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Boiled eggs is a British breakfast staple; whether you like them soft with toast to dip in, or hard for a quick mouthful of protein. But how you make a boiled egg is a contentious subject, with many boiling them differently, with varying results of success. TV chef Jamie Oliver has shared a video, where he takes fans through all the crucial steps to make the “perfect boiled egg every single time”, and it starts when you’re in the supermarket choosing your egg. <\/p>\n
In a video shared on his official Facebook channel, Jamie said: “Today we are going to do something challenging, you’re going to learn, I’m going to teach you how to boil an egg. Yes, you heard it right, boil an egg. <\/p>\n
“A lot of people get confused with this – I don’t know why – a lot of people have conversations about how they do it best, and there are some very strange methods of doing it. <\/p>\n
“I thought I’d give you a rock-solid, perfect way to boil an egg, every single time. Let’s talk through the variants and how to get it perfect.” <\/p>\n
He continued: “If you want to cook the perfect boiled egg every time, you need the same sized egg.<\/p>\n
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“You’ll get different size eggs in the supermarket – large, medium, sometimes small, and sometimes double-yolkers. This is for a large free-range, organic egg. <\/p>\n
“We have a pan of boiling water, to that pan I’m going to add a tiny, tiny, tiny pinch of salt. <\/p>\n
“Why would we do that? Because inside this egg is a tiny tiny amount of salt, so one of the theories of not having your boiled egg crack [in the water] and leak everywhere is to put a tiny bit of salt [into the water] to balance the amount in here [the egg] and then it doesn’t osmose it through the shell. <\/p>\n
“On that conversation, the shell is the most incredible protection for the egg, you don’t want to put them in the fridge. <\/p>\n
“A, because they don’t need to go in the fridge, and B, it’s very porous, so this will suck up any smells in the fridge which is not a good thing,” he explained. <\/p>\n
“That [the egg] in a slotted spoon, pop it in the water, and just dip the egg in and out two or three times – then gently place it on the bottom of the pan.<\/p>\n
“So from room temperature they go into boiling water and I’m going to put three eggs in, and one for luck, for soft-boiled, semi-soft boiled and hard-boiled.” <\/p>\n
Depending on how you like your boiled egg, the timings change. Jamie explained: “For soft-boiled, it’s five and half minutes on the head. Set your timer and get ready to go. For semi-soft-boiled, it’s seven and a half minutes, and for hard-boiled, it’s 11-12 minutes.<\/p>\n
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“So as simple as boiling an egg is, there are lots of different people’s techniques; some logical, some illogical. <\/p>\n
“I’ve heard of people putting eggs into a pan of cold water and bringing it to the boil, then turning it off as soon as it’s got to a boil and they’re ready. <\/p>\n
“It also depends on the size of the pan, it depends on the power of the gas, it depends on the heat source, doing this – boiling water – is not random. Having an egg roughly at room temperature is not random.” <\/p>\n
As for how Jamie’s eggs turned out, he revealed: “The first egg is done, this is our five and a half minute egg, make sure you put it the right way up; there is a round side and a sharper side, I always go the blunter side up. <\/p>\n
“If you leave it in the shell and watch it, it will carry on cooking, that shell is like a mini-oven, you want to get on with it and eat it. You want to crack off the top and you’ve got a really nice, soft-boiled egg, cooked to perfection. <\/p>\n
“The second egg has had seven and a half minutes, this will give you a medium soft-boiled egg. If we have a look, there you go, half firm, half soft. <\/p>\n
“This one has had 11 minutes, and that should be our reliable hard-boiled egg, perfect for sandwiches, salads. <\/p>\n
“A little pinch of salt on top, and that is a simple boiled egg, cooked to perfection every single time,” he remarked. <\/p>\n