft-boiled eggs before, but not sure if I did it right (I know, I'm retarded). It's just like hard-boiled, but a couple minutes shorter in the water? And the yolks are supposed to be slimy like in fried eggs?

They were good. I'm just not sure if I'll get some horrible, ass-wrenching disease from it.

Dramatically shorter, not a few minutes shorter. The yolk should not cook at all, only the whites, and they should be soft - not runny, but not completely cooked/solid either. You should be able to put it in a cup and cut the top off, leaving the yolk sitting in half of the egg, solid enough to sit by itself but still very soft.

Basically, you boil water, then put an egg in it for about 2 minutes, as opposed to the 10 minutes it takes to hard-boil it.

[Lord Avalon]

Baked on top of a 60" pizza.

[KrazyHorse]

Originally posted by snoopy369
Basically, you boil water, then put an egg in it for about 2 minutes

No. Standard length for soft-boiled is 4 minutes at rolling boil for a large egg.

[KrazyHorse]

Also, eggs should be warmed prior to entering boiling water, otherwise they will crack. I generally put mine in a bowl of hot water while the water on the stove comes to a boil.

[KrazyHorse]

By the way, this advice is coming from somebody who eats ~100 soft-boiled eggs a year.

[Deity Dude]

Originally posted by KrazyHorse


No. Standard length for soft-boiled is 4 minutes at rolling boil for a large egg.

Actually it is 3 mins after the water is boiling, then submerge immediately in a bowl of ice water for 30 secs so they don't continue to cook. And if we are matching qualifications I used to cook over 500 eggs a day when I manned the egg grill on breakfast shifts at a Big Boy's restaurant. Although less than 1% of the eggs were ordered soft boiled.

[KrazyHorse]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boiled_egg

British cook Delia Smith suggests placing an egg in cold water, bringing to the boil, and simmering: 3 minutes for a very soft egg, 4 minutes to make sure the white is set, and 5 minutes for an almost-set yolk.[2]

http://whatscookingamerica.net/Eggs/BoiledEggs.htm

Large Soft-cooked yolk 4 to 5 minutes

By far the most common time mentioned is 4 minutes for a large egg which is "medium soft-boiled", i.e. runny yolk, set egg white.

Standard egg timers (or at least the ones I see) are also 4 minutes.

For medium eggs, 3 minutes is about right.

[Deity Dude]

Your top method starts with the egg in cold water, bringing it to a boil then simmering. This method employs numerous different cooking temperatures during the cooking process. Thus the timing would not be comparable.

I'm sure that there is just as much debate about 4 mins vs 5 mins vs 3 mins as there is about how long to toast bread.

From: "How to Cook the Perfect Soft-Boiled Egg"

Step 1

The fine-line: For connoisseurs of soft-boiled eggs, there is a veryfine line that separates a properly cooked and improperly cooked egg. If the egg is undercooked too runny, it can be quite unpalatable! And, if the egg is overcooked it might as well be hard-boiled! So, it takes some precision timing and a watchful eye.

Step 2

Timing: To get your soft-boiled egg to come out right every time, it is important to cook it for just three minutes after the water begins boiling.

Step 3

Missing the mark: It is easy to miss the mark here. If you set the timer too early, the egg will undoubtedly come out at least a little hard. If you set the timer too late, the egg will likely be runny. So, attention to detail is important. When the water has reached a definitive boiling state, then is the time to set the timer for three minutes.

Step 4

The removal: When the three minutes have passed, quickly remove the egg from the water and run it under cold water for at least 30 seconds, to prevent further residual cooking. Once the egg shell is cool enough, crack the shell and poke a kitchen knife through to split it into two pieces, then scoop out the perfect soft-boiled interior onto your favorite toast, English muffin or other preferred soft-boiled egg accompaniment. Enjoy!

http://www.ehow.com/how_2320803_cook-perfect-softboiled-egg.html?ref=fuel&utm_source=yahoo&utm_medium=ssp&utm_campaign=yssp_art

I'm sure we could each find dozens of articles that agree with our point of view (and probably dozens that suggest anywhere from 2 mins up to 7 or 8 mins). The best advice is to try it both ways and see which you like more. When I eat them I do 3 minutes as described above. At the restaurant we always did 3 minutes and never had any sent back, not that 4 minute eggs would have been sent back.

[snoopy369]

It's 2 minutes for me ... but it's because my GF is very much on the rare side

[Deity Dude]

I use to take a raw egg and blend it with ice, OJ and a little cream every morning, never got sick once.

[snoopy369]

The OJ killed the salmonella, of course.

[Deity Dude]

HA HA

[KrazyHorse]

Salmonella is overrated. And 3 minutes is in no way enough to cook a large egg to my satisfaction (set white, runny yolk).

[pchang]

try poached

very similar to soft boiled, but better on buttered toast.

[Darius871]

Originally posted by Deity Dude
I use to take a raw egg and blend it with ice, OJ and a little cream every morning, never got sick once.

Sick or not, it's a huge waste of eggs because the body can barely absorb egg protein that's not denatured. Rocky Balboa was an idiot.