Thursday, April 24, 2008
Eggs
I had to add this post so the title to the blog under this one wasn’t on the screen every time I go to my blog tomorrow. I know--I’m retarded. But here goes anyway-- Is there a secret to dealing with hard-boiled eggs? How come some peel beautifully and then sometimes you peel so much of the egg off with the peel that you might as well just dig the yolk out and be done with it. I already know about the trick of putting them in ice water after boiling them, and have even tried the hot to cold and back to hot, then cold again steps. And how do you get the yolk to stay in the center of the egg for deviled eggs because cutting those suckers is not fun particularly when the yolk is so close to one side, you end up with an egg white ring that obviously can’t hold the devilled egg filling. I’ve even done the trick of putting the egg carton on its side all night before boiling the eggs in the morning. Apparently the chickens that lay my eggs are so genetically modified; their yolks don’t understand the laws of gravity. My life is rough.
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4 comments:
Alrighty Linda, here's the deal. This is actually a fairly difficult problem that has no easy answer. I recently inherited my grandmother's copy of "From Julia Child's Kitchen." In this tome, she devotes 15 pages to this topic. No joke. It isn't about boiling water alone - it's about first, pricking the egg on the large end to release pressure from the inside of the egg (that is what allows you to peel the egg easily), timing them perfectly (based on size), not just transferring them into cold water - but tapping them in 2 or 3 places lightly with the back of a spoon first to crack the shell and allow the cold water to penetrate and shrink the egg from the membrane.
Here's the other interesting part. She says that fresh eggs don't peel well and since eggs these days are all sprayed with a fine mist of tasteless mineral oil - ours don't age. So, you are supposed to scrub down your eggs first and then leave them uncovered overnight before cooking them. She says in hot weather to leave them uncovered for a day or two in the refridgerator. I know this sounds odd - but if you think about it, when the chicken lays the egg, it doesn't lay it into a fridge does it?
As far as centering the egg, that all has to do with the size of the air pocket, she says as they age the yoke centers but that if you keep them moving during the cooking process you may recenter the yoke.
I realize I've just gone overboard here, but this is from the mouth of Julia Childs. She is the expert. And when I read this not too long ago, I was astounded. And yes, I read cookbooks.
Shar, I love that you are such a genius and that you read Julia Childs--she is awesome. Darsha said once that people didn't need to refrigerate eggs like they do and I think she grew up around that kind of stuff. It makes sense to me. Thanks for taking the time to help me out!
Eating them in omelets is your best bet in dealing with eggs:-) But devilled eggs! They are worth the trouble of learning how to do things correctly. Good Luck!
This comment isn't about eggs because I too don't know what I am doing. I have left them to boil and forgot about them to the point of burning my pan, man water boils fast. My real comment is about the yellow script, my computer doesn't pick up the color well so I highlight it and it shows up in blue, but then I miss your cool titles because you can't highlight titles..is my computer retarded or is the operator:) ?
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