The egg has to be one of my favorite foods. The versatility of an egg is endless. Seriously, I could fill an entire page of ways to prepare eggs, use eggs and dishes completely based on eggs.
It is rumored that way back in the day, the pleats on a chef’s hat depended on how many different ways they could prepare an egg. Some chefs had up to 100 pleats on their hat because of the 100 different ways they could prepare an egg.
In our household, I buy two 18-count cartons every week and we eat every single egg. If I decided to bake or make a quiche, I have to go out and buy more eggs.
Top 10 ways we eat our eggs
- Scrambled
- Omelet
- In chicken noodle soup
- Fried over rice and beans or in a sandwich
- Shirred with cheese
- Hard-boiled
- Quiche
- Poached
- In migas
- Soft-boiled
My favorite part about an egg? A soft, runny yolk. There is nothing like breaking the soft yolk of an egg, watching it run and dipping a piece of buttery toast in it. Heaven.
With most egg preparation, you can see the yolk when preparing it, making it easier to reach your desired doneness. However, for obvious reasons, unless you’re superman and have x-ray vision, you can’t see the yolk when boiling an egg.
When it comes to boiled eggs for breakfast, soft-boiled is my egg of choice. I love the runny yolk and I feel so fancy eating the egg from an egg cup. Making a soft-boiled egg is tricky. Today I am going to show you how to make the perfect soft-boiled egg.
Make a tiny little crack at the bottom of the egg. This makes it easier to peel later.
Fill a sauce pan with enough water to cover the egg. Bring it to a rapid boil.
Lower the heat to a simmer and gently lower the egg into the water. Leave it to simmer in the water for 6 minutes. Make sure you set a timer!
While the egg is simmering, make an ice water bath. When the egg is done transfer the egg to the ice bath.
Shocking the egg stops the cooking process and also helps with peeling the egg later.
Gently crack the egg’s shell and peel away the tip.
Dig in til you see yolk, take a buttery piece of toast and dip. Nummy, nummy goodness!
I love you egg! Forever and ever.
Eat the egg with a spoon, scooping it out of the shell and spreading it on your toast. It’s heaven in a tiny little egg.
I want chickens. I would move out to the country just so I could have chickens. But I go a little nutty out in the country. Nuttier than I already am, which is scary — or would that be just plain crazy? Maybe I am just a little cracked….get it?
The Perfect Soft Boiled Egg
Ingredients
- 1 egg
- saucepan
- slotted spoon
All this sounds grand, but I do have a question. Are the eggs to come straight from the fridge or are left out to room temperature?
I love eggs too and would love a small chicken coop in our backyard. Legal or not, I’m sure it would end in a divorce. 😛
I like to serve these right after cooking but they can be made ahead and refrigerated. The yolk, however, will be thicker because it is cold.
I always buy my eggs locally from chickens that are actually free range. I know that lots of brands that say their chickens are free ranging are not actually. I see the hens that lay my eggs running around eating bugs and all the things they’re supposed to eat. The taste of the eggs (especially the yolk) is so much better than the ones from a supermarket and supply so many more omega 3’s. The only challenge is that the eggs are so different in size that its hard to judge the time it takes to cook a soft boiled egg. I try to adjust time according to the size of the egg and usually do OK. I do time the smaller eggs for 3 minutes after the water comes to a boil, but I don’t put them in ice water once the timing is up. The taste of the yolk is pure heaven.
You’d love my flock. I’m collecting 12 to 16 eggs a day. 😀
You know, you don’t have to move out of the country to have chickens, you can have them right in the city! We live in Colorado Springs and my mother who lives right in the heart of the city keeps chickens at her house!
All you really need is a yard and a love of making chickens happy lol my mother actually took down our old treehouse and turned it into a chicken coop *sigh* I loved that stinkin’ treehouse 😉 but she keeps it in the back of the house by the shed and she uses her yard as a garden, I mean, who knew? Right?
This recipe is for one egg. Do any adjustments need to made for 4-6 eggs?
Happy to see your blog on soft-boiled eggs – a great not often appreciated favorite food and The Noshery used to be a popular family restaurant in Toronto, Canada in the 1960’s and 70’s.
My Maw Maw used to make these EVERY TIME we spent the night at her house — far too long since I’ve had one! Thanks for the reminder! 🙂
I have been searching for a recipe for soft boiled eggs!! Thank you for posting this! Except I have to wait 7 months to have these cause I just found out I’m pregnant!
Thank you for planning my breakfast. Word.