How to make a soft boiled egg

My happiest childhood food memories are of perfectly boiled dippy eggs with soldiers prepared with love by my Mother. I still ask her to make them for me, although these days I have it pretty much sorted, and she is the one usually asking me when she comes to visit. For me, I am quite particular about how I like my eggs. The perfect boiled egg is one that is runny, but too runny. I like the whites set, I like the edges of the yolk starting to get hard, I like it smothered in salt and pepper and the toast has to have lashings of butter on it. Spread thick as cheese that melts into delicious rivers. I like to dip the soldiers in to start and once all the dippiness has gone, I like to spoon out the whites and remaining yolk onto the thin soldiers with extra salt and pepper on top. It’s not the prettiest or best way, it’s my way. And quite frankly, the best way.

Thankfully both my children have taken on the love of  boiled egg in the same way. What choice did they have? They eat them the same way as me, and we often have boiled eggs for dinner when tiredness and can’t be botheredness gets in the way.

Here is how I cook them to get them perfect (well to me at least) EVERY SINGLE TIME. No cracks. No busted bits with whites hanging out. EVERY TIME. There are no tricks, I keep my eggs in the fridge and can’t be bothered to take them out beforehand. I use free range organic eggs if I can (no we still don’t have the chooks sorted) the fresher, the better.

1. Take a saucepan, fill it with water and whack it on the stove until it starts to boil.

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2. Get your eggs out of the fridge and to stop them from rolling off your bench, keep them on your piece of toast ready for the toaster. I know! I am a genius.

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3. If you have a microwave, you have a kitchen timer. See the button timer? Who knew? I didn’t! And now you do! Press it, enter 5 MINUTES in preparation. 5 mins is the precise and exact timing I use. No more. And only less if you have small eggs. If they are small, you will boil the eggs for 4 minutes.

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4. Once the water is boiling, put your eggs onto a spoon and lower them into the water one at a time. Press start on your microwave timer and walk away Renee.

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The eggs will boil and bump about. Mine never crack despite being cold from the fridge, and they never bang into each other. They just do their thing. At 2.30 to go whack that toast in the toaster.

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Get that salt and pepps and butter ready. You’re almost there. Butter the toast  and as soon as the timer goes off, drain them and whack the egg into the egg cup with the spare on the side ready to go.

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Get stuck in and enjoy one of life’s simple pleasures. You can also use this method to prepare an egg for a salad or to have on toast (peel the skin and then cut open the peeled egg on top of a Nicoise salad or just a piece of toast). DEAD SET.

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Do you like boiled eggs?
Have anything you have cooked a gazillion times you think you are an expert at?

Comments

  1. I have been a seriously neglectful mother – my sons (19 & 18) have never had a boiled egg! I loved dippy eggs as a child but never thought about them as an option for the boys. We do a fried egg and tomato mcmuff, as a breakfast course! Boys they eat so much!
    Cheers

    • BabyMacBlogBeth says

      No you’re not! There are plenty of things that I have never given my girls…you go with what you know right?

  2. GirlWhoCooks says

    I am leaping out of bed to make one now!!!

  3. GourmetGirlfriend says

    You know that ol’ saying “They can’t even boil an egg” ….as if it’s something EVERYONE can do?
    It’s one of those sayings I really don’t like. There are so many great cooks who actually have never mastered boiling an egg.
    Like everything to do with cooking it is about having the knowledge & knowing a few tricks. So glad you have shared.
    SOOOOOO many people are going to LOVE this.

    • BabyMacBlogBeth says

      That’s it Ruthie. I have had a few people ask me on Instagram…and now it’s written down and passed on. Share the knowledge…YOU are the Queen of that! x

  4. Only yesterday Hubby revealed that he hates boiled eggs … HATES them. I advised him that he is clearly insane. I’m not sure how he kept that one hidden for 18 years!

  5. Yumbo, thanks for this. I am USELESS at boiling eggs, hard or soft. And can you believe this is the only time I like my yokes runny. If I’m having poached or fried eggs I want those MOFO’s hard. What a freak. I think this is breakfast sorted x

  6. Emma Steendam says

    I was wondering about the chooks…get on it! I am bursting with eggs. If you lived nearby you would be getting them left on your doorstep and begging me “ENOUGH EGGS!” So. Many. Eggs.

    My favourite part was the Renee comment.

  7. crazyspeedylove says

    {www.crazyspeedylove.com}
    Up until last year I hated eggs – and now I love them. Weird!
    Looks like the perfectly cooked egg….truth is that buttery toast is what I am drooling over! x

  8. Fantastic! Dippy eggs are one of my favourite comfort foods. When I’m sick and miserable with Lady Flu I like to request them in a whiny voice. My husband always undercooks them which makes my voice even whinier. He then tries to correct it by putting them back in, which of course never works and they turn out like fossilised eggs. Disaster!! And of course more whining from me! I will be sure to pass this recipe onto him next time I suffer from fatal Lady Flu.

  9. I’m going to make these RIGHT NOW and report back.

  10. Lisa Mckenzie says

    Yum i must be doing something right i cook mine for 5 minutes exactly too,and i love lots of pepper and salt ,you can’t eat them without ii!

  11. Something Gorgeous says

    My comment has nothing to do with eggs, I just wanted to say that I love that you take the time to comment on all your comments. xT

    • BabyMacBlogBeth says

      Oh thank you! It’s the least I can do right? I used to read them, nod and have an imaginary convo with you guys in my head but funnily enough it didn’t translate and I came across looking like a tosser who didn’t care. And while I AM a tosser, I DO care! x

    • ahoy.jenni says

      I agree…and she is very funny.

  12. I always had my eggs like this until I met my (now) husband, who boils, then peels his eggs, and smashes them onto the toast. I’m pretty much converted. But – I learnt THE MOST AMAZING THING about boiled eggs last year, and I’ve been thinking ever since, it should be taught in schools. Beth, I think you may the person to share this fact with the masses. IF you are going to peel your eggs (straight away, or after they cool down) add a teaspoon of bi-carb to the water. Go on, try it. It makes the eggs INSANELY easy to peel. Seriously, it was a life changing piece of information.

  13. MotherDownUnder says

    My husband is in charge of the eggs around our place…like you he just always gets them right!
    And I agree that the toast has to be extremely buttery and cut into nice, thin strips.
    We just had Friday night fridge frittata and now I am wishing we had just plain, boiled eggs!

  14. Di @ Life is Di-licious says

    You’re singing my favourite song Beth – but they’re even better when they’ve been freshly laid. We got chooks almost 2 months ago and one has finally started laying. The taste it phenomenal and my once yolk shy daughter is gobbling them down.
    Is there nothing better than toast with lashings of salty butter???

  15. My children are going to have their first googy egg tonight. We’ve been at a 3rd birthday party all day and this seems like the perfect dinner. Thanks for the tip!

    • BabyMacBlogBeth says

      That IS the perfect time to have them for dinner…when everyone is a bit overwrought and in need of comfort. Hope they fit the bill!

  16. Margiewolfe says

    Beth. I keep googling this recipe and love it except I end up singing don’t walk away Renee for the next few
    Hours ….argh LOL

  17. Kirsty Michalzik says

    Thank you! I’m sitting here putting my baby to sleep, starving to death. I will go have this for breakfast now!

  18. Annette Hill says

    I love a googy and soldiers. I will try your method. Have a great Thursday!

  19. Eggactly how I like my breaky eggs as well! Thanks for the tip of dropping into boiling water,will try ASAP! 🙂

  20. I never comment on blogs or things like that but after trying this for breakfast this morning I feel compelled to thank you for this super simple method! And my mind is blown that there’s a timer on the microwave – apparently my husband knew this all along. Two words – LIFE CHANGING!

  21. As ’tis the season etc I just have to share my family’s boiled egg story: on Christmas and Easter Sunday morning my mum would cook up “special eggs” with soldiers. That was the only time of year we had them and we thought it was such a treat! As we got older and realised they were just boiled eggs and we could make them any old time we wanted, we asked mum why they were dubbed “special” and why did we have them at Christmas and Easter? Her answer was that she wanted us to have something wholesome in our bellies before the onslaught of crap throughout the day. As a mum now myself I think it is genius. And as grown ups we all still have special eggs on Christmas Day, it is a treasured family tradition. And yes, mine must have set whites, runny yolk 🙂

  22. I have been practicing this week Beth and they are working beautifully ! I have treated myself to some cute new egg cups from Bed Bath and table too – on sale for $1.95 and will be teaching our 16 year old son how to make these – life lesson skills ! thankyou

  23. PERFECT advice!!!! Got two things to thank you for: I made the perfect boiled eggs this morning following your exact instructions and secondly, thanks for introducing me to my timer on the microwave!!! Why have I never thought to use that ever before in my life?! ?

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