I'm supposed to have "afternoon protein" -- usually some string cheese or a hard-boiled egg. I've had about a month worth of string cheese, so I thought I'd boil up a dozen eggs tonight.
I still use a cookbook for this.
Don't laugh. I don't boil eggs very often and I keep forgetting how long I'm supposed to boil them for. Joy of Cooking says 12-17 minutes (that's 10-15 for hard-boiled, plus 2 since they're right out of the fridge).
I put my eggs in the pot. I cover with cold water. Now, Joy of Cooking says to cook over medium heat till you get a boil, then drop them down to a simmer for that 12-17 minutes. I put over medium heat. I'm about to set the timer, but I think, "No, I'll wait until they've reached a boil before I do that." Joy of Cooking also advises to "plunge the eggs into cold water" after they're done to arrest further cooking and prevent that grey ring from appearing on the outside of the yolk. I put a plastic bowl in the sink, so I'm prepared to fill it with cold water and plunge the eggs in.
I sit down. I've got bills to pay. I pay a lot of bills.
The dryer buzzes. It's been going for about an hour. I reset it for another half hour and ...
Oh damn. The eggs. I never even dropped them to simmer. They've been boiling away over a medium heat since ... gee, was that two episodes of M*A*S*H?
I remove the eggs from the heat. Still boiling. While I'm pretty sure the grey yolk ship has already sailed, I plunge the eggs into cold water to, you know, stop any further further cooking.
I honestly can't wait to taste one. I'm wondering whether I've ruined an entire dozen eggs, or if boiling them for an hour results in still-edible eggs.
I peel one. I can already see that the outside of the yolk has gone grey -- it's so dark, I can see it through the egg white. But it tastes pretty normal. Still warm (still cooking, I assume), but tasty.
I do not appear to be experiencing any ill effects.
Then again, if I find myself needing another dose of Pepto-Bismol, I'm prepared.
1 comment:
Try this next time. From a cold start, put your eggs in your pan and bring to a boil and start timing them for five minutes, then turn off the heat and let cool on their own. The only time the grey is an issue is if you are doing something that requires you to present sliced HB eggs. Otherwise, even Deviled Eggs recipes don't care and neither do egg salad.
Now, if you were me, you'd have gone off and boiled them dry and only realized your error when the smoke detector went off...
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