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HOW DO YOU like your eggs? Scrambled? Over easy? Poached?
We came up with the best cooking tips that the internet has to offer, from cracking eggs on a flat surface instead of your bowl to cooking the perfect poached egg.
Plus we threw in some extra tips like making a heart-shaped hard-boiled egg or cooking on a waffle iron, so whether you’re a newbie chef or a seasoned pro, there’s still something you can learn.
Grab broken egg shells with another eggshell:Use half of your empty egg shell to scoop up any broken pieces that escape into your bowl. It will save you lots of time from chasing them around with your finger or a spoon.
Crack eggs on a flat surface: Time and again people are taught to crack eggs on bowls or the corners of countertops. But it turns out the best way to crack an egg is on your tabletop or the surface of the counter. This not only keeps food contamination to a minimum but will also allow fewer tiny bits of the shell to break off.
Water bottle method:You can separate egg yolks from egg whites with a water bottle. All you need to do is lightly squeeze the bottle, suction up the yolk into the bottle, and then lightly squeeze the bottle again to release the yolk.
Use three bowls: Yes, it’s a lot of extra clean up, but when you’re separating yolks and whites it’s best to use one bowl for cracking the eggs into, another for the separated yolks, and the last bowl for all those egg whites. That way if you crack an egg and the yolk breaks, it doesn’t spoil all the egg whites.
Use your hands: Though there are lots of ways to suck up yolks without touching slimy egg parts, the easiest way to separate yolks and whites is with your hands. Just scoop up the yolks, let the egg whites run through your fingers, and deposit it in another bowl.
Shake hard-boiled eggs to peel them:No one likes peeling hard-boiled eggs, but it’s easy to do if you fill a bowl or glass partially with water, add the egg, cover, and shake. After you’re done, the egg shell should pinch right off.
Use a pressure cooker to make hard-boiled eggs: Fill your pressure cooker with a cup of water and add a steamer basket. Add your eggs and then cook on low for three minutes for soft-boiled eggs and six minutes for hard-boiled eggs. The best part of this method is it makes the egg extremely easy to peel.
Know how long to boil your egg: Place your eggs in a cold saucepan with cold water. Get the eggs to a full boil before taking off the heat and covering the pan. Then allow the eggs to cook: three minutes for barely set egg, four minutes for running soft-boiled eggs, six minutes for medium soft-boiled eggs, 10 minutes for regular hard-boiled eggs, and 15 minutes for very firm hard-boiled eggs.
Use a thumb tack to easily peel eggs: If you’re boiling eggs, use a thumb tack or a needle to pierce the end of the egg. Do this while they’re still in the crate so they don’t roll around. Then boil your eggs like normal before transferring them to a bowl of ice water for five minutes. When the eggs are still warm, peel them starting from where you pierced the egg.
Cut through the boiled egg: Let’s be honest, unless you’re saving your hard boiled eggs for later, you’re immediately going to dive into them, so why not just cut them in half? If you’re still finding the eggs hard to peel, use a spoon to scoop them out.
Bake eggs in a muffin pan: If you’re planning to freeze a bunch of breakfast sandwiches all at once, you can make perfectly-sized eggs in a muffin pan. Crack the eggs into the pre-greased tin and bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes. You can then take them out and they’ll perfectly fit English muffins.
Bake “hard-boiled” eggs: Celebrity chef Alton Brown’s secret to making perfect hard-boiled eggs is to bake them in the oven on a moist kitchen towel. Place the damp kitchen towel on the oven rack and place your eggs on top of it. Bake at 320 degrees for 30 minutes.
Make an arzak egg: Arzak eggs are similar to poached eggs but much easier to make. In a small bowl or cup, place Saran wrap and crack the egg inside. Cover with salt, pepper, and any other seasonings before gathering the Saran wrap and twisting it. Dip the eggs into a pot of simmering water for four to five minutes and then cut away the plastic wrap.
Pour vinegar in the water: Pouring a little bit of vinegar into your simmering water will help your eggs stay together better, which is integral when you’re poaching eggs.
Use fresh eggs: Fresh eggs hold their shape better, which means the yolks and whites won’t separate as fast and are easier to poach.
Poach an egg in the microwave: Fill a small bowl with a cup of water and add some salt. Crack the egg into the bowl, making sure it’s fully submerged, and then cover with a plate before microwaving on high for a minute.
Use an onion or pepper for perfectly circular eggs: A healthy hack for making your egg perfectly round is to cook it inside an onion ring or a pepper ring. Simple slice a 1/2-inch ring from your onion or pepper and crack the egg into it inside the pan.
Use butter with scrambled eggs: Adding butter to the pan before adding your scrambled eggs will make them taste even more delicious while also helping prevent the eggs from sticking too much.
Use milk with scrambled eggs, water with omelettes: Using milk, half-and-half, or even cream will make scrambled eggs richer, tastier, and fluffier. With omelettes, chefs advise using a little bit of water with the eggs to make the dish lighter, but not too rich. Two eggs plus two tablespoons of water is the best ratio.
Cook scrambled eggs on low heat: The best scrambled eggs should be cooked slowly over low to medium low heat, stirring constantly.
Scramble eggs in the microwave: Combine eggs, milk, salt, and pepper and beat everything together in a microwaveable mug or bowl. Put it in the microwave for 45 seconds, take it out and stir, and then microwave for another 30 to 45 seconds until eggs are cooked through.
Cooking easy, perfect runny eggs:To make the perfect runny eggs, break the egg close to the hot pan so the yolk doesn’t break. Once the bottom is cooked through, instead of flipping the egg, turn the heat off and let it sit for 4-5 minutes with a lid on top. The lid will seal in the leftover heat and cook the top for you.
Test eggs with a bowl of water: Place your eggs in a bowl of cold water — if they sink to the bottom and lay flat, they’re fresh. If they sink but stand on one end, they’re a few weeks old, but still good to go. If they float, toss those eggs!
Make eggs last longer: Break eggs and beat the yolks and whites together. Then pour the eggs into an ice cube tray. About one cube will equal an egg and they’ll thaw very quickly so you can whip up quick meals.
Golden hard-boiled eggs: You can scramble eggs inside their shell by placing an egg inside the sleeve of a T-shirt. Secure the end on either side with rubber bands or string and spin the egg around and around before boiling them.
Waffle iron omelettes: Combine your eggs (most waffle irons will fit about three to four eggs) and all of your fillings. Spray the waffle iron and heat up before adding eggs and the ingredients. Cook for two to three minutes before shutting off the heat and adding to a plate.
Heart-shaped hard-boiled eggs:Cut apart a milk carton and fold it in half length-wise. Take a still-warm, peeled hard-boiled egg and place it in the carton. Place a chopstick over the egg and secure with rubber bands so it makes an indent in the egg. Let sit for 10 minutes before removing.
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If this outbreak continues we should be vigilant on all sub Saharan traffic to and from here in Ireland.
I totally agree, there should be proper screening put in place like Australia and the USA..
You people are being silly, please educate your self before you post on there issues.
As a poster who was a microbiologist said On a previous article about Ebola this is more likely to be spread by a international business traveler like SARS was.
“A poster who claimed to be a microbiologist but could be anybody because this is the Internet and you can’t take everything as gospel”.
There, I corrected that for you, Luke.
@Neal
I am that poster and I am in fact a microbiologist. Hi.
Yes Luke, you are right today too. Business men. And in case you’re interested I nor my chum in computational infection biology AKA this area exactly, are very concerned.
Mary (1) business_men (why the space?) (2) starting a sentence with And..really? (3) I nor my chum..are very concerned (this should be …neither I nor my Chum..are very concerned OR my chum and I are concerned)…and you want us to believe you have gone and studied at 3rd level and obtained a Diploma or higher?
@Fluich it
Yep. Believe it, don’t believe it I don’t care.
I’m not justifying frivolous grammer when I’m making a point about a virus. Your sleuthing is a little petty.
I’m doing a PhD in microbiology so… Interpret that as you like.
I couldn’t give a fig about spelling/punctuation mistakes. I would have thought that in such a serious line of work as yours, that the language used would have to be precise and unambiguous. You want to be clear about findings and don’t want to scare the uninformed. That is why I pointed out your errors, because they are very basic grammar/use of language mistakes.
If it goes airborne then it is a major problem but only by touch then it will not be. Not much consolation to the poor people that get it but this is not a global threat.
@Fluich it
Worry not for I proofread thesis and documents. I’m telling people not to panic, focus on that. Surely that’s the take-home part?
@Seannie
Ebola is not airborne as you’ve said. This is great news. It’s quite hard to spread, as viruses go. We’ll be fine. Even if there was a case in Ireland, I wouldn’t panic. Unless it was me obviously. That’d be s**t.
Then Luke. Suspend All air travel from the affected countries in every direction. Isolate and Quarantine. As there is no know vaccine or cure for this disease so it can only be left to run its course and unfortunately that means runs out of victims.
I’m a monkey,Luke :) So’s my young fella :) Spot on,Neal !
@Thomas
Hello? I’m right here?
Are you all there ?
Last time I checked
Unbelievably contagious and devastating disease. If a person has a sweaty palm and touches a door knob before someone else the can become infected. Scary stuff. The fact that it is is such a populated city as Lagos is terrifying. Massive opportunity for it to spread across boarders due to air traffic.
I am not so sure it is that contagious. We have completely different practices here . Isolation , cleanliness . Very advanced medical care. The problem from what I understand and have read is that there is a deep seated mistrust of western medicine which is what is fueling this virus currently.
But the issue is if an infected person walks around temple bar you would have an outbreak here too then we are in the fight on the backfoot!!! Birds flying from the sky, manholes blowing up with green gas, OMG loike sooooo Nostradamus
That’s my point , people are only concerned because it’s contagious so there is a chance it might spread to Europe and infect them . Third world starvation isn’t contagious , it’s much easier to be sympathetic about that ….
Ah I did not pick up on that!! Fair & valid point!! ;)
It’s not vary contagious, each Ebola case infects on average 1.4 to 1.7 other people, this is about the same as SARS. It’s not airborne, only passed by close contact between family members and medical staff.
By comparison, one Measles case infects 35 others, flu about 3 to 6. If Ebola becomes airborne it will become more infectious, that’s the fear.
If there was an Ebola outbreak in a much larger city rather than small towns I’m sure the contagion ratio would increase
Ebola reached the capital of Guinea, Conakry, back in March, it didn’t spread out of control.
@People of this thread
Ebola not very contagious at all
Diseases like this thrive in Africa and not well outside (climate, poverty etc)
No natural reservoir (like bats) in Ireland
Much better sanitation hygiene here.
Temple bar will be grand.
Friendly neighbourhood microbiologist
Ps
SARS is a respiratory virus and would be spread far easier than this for many reasons.
Religious belief strikes again.
There is absolutely no reason why we shouldn’t have a screening process not just for diseases but also for criminals and scroungers.
A lot of Irish wouldn’t get back in after holidays then.
Only on the journal does a piece About a virus turn into a discussion about emigration. Sad really
Perfect
37 company delegates from Ireland went in November 2013 and signed a trade
Agreement worth €7 million for irish workers in NIgeria.
Perhaps they should be screened for Ebola.
The incubation time for Ebola is significantly less than 9 months. It is rumour and mis information like that that is causing the treatment problems at the moment.
A bit of simple googling would have confirmed that the incubation time is in fact 2 to 21 days, dependant on strain.
Thanks for the information Vocal, the next trade mission to
West Africa is in October 2014 organised by Enterprise
Ireland,perhaps by then some form of screening is in place
not only in Ireland but due to the ease of it spreading without
a known cure throughout the world.
This illness will need a international response and only then
Is there a chance of avoiding a epidemic outbreak.
@Sat
No, it needs an African response, some zoologist to deal with this reservoir or at least state why this is so high and it needs people not to panic. This is not like flu. People need to chill out.
It’s not just Ebola we have to worry about.. TB is making a comeback..
A friend of mine arrived home from rural Sierra Leon 3 weeks ago. He was not checked for the virus in either London or Dublin. He was given a minimum check leaving the village he was living in. Scary how easily it could spread here.
Read Richard Prestons book called The Hot Zone. It includes a section on how Ebola became airborne in a Monkey House in Washington. The strain is now called Ebola Reston but they found it wasn’t harmful to humans. It’s one hell if a good book too
I’ll just leave this here for anyone who has the time: http://youtu.be/XasTcDsDfMg; it’s a great segment done by vice news.
Unfortunately these people are uneducated, highly impoverished, distrust their government and doctors. Sadly I think this epidemic (is it a pandemic at this stage?) is going to get worse, which is unfortunate as an Ebola outbreak could be reasonably well maintained.
Ah shur a bit of Ebola never hurt anyone
Let natural selection work it’s magic.
@COOM
You wouldn’t say that if you had a heart attack.
“Religious belief, social mores, misinformation and a general mistrust of conventional medicine”
Basically Ignorance.
@Mary
The Chief Medical Doctor treating the Ebola patients has
contracted the deadly disease in Sierra Leone and is now
been treated for it and is hospitalised.
Hope you will not think he came in prolonged close contact with the
patients or he was not aware of barrier nursing care.
@Sat
Of course he was in prolonged contact, he’s the doctor. Look, panic if you want. This is not at the level we should be on lockdown yet. Nowhere near in fact. People need to chill out.
And an outbreak of the Black Death in China. I’d hate to see the both of them meeting up.
@hill
Actually bubonic plague was found in Madagascar recently.
But still, it’s grand.
Thought that you would have been told about the one in China yesterday ?
If he’s talking about Ebola meeting Plague surely he Madagascar outbreak is more important given, you know… It’s in Africa.
Hence why it was mentioned.
No offence to you Mary but you strike me as the typical laid back under estimating member of the medical establishment that will be caught on their heels when this hits Europe , in fact there has already been a case reported in Spain ! I mean have you read the hot zone book??
@Larry
Better, I did a degree. Look people are never going to believe what you say to them anyways. People don’t always trust doctors when given a diagnosis but they are USUALLY right. I’m not going to help feed the paranoia when I an others like me are relaxed. I have no doubt it’s possible but it is highly unlikely.
PS
Reading “The Hot Zone” is basically the equivalent of googling your symptoms and calling yourself a doctor.
Notting good comes this place…once we vet the ones coming into our country!
@Mary
Glad you have a degree on this topic,only trying to give you alternative
sides to a topic,not panicking. Hopefully journal readers can gain from the
views/knowledge of all who have contributed on this relatively new topic and
debate is healthy in any profession.I am sure you will agree with that
@Sat
Absolutely. But I hope you’d concede also that not all opinions are created equal on certain topics and I’m sorry but reading Hot Zone or any book like it is not the same as being an expert on a subject (which, doing a PhD I rightly or wrongly assume myself to be).
@ Mary
Nigeria has been put on red alert today following the death of a Liberian
man who recently entered the country from this disease.
People do not panic without reason,but this virus spreads easily
through bodily fluids including sweating which is easily done.
I still feel it’s more than West Africa’s exclusive problem.
@Sat
No, this is not very transmissible at all and requires VERY close, prolonged contact. There have literally been plenty cases of people getting on planes with advanced symptoms with sky-high temperatures and internal bleeding and not one other person became infected. It’s not that contagious at all. Absolutely untrue.
They’re probably panicking because of mortality rates upwards of 80%, that doesn’t mean they’re gonna get it easily.
Seriously, red thumb me if you want but I have a degree in this… Not much of a commodity here, I see.
Somehow reading “The Hot Zone” is an equivalent to countless research papers and experiments.
Mary
I’m splitting my sides with laughter . This is one of the reasons why I love the Journal comments section .. Serious Kudos to you ;)
@Thomas
How come mate?
Mary
How old are you ? Genuine question .
@Thomas
21. And before you say a thing, I’m finished a degree in micro, went TCD doing PhD in UK.
In 2003 you were 8 . It is now 2014 and you are 21 . The math doesn’t add up right,Mary . Good night!
Hahahaha
Are you for real? By my estimations, I said I was around 8 in the NI topic a while back which was a round the spot estimate/guesstimate I didn’t give 2 thoughts to. And now that somehow ties in to the fact I know a think or two about microbes? Haha, you’re pathetic mate and you think you’re smart. I think what you’re a bit pissed about is a 21 year old girl unequivocally knows more than you in this topic. Bites, don’t it?
I’m 22 next week by the way. And yep. Still an international scholar.
Hope you get your PHD at such a young tender age ..best of luck!
24… Yes. Yes I will. And then another after. Chemistry, this time. Fingers crossed.
Maybe thr new dan brown book isnt that far from the truth ….
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