What Should I Know About Cooking Eggs?

The most important thing to know about cooking eggs is that timing is everything. To be specific, a few extra minutes added to or subtracted from the ideal cooking time makes a big difference for eggs. If the cooking time is off, soft cooked eggs may become hard cooked eggs or vice versa and scrambled eggs may turn into either a rubbery or a runny mess. Fried eggs also tend to be runny and unappealing when undercooked. If it is overcooked the outsides of a fried egg may become too brown and this may taste quite unpleasant.

Cooking eggs perfectly each time takes some practice. Luckily, eggs are relatively inexpensive, quick to make and sold in cartons of twelve or more -- so if they're ruined the cook can usually just throw out the first batch and try again. Hard boiled eggs are arguably the easiest type of egg to cook. Eggs are placed raw as is -- shell and all -- into the bottom of a pot. Water is added to just cover the eggs before the pot is placed onto the stove with the heat on high. Just at the point that the water comes to a boil, the heat should be down so that the water still continues to boil for about 10 - 12 minutes.

It should be noted that the exact time needed when cooking eggs may depend on the type of stove and other factors. If the hard boiled eggs get a grayish ring around the yolks, this means the cooking time was a bit too long. If part of the yolk is more saturated or stronger in color that the rest and appears softer in texture, the cooking time was a bit too short. These are still edible mistakes, however. Just be sure to always refrigerate any unused hard boiled eggs after they're cooled.

Scrambled eggs are quite quick and easy to make. The basic way of cooking eggs scrambled is to break raw eggs into a bowl and discard the shells. Then add a little water or milk plus salt and pepper. Beat the egg mixture with a wire whisk or a fork before adding it to a hot greased or non- stick pan on medium heat. Some prefer their scrambled eggs softer while others like them firmer, so the cooking eggs should be carefully watched to get the desired consistency.

Fried eggs can be a little tricky to make if a sunny side up or unbroken yolk is wanted. Eggs are broken directly into a hot greased or non-stick pan and left to cook on one side before being flipped over with a spatula or pancake turner. It's during the flipping motion when cooking eggs in the frying method that the yolks may break. Fried eggs can taste delicious this way if they are not overcooked after being flipped.