Three Quarter Boiled Eggs

[kuan]

What is the approximate cook time for 3/4 boiled eggs and are there secrets to getting them out of their shells?

 

[french fries]

Sorry I started answering but realized I have no idea what a 3/4 boiled egg is.

 

[brianshaw]

I’ll assume you mean boiled egg with yolk not runny but just set.

Boil water, bring to simmer. Add room temp egg for 6 to 7 minutes.

 

[rick alan]

Large eggs six minutes at full rolling boil (use plenty of water to hold the boil when eggs go in) will leave the yokes all liquid if you dunk immediately in ice water, so i'd say adjust what you do from around that area to get your desired effect. Eggs that sit a month in the fridge peel real easy.

Once I left some [mostly] liquid-yoke eggs in the fridge for a couple weeks one yoke turned into something like a very soft plastic consistency.

 

[nicko]

The trick I use for getting them out of the shell Kuan is to prick the larger rounder end with a pin which releases the air bubble. These seems to help them cook more evenly and also helps with removing the shell. One of the biggest things I have found that helps get eggs out of the shell is how fresh they are.

 

[brianshaw]

Another aid to shelling is a bit of vinegar in the water. The acid, allegedly “softens” the shell. It seems to work in my experience.

 

[chefbillyb]

In shell I would boil for 6 minutes. It maybe easier to put a cracked egg in a ziplock bag or do by placing in plastic wrap in a cup and cracking an egg then tying it and hanging it into simmering water. You can cook the egg to a semi-soft poached egg.

 

[nicko]

That has not been my experience fresher eggs are better for any application all around. Do you really want to use older eggs just because they are easier to shell?

 

[fatcook]

Pressure cooking the eggs makes fresh eggs easier to shell. For soft boiled, we do 4 minutes at high pressure - your device may vary.

 

[nicko]

Fatcook is correct pressure cooking the eggs is the easiest I have found for peeling eggs.

 

[phatch]

Large eggs six minutes at full rolling boil (use plenty of water to hold the boil when eggs go in) will leave the yokes all liquid if you dunk immediately in ice water, so i'd say adjust what you do from around that area to get your desired effect.

At my elevation, I find 8 minutes is needed. Just a data point for us high elevation types. I'm about 5000 ft. Crack the shell lightly when you shock them usually helps with peeling.

 

[rick alan]

Well actually I don't let eggs sit around on purpose, and I have had fresh eggs peel very easy. My assumption comes from my experience of fresh eggs sometimes being harder to peel, but eggs a few weeks old have always been easy to peel. Not very scientific, I know. Just did some fresh organic eggs, shells slipped right off.

Water of course boils at a lower temp at higher elevations, I am situated at sea-level, good point to bring up.

 

[meezenplaz]

I get a little more incremental control by finishing the
egg in the cooling process. In other words I bring them
to boil, full boil for 2 minutes, remove from heat, cover and
cool for specified time, depending on doneness desired.
Just lets me fine tune it more to type of eggs, ambient conditions etc.
The drawback is that it does take a bit longer.
Either way I just ice bath em, roll-crack em, they almost always peel
easily.

 

[Seoul Food]

https://www.popsugar.com/food/Why-Fresh-Eggs-Difficult-Peel-When-Hard-Boiled-7429332

 

[nicko]

https://www.popsugar.com/food/Why-Fresh-Eggs-Difficult-Peel-When-Hard-Boiled-7429332

This article states "For best results use eggs that are 7-10 days old". From a purely professional production standpoint this is not practical. From a health perspective I don't want eggs lying around for 10 days just so they are easier to peel.


Fresh eggs, pierce the large round end with a small pin to equalize and hard-boil they will peel just fine.

 

[cheflayne]

This article states "For best results use eggs that are 7-10 days old

If you buy eggs at a store odds are very good that they are at least 7-10 days old. The farmer has a window of 30 days after an egg is laid, in which to put the egg in a carton. After being placed in a carton, there is a window of 30 days in which to sell the eggs. So the egg you buy in a store could easily be 2 months old, no matter what the date says on the carton.

Spoiler alert: The sell by date is not the best indicator of the age of the eggs. There is a 3 digit number on the carton that is the day of he year that the egg was placed in the carton and is a better representative of the age of the egg.
I bought eggs on November 13. The sell by date is 12/05/2019. The code on the carton is P1778-310-L13. That means the eggs were placed in the carton on the 310 day of the years which was November 6. Best case scenario the eggs would be a week old when I bought them, but they could also be 37 days old as well

 

[fatcook]

What Cheflayne says is spot on. Store bought eggs are not "fresh" simply by logistics. However - it doesn't mean they are "bad" it just means there is a little more air in them - hence being easier to peel. Unwashed eggs can sit out of the refrigerator for several weeks easily without turning (depending on your house temps of course). Even washed eggs can sit out for a long time. Less than unwashed due to the extra layer of protection of the bloom being gone, but still quite safe. Unless you have zero sense of smell, you will not be eating a bad egg without knowing it.

We have chickens, and our eggs are so fresh they are still warm when collected. The only method that allows us to peel them without sacrificing half the white is pressure cooking.

Bit of egg freshness trivia - when we let a hen set, we collect the eggs and keep them in the house for up to a week before putting them in the nest. So eggs that have sat on a counter for 7 days are still fresh enough to hatch.

 

[chrislehrer]

I've got a question about pressure cooking eggs. How do you get the pressure up and then off fast enough? I mean, if it takes 30 seconds minimum to get full pressure and another 30 to depressurize, that's a minute of cooking already. Eggs cook so fast at those temperatures that I don't see how you can be at all precise with them. What am I missing?

 

[meezenplaz]

Last 2 places I worked we were using apx 2 cases, or about 250
eggs per day. Far as I knew they came in moderately fresh.
So 7 to 10 days old? Not possible.

 

[planethoff]

I have seen and heard all debates on what makes it easy to peel. Old, fresh, vinegar, yada, yada, yada. Here’s the secret: put the eggs in when the water is at a rolling boil. I can crack the egg, pull it out of the shell and still have whole shell intact (aside from split). For 3/4 I’d say 8 min at medium boil. Instant cool. For me soft boil: 5 minutes. Hard boil. 11 minutes 3/4 8min