Okay, that was a bit of hyperbole; we haven't been cooking our eggs all wrong, but we have not been cooking them to their full potential.
Brian Lagerstrom recently released a seventeen-minute video entitled, "7 Techniques to Instantly Upgrade Your Eggs" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsY_E5kifdc (There is a sponsor segment halfway through.)
I was really surprised at how much I learned from this. My favorite part was the poached egg methods and his use of cheesecloth for the hard boiled eggs is just brilliant.
Not big on using butter for frying eggs. I have been using those Teflon cups for poached eggs, they work well. I have never found a poaching method that works, I'll have to try this. I always thought my eggs were too cold right out of the frig.
Large Big Green Egg, Weber Performer Deluxe, Weber Smokey Joe Silver, Fireboard Drive, 3 DigiQs, lots of Thermapens, and too much other stuff to mention.
I read the headline, my first thought was “Nope,” I clicked the link and saw Brian Lagerstrom and thought, “Oh, yeah, I should watch that, I’ll learn something.”
I read the headline, my first thought was “Nope,” I clicked the link and saw Brian Lagerstrom and thought, “Oh, yeah, I should watch that, I’ll learn something.”
So gimme a few minutes while I watch it!
IKR? I don't know what it is, I really like his videos. Clean, concise, to the point, it's like "High Yield Cooking". It's long enough you get to see him actually demonstrating his techniques, but not so long you are sitting there going, "Come one, get to the point here, man!" He doesn't spend a lot of time pontificating, he's somewhat entertaining, has a mild sense of humor. I really like his stuff. And usually not 30 minutes long. I'm in the 5-15 minute category on what I can sit through, most of the time.
Agree 100%. I’ll stretch my attention span for Ethan Cheblowski, but a lot of his videos feel like a classroom. Nothing wrong with that, but I have to set aside time for him. He’s worth it, but it’s rarely a spontaneous watch.
Large Big Green Egg, Weber Performer Deluxe, Weber Smokey Joe Silver, Fireboard Drive, 3 DigiQs, lots of Thermapens, and too much other stuff to mention.
Okay, excellent. Says the guy who started the Show Us Your Breakfasts topic!
I am 100% on board with everything he shows here, even the little things like cracking the eggs on the edge (Jacques Pépin says to crack them on the counter, but). Almost all of it I’ve learned from trial and error, plus I’ve figured out quite a few “hacks” (I hate that word, but everyone knows what it means) that work for me in my kitchen. I’d list them, but they’re more along the lines of “how to save this mistake” rather than “always do this”….
For me, poached eggs are too much work for an incrementally small payoff over soft boiled. If I’m going to work for breakfast, I’m making tacos, or huevos rancheros. But that is still a good method to know.
I stopped doing my eggs in butter when I realized I was going through more than a pound of butter a week. Now I do them in olive oil for scrambled, for over easy, and for omelets, and in a neutral oil for breakfast tacos or burritos. The exception is the fluffy French omelet he shows at the end; that NEEDS butter. For the sunny side ups he mentions the water in the butter helping steam the eggs; I add a tablespoon of water before covering. Timing is everything here: you can let them go longer and glaze completely over. I use a clear lid to decide what I want.
Warm plate. Warm plate, WARM PLATE. For years we had a linoleum countertop; cold in the winter, but it didn’t hold heat/cold; if you put something hot on it, that spot heated up. Now we have quartz, that makes everything cold, quickly.
These suckers are awesome. We have half a dozen small round, and four large rectangular. I also use them to take dishes out of the microwave, to put hot dishes on the stone patio table, everywhere that rapid heat transfer might either damage a surface or compromise the food temp. Like, breakfast on a 0° morning, in a 65° kitchen, with a 55° countertop.
Hard boiled eggs: I guess everyone’s kitchen is different. I actually have this right over my work area!
Samir Nosrat’s 10 minute egg looks like Brian Lagerstrom’s 7 minute egg. In my kitchen, a 15 minute egg looks like his 12 minute egg. Mrs Mosca won’t touch any hard boiled egg that has any orange at all, so we eat 15 minute eggs (same as Lagerstrom’s 12 minute). Nosrat’s 15 minute egg has a green ring; mine is yellow end-to-end. And for us, a perfect soft boiled egg is 5 minutes, and they look like Lagerstrom’s poached eggs. When egg prices go down, get a carton and time your eggs and figure out what you want.
One “hack” I use that is probably worth sharing is that I frequently make omelets in between the traditional American and the classic French, the one that he demonstrates in the video. I follow his technique up to where he spreads the egg in the pan. Then I stick it under the broiler for a minute, then fill and fold. This tightens up the creamy top without browning the bottom. Eggs will carry over cook and melt any cheese; if you’re using cheese, lay it down first. And have any other meat or vegetables already warm.
Uncle Bob wow I am ahead of the game then! I've been cracking my eggs on the edge of the skillet if frying, or on the edge of the bowl if scrambling, for my entire adult life. Glad to know I was doing it right, haha.
I liked the video. I do use butter for my eggs because it’s handy. I have eggs about three mornings a week. Normally scrambled with an omelet once every couple of weeks. I’m going to try his techniques. It can’t hurt to get better. My favorite thing is hard boiling them for my wife to make deviled eggs with. Her’s were the best I’d ever tasted until last year. My daughter invited us down to a big potluck supper she was having at her house. My wife offered to bring deviled eggs but the daughter told her no that Margo was bringing them. The wife was deflated for a bit but all was fine. Margo should make deviled eggs for the whole world! Good grief they were spectacular! They have most of the normal stuff but there’s tiny bits of bacon, jalapeño, and other stuff in them! They were by far the best I’ve ever tasted and I’ve tasted a bunch of them. If I can get the recipe I’ll post it.
Great tips! I happened across the video yesterday. Like any cooking info, I’ll use what works for me and my kitchen and hope others can find something useful for theirs. “Happy Cooking!” - Jacques Pépin
Good video. Will definitely play around with some of his techniques, but three of his methods seem like too much trouble and time.
Fried Eggs, Sunny-side up: I heat the pan to medium-high, toss in a tab of butter (as he does) then plop in the egg(s) and cover. 60 seconds later I remove from heat and leave covered. 45-60 seconds later I remove the cover and serve. I have a glass cover so I can watch to make sure the whites are fully cooked to my liking and the yolk is still runny.
Hard Boiled: I never boil them anymore (and his technique is way more involved than I care for). I fill a pan with about an inch of water, put a steamer basket on top and when the water is boiling, gently place the eggs in the steamer basket and cover. Whether I'm cooking one egg or half a dozen, there's no change in the "water" temperature because its all steam. After 14 minutes (12 if you like that little jellied yolk center) I plop them in ice water for 5 minutes.
Poached: His method seems like a lot of work. I start out with the Julia Child method of bringing the water to a boil and adding white vinegar and salt, then using a slotted spoon I lower the egg(s) still in the shell, into the boiling water for 8-10 seconds to set the white part. At this point I "cheat" and drop them into a silicone egg poacher, turn off the burner, cover the pan and wait 4 minutes. Faster and a lot less work.
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