The Perfect Soft-Boiled Egg

I recently bought LeCreuset Egg Cups. Why? Because they are so cute! Then I had to figure out how to make the perfect soft or hard-boiled eggs so that I could use them.

So I did a little research, because like most Americans, I don’t eat soft-boiled eggs very often. Mostly I don’t eat them because I generally end up with hard-boiled instead of the lovely soft-boiled egg.

I began my experiment by following instructions from “The Test Kitchen.” They recommend that you place six eggs into a pot of cold water covering the top of the eggs by at least one inch. However, I only wanted to make 2 eggs.

They also recommend using old eggs, not fresh from the farm, but ones that have been in the refrigerator for two weeks. My eggs happen to have been in my fridge for two weeks.

Then bring the water to a rolling boil.

Set your timer to 4 minutes for perfectly set whites of the egg with runny center.

Once your timer goes off, remove the pot from heat, cover and let it sit for 4 minutes. Have a bowl of ice water ready to drop your eggs into when you remove them from the pot using a slotted spoon.

Slightly crack the egg on your counter top and drop it into the ice water for one minute.

This resulted in the following: A perfectly hard-boiled egg with a slightly wet center.

Back to the drawing board!

For my second attempt, I brought the water to a boil as before, but just slightly less than a hard rolling boil. Then I covered my All-Clad saucepan and set my timer for 3 minutes. I have always put salt into the water when boiling eggs, but this time I omitted it.

I used my iPhone to make sure the timing was accurate.

The timer went off at precisely 3 minutes, and I quickly removed the eggs from the pot with my Rösle slotted spoon and plunged them into icy water. This time I only left them in for 30 seconds.

I placed the eggs into my lovely egg cups and cracked one with a butter knife.

I was so happy to find a perfectly prepared SOFT-BOILED egg.

So next time you want a perfectly soft-boiled egg, try my method:

1. Bring cold water with two eggs just to a rolling boil.
2. Cover and set off the heat for exactly 3 minutes.
3. Slightly crack the egg on your countertop and plung into icy water.
4. Remove the eggs after 30 seconds.
5. Place the eggs into your cute little egg cups and cut open with a butter knife.
6. Enjoy!

Cooking eggs can be intimidating (and take several tries), but The Chopping Block's Owner/Chef Shelley Young's video on poaching eggs is really helpful. It's just one of many of our how to cook videos. 

Plus, we have an easier-than-ever hollandaise sauce that we use in our classes which perfectly complements Eggs Benedict.

You can also join us for our Let's Brunch cooking class this Saturday at Lincoln Square where our chef will teach you how to make Baked Eggs withh Sautéed Swiss Chard, Summer Squash and Tomatoes.