So there I am, reading Lipstick Jungle by Candace Bushnell, when one of the characters makes something for breakfast called “eggs and toast soldiers”. She mentions that she makes a perfect 4.5 minute soft boiled egg. I have never timed the boiling of my eggs, so I was determined to give this 4.5 minute egg and toast soldier thing a try.
Is it 4.5 minutes after the water boils?
It it 4.5 minutes from the water being put in the pot?
Do you put in the eggs when the water is cold, or after it boils?
You see, personally, I put the eggs in cold water, then heat to boiling, boil for ~1 minute, turn off the heat, and come back in 15 minutes or so to eat my perfectly hardboiled eggs (translucent yellow (just solid) yolk, no grey).
I tried the dunk them into boiling water method, and 4.5 minutes from there I pulled them out. One out of three eggs turned out properly. The other two suffered temperature shock and cracked, leaking out egg white in a rather grotesque fashion.
I made blueberry waffles for the inaugural soldier dunking.
The one good egg was, to my dismay, still a bit undercooked – the egg whites near the yolk were a bit curd-y and runny. But the yolk was hot-ish, so I am crossing my fingers, hoping not to be turning and retching in my grave tomorrow with Salmonella poisoning.
It’s pretty good, the overall effect. Eggs and Eggo soldiers.
Tomorrow: 4.5 minutes of boiling, placing eggs in the cold water to start off.
I know I could just Google “soft boiled egg”, but no, I will not. Sometimes it’s just more fun to bushwhack through a jungle forest.
