Slow-cooked eggs

[Major Nikon]

I'm a big fan of eggs but especially soft-boiled or poached eggs in particular. I particularly like playing with variations on cooking them in the shell in a sous vide type of water bath.

If someone is just getting started with a sous vide cooker, eggs are a great way to demonstrate the potential of these devices. While technically not sous vide, the method still consists of cooking the eggs in a temperature controlled water bath. There's tons of variations on using different time, temperature, and finishing options. I'll describe what is a pretty simple one that still lends itself well to modification.

If you don't know what sous vide is, or you want to get started, this is the sous vide device I'm using for this recipe. There's lots of other ones on the market, most of which are cheaper and even some of the most inexpensive ones are highly rated.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0727R431B

For my water vessel, all I'm using is a 12qt round polycarbonate tub. You don't really need one of these as you can just as easily use a large stock pot or just about anything else that holds water and is about 6" deep.
https://www.webstaurantstore.com/cambro-rfscw12135-camwear-12-qt-clear-round-food-storage-container/214RFSCW12.html

The method here is pretty simple. The water bath is warmed up to 168F and I'm using eggs right out of the fridge. Time is 14mins and the eggs are immersed in room temperature water immediately after cooking.




You can easily modify this recipe by temperature and time. Higher temperatures and shorter time will render the whites firmer and yolks runnier. The reverse will result in firmer yolks and looser whites.

So a note about food safety. Naturally when we talk about cooking eggs salmonellosis is a concern that many have. So yes people do get salmonellosis from eggs, but it's also true that this is a very rare occurrence despite how common it is for people to consume runny eggs. So with various cooking methods you may or may not reach pasteurization of the egg, which is also true for an egg prepared sunny side up at the local greasy spoon. If you are concerned about this, with a sous vide device you can pasteurize the eggs in the shell at 135F for 75 mins. The result will be almost indistinguishable from a raw egg which may then be cooked at higher temps for the desired result.

[yankeepants]

1. I steam mine. They are perfect.

[Major Nikon]

2. There's a ton of different methods

You can use all sorts of soft boil techniques from starting with the eggs in cold water to boiling or starting with boiling water and removing the heat once the eggs are added. Steaming has a few options at well as does partially cooking with steam or boiling water and then finishing by poaching.

What's interesting to me is to consider the whites and the yolks as different entities and then figure out some way to get the consistencies of both exactly as you like it.

My favorite is a yolk with a pudding like consistency with whites that are firm, but not to the point of being rubbery. To get that you need to cook at two different temperatures, the first of which is lower and longer to get the yolks perfect, and then a higher temp for a shorter time to finish the whites.

[Major Nikon]

3. Variation

Here's an interesting variation on the above.

Water bath temp: 145F
Time: 90 mins

At this point the eggs will be fully pasteurized and the yolks will have a gooey pudding like consistency. The whites will be starting to set, but still fairly runny.

Pour boiling water into the water bath to quickly bring the temp up to 175F. Cook for an additional 6 minutes. Remove the eggs immediately and place into a room temperature bowl of water for a couple of minutes. Serve immediately or store in refrigerator for a few days and reheat at 135F for 20 mins.

The yolk will be a little more set and be able to hold a round shape when place into a bowl, but still have the consistency between pudding and a custard. The whites will be considerably more firm, but still unable to hold a shape.

[Dalai_1]

4. Thank you.....

....for posting this information!
I have been trying to decide which device to purchase.
I appreciate the details and information in your posts.

[Major Nikon]

5. The one I have is nice

The thing I like about it is it’s very compact and heats the water up quite fast. The down side is there’s no manual control so you have to use a smartphone to manage the settings.