The Best Way to Hard-Cook an Egg (and more)

[mudbug]

Thought I'd post these since it's so rare to find CI info anywhere unless you buy it.

Ever wondered? Look here for the answer: The Best Way to Hard-Cook an Egg.

For more great information, look here.

[ShawtyCat]

Great info CChiu. I have tried many ways to get my hard boiled eggs to come out perfect and nothing worked. That article really helps. Gonna try it tomorrow morning. Thanks.

Jodi

[chiffonade]

Hmmmmmmmm...

Makes me wonder why CI is offering free info. Do you know that even if you are a CI subscriber, they won't let you navigate archival info on their site? I think that particular policy is a bit of a ripoff.

Christopher Kimball can be more than a bit annoying with his editorials but the information held in the magazine itself is outstanding and consistent. The trick is to skip his rambling personal story every month and that really clears the way to enjoy the rest of the magazine. My favorite name for him is "Mr. Soppypants."

I think he should have relinquished his position as cookbook reviewer when he picked up the baton as cookbook author. His reviews are more than a bit slanted. He can't seem to wear a non-biased hat.

[Suzanne]

I think it was Julia Child who first introduced me (not personally, though) to the "let them sit covered off the heat" method -- so I guess I've been using it for over 30 years. IT NEVER FAILS. Even if the eggs sit in the water longer, since the water is also cooling, they don't get too terribly overcooked. And you never have to worry about the eggs exploding because you forgot about them on the stove and all the water boiled out. It always amazed me when fellow line cooks would boil the **** out of eggs, when this method is so much better -- I even almost had a fight over it once!

[marmalady]

Ain't it fun arguing with those guys?!!

I do the Julia Child method, too, and get perfect eggs all the time.

[alexia]

Susanne, boiling any protein will toughen it, not just eggs. You're right, they're wrong.

Chiffonade, unless they have just changed their policy, CI archives are accessible. You just have to reset the time frame (at the bottom, I think.) That for me was the beauty of the site. (my subscription has just expired). If it has changed, let me know and I probably wont re-subscribe.

I think in other fields it is customary to have novelists review novelists, historians review historians, etc. The important thing is to recognize the reviewers' biases. In the case of Kimball, his are pretty easily read. In the CI recipes I often disagree with the goal they wish to achieve in a particular recipe (soft chocolate chip cookies? Faugh!), but their meticulous documentation helps me find the way to my own. OK, no stones from the soft cookie crowd,k please.

[mudbug]

chiffonade, I respect your opinion however, I do have to attribute [url=http://www.cooksillustrated.com/]Cook's Illustrated for ignighting my own interest in cooking. In fact, it was this 3 page article (the first article I ever read from CI) which won me over. I'd always wanted to know why and how and 'why not' this and 'why not that'. When your clueless and people respond "Oh, a little of this and a dollop of that", it doesn't do people like me any good. We all have to start somewhere and for me it was that article.

I agree that it is annoying to have to pay separately for access to the entire website. It's a fine line. I'm not in their shoes and don't know the cost of supporting the overhead, equipment, staff, technicians, etc. Obviously, the information is propriatary. The question is, is it worth it to the individual who want's to pay the money? Seeing as it is about the cost of one trip to McDonalds a month. It's cheaper than some other sources of info of less quality and I can think of worse ways to spend my money.

Ironically, I stumbled onto those "samples" while looking for a recipe. If you go to the home page and can find the same page from there, let me know the route.

I respect that there are no ads in their publications. If I need to pay a little more for that and what I feel to be information which is useful to me, then I'm more than happy to do that if I can afford it. After all, it's the American way! You could always subscribe for a single month and download as many recipes as you can. In the meantime, I'll diligently check the Kitchen Detective article on a weekly basis for as long as it is made available.

I also appreciate that they try to make each recipe work as universally as possible no matter what quality equipement you have. And that when they test products, more money doesn't mean it's better.

I like the fact that I can go to one primary source and expect a certain methodology by which information is derived. Of course CI is not the "end all". If nothing else, it teaches some of us who would not necessarily know or care about a topic until addressed. For others, it challenges us to support our own methods and/or consider and/or incorporate new ones. It is impossible to please everyone and I don't think that is their goal. I think they do the best they can with the materials and methods and time constraints allotted. I don't think it's right to disregard everything they write simply because I completely disagree with one article. How many times have we made a dish knowing we could have used a better ingredient, or if only we'd had more time and we are unfortunately judged based on that meal? Or how many times have we done that to someone else (thinking they can't cook!).

People approach cooking in different ways and they learn in different ways. I believe CI appeals to people of a very logical mindset. Not everyone has to agree with them but that's like any other publication on any other subject. I don't see much competition on the market which fills the niche CI does. I think it would be fantastic if Shirley O. Corriher who wrote CookWise had her own show on FoodTV. Until then, I'll have to stick with shows like America's Test Kitchen and Good Eats to answer those questions I've wondered about, those I'd never even considered, and educate me enough to make me ask some more...



Kitchen Detective Don't know why that's doing that above.

[ShawtyCat]

Hey Cchiu! Thanks for the link to the website. I just suscribed to the website at the monthly rate so John (hubby) wouldn't get too bent out of shape at the price.

There is tons of interesting info on there answering a few questions I have. Plus I like the ability to browse through electronically. Tired of mags in my mailbox.

Thanks a bunch.


Jodi

[Isa]

In the Bon Appétit review of Chez Panisse Café Cookbook, Irene Sax says:

When I closed the Chez Panisse Café Cookbook there was one recipe I couldn't get out of my mind. Not the baked goat-cheese salad that's been on the menu since the café opened. Nor the honey ice cream with pistachio brittle (though that does sound good.) It was the instruction for making hard boiled eggs.

The eggs come about a quarter of the way through the book — instead of the beginning or end, where most authors put the basic recipes — and the preparation is stunning in its simplicity. Just perfectly fresh eggs, simmered for 9 minutes, plunged into a bath of ice water, the shells cracked, then put back into the cold water and peeled. In its way, this is an emblem for the whole book and for the whole Chez Panisse philosophy: Get the best ingredients you can and treat them simply and with respect.

For the rest of the review, click here.

[chiffonade]

Alexia...I don't know what I did different...I was looking for a recipe from a magazine I own but didn't want to sift through my pile of CI's. They asked me for payment! I e-mailed and asked if my subscription (since the charter issue, I might add), didn't get me access to all areas of information. They said a user had to "join the website." I think that's ridiculous.

As for the content - I believe CI is one of the finest resources available. I have read them cover to cover since way back but I got a little disappointed in the overall tone of Kimball's reviews. I've seen him cut down tried and true books - with no real merit.

[lwunderlich]

but, I got one of those little Salton egg cooker and they just come out so perfect and peel so easily and NO green sulfur ring around the yolk. Yes I know that that is from to high of heat, but I don't like to watch a pot boil or even try to get to that point and it probably is not large enough to use in a large kitchen, but if you want about a dozen at a time for recipe purposes it's a fun item. I'm not a purist, so shoot me.

Rue

[mudbug]

lwunderlich,

Welcome to ChefTalk. There's almost always more than one way to achieve the same result! I'm just not sure I'd hard boil enough eggs to justify the purchase of an egg cooker or have the room to store it.