Intro:
Before you begin
Method One:
Soft-boil an egg
Method Two:
Hard-boil and egg

2torial #0704:
Learn2 Boil An Egg

Eggsellent choice!

Eggs are one of nature's almost perfect foods: the only nutrient they lack is Vitamin C. Aside from the convenience of long storage (they'll keep for a month in a refrigerator), they can be prepared tens, if not hundreds, of ways. Two quick and simple ways are hard- and soft-boiling. When done, hard-boiled eggs have firm, opaque whites and solid, pale lemon-yellow yolks; soft-boiled eggs have lightly congealed, opaque whites, and yolks which are a deeper yellow--almost orange in some cases--and are mostly liquid.

How you use your eggs is up to you (and perhaps the subject of another 2torial). From the traditional egg salad and soft-boiled-eggs-on-toast favorites, the varieties are endless. Hard-boiled eggs travel well, and are a great choice for an energizing and nutritious snack for those without much time to eat.

Health note: Salmonella is a bacteria that can live in raw eggs. Once ingested, this bacteria produces a nasty, occasionally fatal form of food poisoning, and is best avoided. (So lay off those raw egg drink recipes you've been dreaming of!) Soft-boiled eggs that have no portions of clear egg white remaining are safe to eat, since their temperature rises above the death point of salmonella bacteria: 140 degrees F/ 60 degrees C. To be extra safe, those who have poor health, are very old, or are pregnant, should avoid soft-boiled eggs.

The most important detail to observe is the temperature of the eggs. If you've just removed them from a refrigerator, you cook them differently than if the eggs have had a chance to warm up to room temperature.

Another detail is the eggs themselves, with size the most obvious consideration. The recipes below list different times according to varying sizes. A final consideration, perhaps less obvious, is the way in which the eggs were produced. In many modern chicken farms, a chicken lives a fairly miserable life: it stays indoors in a warehouse-type of building, in a small wire cage with several other chickens, for virtually all of its life. Some farms, however, only produce eggs laid only by free-range chickens. These are chickens that are free to roam about uncaged, and peck at the ground for food (as their instinct tells them to) and in some cases go outside, walk on grass and dirt and see the sky. And it's certainly possible that a happier chicken could lay a better tasting egg.

Method One:
Soft-boil an egg

With this technique, you've got to plan ahead a little: the eggs should be removed from the refrigerator and allowed to warm up to room temperature.

• Choose the pan. Ideally, the pan will be just large enough to fit the number of eggs you'd like to cook. Otherwise, choose a larger pot that will accommodate all of the eggs in a single layer. If you have two or three layers of eggs stacked up in a small pot, they may cook unevenly.
  
• Pour enough water into the pot to cover the eggs with at least one inch (about 3 cm) of water. If you want to be precise, you can place the eggs in the pot to check how much water will be enough. If you do this, remove the eggs before proceeding to the next step!
  
• Bring the water to a rolling boil, and gently submerge the eggs in boiling water. This is best accomplished using a spoon: place the eggs on the spoon (one at a time) and lower them into the boiling water. Watch your hands--you don't want to scald them. Use a kitchen mitt if you have sensitive hands. After the eggs are in the pot, lower the heat until the water is lightly simmering: a few small bubbles will rise to the surface.
  

• Watch your timing. With soft-boiled eggs, careful timing is crucial. The recommended range of times is between three and four and a half minutes. Experiment with a batch: take an egg out at three minutes, at three and a half minutes, four minutes, etc. Everyone likes their soft-boiled eggs cooked a little differently, so discover which time is perfect for you. For folks who live at higher altitudes, a little extra time may be necessary, since water boils at a lower temperature there than at sea-level. And if you're in a hurry or are too impatient to wait for the eggs to warm up to room temperature, then cook the eggs at least four and-a-half minutes, and check one to see if it's done (see next step).

Too soft-boiled? If your soft-boiled eggs aren't entirely cooked (i.e., portions of clear egg white are visible), don't fret. One trick to check soft-boiled eggs is by cracking and emptying them into a small sturdy, oven-safe ceramic bowl. If they're not quite done, take the pot of hot water and pour out some water, so that the water level is less than the height of the bowl. Then place the bowl with the undercooked eggs directly on the bottom of the saucepan, and put all of this back on the stove burner. Another 30 to 60 seconds of cooking and the eggs will be cooked to perfection.

Serve in a small cup or bowl, or in the shell in an egg cup, with butter, salt, black pepper, and perhaps some hot chili pepper sauce.

Method Two:
Hard-boil an egg

There are two techniques for hard-boiling eggs. The first technique is the same as the soft-boiled method, except you boil the eggs for ten minutes instead of three or four.

The second technique uses eggs right from the refrigerator and cooks them gently: you'll never get the unsightly (although harmless) gray-green coating on the surface of the cooked yolk, which sometimes results when eggs are cooked at excessively high temperatures. While it's a bit easier than the first method, it does take a bit longer, so think about your schedule.

• Choose the pan: Like a soft boiled egg, the pan will be just large enough to fit the number of eggs you'd like to cook. If you must, choose a larger pot. Don't forget that layers of eggs stacked in a pot will cook unevenly.
  
• Lay the eggs: gently lay the eggs into the pot, and cover with an inch (about 3 cm) of water. Next you must decide which technique you wish to use.
  

• Cover and boil: Place the pot on high heat. Bring the water to a rapid boil. After ten minutes, remove the pot from the heat and remove the eggs from the water.
• Soak for best results. Immediately soak the eggs in cold water. This will stop the eggs from cooking by their own heat, and will also help with peeling them. Keep them in the cold water for 30 seconds or so, or until you can handle them without shouting "Ow, ow, ouch!!" and passing them hurriedly from hand to hand. While they're in the cold water, a layer of steam develops between the shell and the egg white. The steam makes peeling an egg much easier.
  

• Cover and boil: When the water reaches a rapid boil, immediately remove the pot from the burner. Leave the lid on the pot. Set a timer, or note the time, and let the pot stand for 17 minutes for medium eggs, or 20 minutes for jumbo eggs.
  

The last step in either method is peeling the eggs. Depending on how you proceed, this is either a frustrating, painstaking chore or an easy, possibly fun, kitchen task. Try the following method to limit your frustrations.

Gently but firmly break an egg against the surface of the sink or countertop, rotate the egg in your hands, and again crack the egg against a hard surface. Repeat until you've cracked the egg several times, all over its surface. Then take the egg in your hands and roll it back and forth in your palms. Peeling the egg should now be a cinch.