Eggs are a versatile culinary delight, loved by many for their quick preparation, affordability, and undeniable ease.
It's no wonder that having eggs in your fridge is a must.
Whether you're a seasoned chef or a novice in the kitchen, mastering the art of cooking eggs to perfection is a skill worth acquiring.
In this article, we will explore five simple yet fantastic ways to cook eggs flawlessly every time.
From the creamy and comforting scrambled eggs to the picture-perfect fried eggs, the classic hard-boiled eggs, and the delicately poached eggs, we will guide you through each technique, unraveling the secrets behind achieving impeccable results.
So, let's dive into the world of eggs and discover how these humble ingredients can transform into culinary masterpieces that will satisfy your taste buds and impress your loved ones.
Get ready to elevate your egg-cooking game with these foolproof methods!
Here are five easy ways to cook eggs perfectly every time.
You don't need much for these first two preparations.
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All you need is a good nonstick skillet that doesn't have any scratches on it, a rubber spatula, some salt and pepper, and a good amount of butter.
You want to use a nonstick skillet.
Eggs are notoriously sticky because of all the protein and a lot of other stuff in there.
And you also want to make sure that you're not using any metal utensils on the pan itself.
1- scrambled eggs
One of my personal faves.
Scrambled eggs, there are a lot of different ways to cook them.
This is the way that we prefer at the Tasty Kitchen.
It's a great idea to crack them into a separate bowl first.
One, in case we have any big chunks of eggshell in there.
If an eggshell does get into the bowl itself, totally fine.
Take an eggshell that you've just cracked and use that to go in and get the shell out.
While it may seem easier to crack them into the pan and scramble them in there, it's not really a good, even way to do it.
You'll have some big chunks of egg white and some big chunks of egg yolk.
Just trust me, it's an easy bowl to clean.
Just throw them in a bowl first and scramble them in there.
So instead of adding milk or cream, we just use a lot of butter.
You start with about two tablespoons of butter, and get it nice and foamy in the pan.
And then into the pan. We want to keep our heat pretty low here, and we're actually not going to move the eggs at all until we kinda see a little bit of the egg setting on the sides of the pan.
When you start to see a little bit of the eggs set, that's when you want to take a rubber spatula and, from the outside in, push the eggs towards the center and kind of all around the pan so that all the eggs are cooking pretty evenly.
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When they're about three-quarters of the way cooked, we're going to do a real sneaky trick here and add a few cubes of butter.
That's another tablespoon cut into fours or so.
We're going to melt those cubes of butter into the eggs themselves.
And they're going to kind of emulsify, sort of, with this creamy, nice melty-ness into the scrambled eggs.
And they add this really beautiful, creamy texture at the end.
So we recommend taking them off a little bit before you think.
The residual heat within the eggs will continue to cook them until they're the perfect done-ness.
I mean, it definitely takes art and takes a little bit of time to get the scrambled egg right, but there's just something so good about it.
It just kind of hits all those salty, creamy, fatty notes for me and I just really, really love having scrambled eggs.
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2- The fried egg
I think people are afraid of fried eggs.
I don't know, there are so many different ways to do it.
It's like, should the pan be high heat, should it be low?
How do you get that perfect color?
We're going to do ours on medium heat for the fried egg.
So add butter to the pan, and add your egg to the butter.
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So you want it to be hot enough that the egg white is kind of setting when it goes in.
Let it start cooking and you want to make sure that it's not so hot that the egg white itself is going all over and boiling like crazy.
Add just a few drops of water at this point and immediately cover with a lid.
That's going to create a good amount of steam in the pan.
So it's going to help cook the egg white without being on such high heat that the egg yolk will cook through as well.
At that point, you know, once it's cooked for a few minutes, you have the world's most picture-perfect egg.
Really yellow, with a vibrant yolk.
The white is cooked through, there's none of that weird snotty bit that no one likes, like undercooked egg white.
It just takes maybe a minute or two with that steam on top and then you have a picture-perfect egg.
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3- Boiled Egg
There are a million things on the internet about how to get the perfect hard-boiled egg.
We've tested a whole bunch and this is our tried and true method to get your perfect boiled egg every time.
You want to put them over medium-high heat 'cause you want to bring them to a boil, but you want it to kind of happen slowly.
So similar to potatoes, we're doing this 'cause we want them to cook really evenly.
We don't want the outside to cook before the inside can.
Once it's at a rolling boil, you want to take it off the heat, cover it, and set your timer.
Between four and 16 minutes, depending on how you like your yolks cooked.
And then, once they're cooked to your liking, you wanna immediately take the eggs out and put them into an ice bath.
That's going to stop the cooking right away to make sure that your yolk is going to be cooked to your preference.
If you leave them in the hot water or just take them out of the hot water and don't cool them down, then you'll get that like really weird, grayish-green yolk, which we don't want.
You can see how much softer the yolk is at four minutes, whereas at 16, it's completely cooked through.
You can just cut them in halves or quarters, and throw them right on top of a salad.
They add a nice amount of color and freshness, I think.
They're also a really good snack as well.
But there are a million different recipes you can use for hard-boiled eggs.
4- Poached
There's just more room for the egg to kind of move around.
All right, so, for poaching eggs, which I honestly don't think is too scary, you want to use a big pot of water.
And you want to make sure that your pot of water is, I know this sounds crazy, but at a hard simmer.
You don't want it so boiling that the water's really disruptive and it's going to shake the egg a ton.
But if it's not moving at all, then the egg will just completely sink to the bottom and there won't be any movement rolling that egg white over the egg yolk.
Similar to scrambled eggs, you're always going to want to make sure that you're cracking your eggs into a bowl first. And then we're going to do a whirlpool trick.
So you're going to stick your spoon in, twirl the water, and then that center whirlpool is where we're going to drop our egg into.
As it's slowing down when you want to add your egg.
If it's still going too heavy, the whirlpool's too fast, then the egg's just going to be like.
You want to let the egg go and do its thing in there until you kind of can't see any of that translucent egg white anymore.
For the poached egg, you want the egg yolk to still be quite runny, but again, no one wants a runny egg white. And that is a poached egg.
So we're going to blot it, get all the extra water off there. And then you're ready to eat.
So that's the traditional method.
But if you were doing a whole bunch, we've got a trick for you.
So instead of a big deep pot, we're just going to use a saute pan that has flat sides, three or four inches deep where you can put some of these heat-safe glass bowls and have them completely covered in water.
And for this one, I can do three, maybe even four at a time, depending on how big your bowls are and how big your pot is.
And then, same deal. You want to crack your eggs into a separate dish, but what I'm going to do is actually go from one dish to another.
And what that bowl is going to do is it's going to keep the egg contained in that space.
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This is cool because you can get a nice rounded shape every time, but it's going to look a little bit different than your classic poached egg.
If you're just doing this for your friends and family at home, I don't think anyone will mind.
It'll still taste the same.
It's easier for you to do a whole bunch of them.
And then it's a little, less intimidating way to approach poached eggs.
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Really good, nice, soft, delicate way to have an egg. And it's also kind of an impressive way to serve something pretty cheap.
I love poached eggs.
FAQs
Q: How do I make perfect scrambled eggs?
To make perfect scrambled eggs, crack the eggs into a separate bowl, whisk them, and season with salt and pepper.
Melt butter in a nonstick skillet over low heat.
Add the eggs to the pan and let them set around the edges. Use a rubber spatula to gently push the eggs towards the center and around the pan to cook evenly.
When the eggs are three-quarters cooked, add a few cubes of butter and let them melt into the eggs.
Remove the eggs from the heat slightly before they reach your desired doneness, as the residual heat will continue cooking them.
Q: What is the trick to frying eggs perfectly?
To fry eggs perfectly, heat a nonstick skillet over medium heat and add butter.
Crack the egg into the pan when the butter is hot but not boiling. Let the egg white set and then add a few drops of water to create steam.
Cover the pan with a lid to allow the egg white to cook without overcooking the yolk. Cook for a few minutes until the egg white is cooked through and the yolk is vibrant and runny.
Q: How can I achieve the perfect hard-boiled eggs?
For perfect hard-boiled eggs, place the eggs in a pot of water over medium-high heat.
Slowly bring the water to a rolling boil and then remove the pot from the heat, cover it, and set a timer.
The cooking time depends on your preference for yolk doneness, ranging from 4 to 16 minutes. After cooking, transfer the eggs to an ice bath to stop the cooking process and prevent the development of a greenish yolk. Peel and enjoy the hard-boiled eggs as desired.
Q: What is the technique for poaching eggs?
To poach eggs, bring a large pot of water to a hard simmer.
Crack each egg into a separate bowl. Create a whirlpool in the water by stirring it with a spoon, then gently drop the egg into the center of the whirlpool.
Allow the egg to cook until the translucent egg white turns opaque.
Remove the poached egg from the water using a slotted spoon, blot excess water, and serve. Alternatively, you can use a sauté pan with flat sides and heat-safe glass bowls to poach multiple eggs at once.
Q: Can I use a different method to achieve poached eggs?
Yes, instead of the traditional method, you can use a sauté pan with flat sides and heat-safe glass bowls. Fill the pan with water and place the bowls in the water.
Crack the eggs into a separate dish and transfer them gently into the bowls.
This method helps contain the eggs and create a rounded shape.
It's a convenient way to poach multiple eggs simultaneously and can be less intimidating for beginners.
Remember to adjust cooking times and techniques based on personal preferences and kitchen equipment. Enjoy your eggs prepared in different delicious ways!