Is this possible? Never tried it but can you hard boil poach eggs to save on shelling eggs for a sandwich mix? We spend quite a while at work peeling eggs and it crossed my mind the other day that a way to save time could be to try doing it this way.
There are pros and cons to both a boiled egg and a poached egg. Boiled egg pros: You can cook multiple eggs at once and you have a very low probability that you'll mess the eggs up. Also, it doesn't matter (a) how much h2o is in the pot, nor (b) how clean the h2o is (i.e., resuing the same h2o for another batch.) Boiled egg cons: Peeling is extremely time consuming.
Poached egg pros: They're very quick to cook and can be transferred easily from stovetop to serving plate in minimal time. Poached egg cons: They're easy to mess up, the amount of h2o and the h2o temperature are 2 important key-things to take into consideration (you can't just leave them for a few minutes like you can w/ boiled eggs) and you can't poach more than one egg in one skillet/sauce pan at a time, nor should you re-use the same cooking h2o.
When you use "boiled egg" and "egg mayo mix" together in a sentence, the first thing that comes to my mind is the well-known and widely-loved egg salad. If what you're making is similar to this, I understand the formation of your idea considering that the final egg product doesn't have to be pretty because the egg will be chopped up anyway, regardless of if it's boiled or poached. Sure, you could try using poached eggs; I have in the past before for a hot bacon and egg salad that was prepared and the ingredients mixed hot and fresh right before serving. However, if you're creating your dish in large quantities and you won't be serving it immediately, boiled eggs would be the way to go, in my opinion. The #1 reason I say this reflects the 1st boiled egg pro above: You can cook multiple+++ eggs at once! Not to mention, with a boiled egg, the thick coagulated egg white will be more prominent in your dish.
Are you having trouble peeling the boiled egg properly? There a few popular tricks that speed up the still-time-consuming process.
Poached egg cons: They're easy to mess up, the amount of h2o and the h2o temperature are 2 important key-things to take into consideration (you can't just leave them for a few minutes like you can w/ boiled eggs) and you can't poach more than one egg in one skillet/sauce pan at a time, nor should you re-use the same cooking h2o.
Would it really matter? I mean you really just want to cook the eggs all the way through you wouldn't even need to add vinegar to the water. I personally don't think you would have to put the eggs into the water all the delicatly if you were going to do this. It sounds like it might actually be a great time saving technique but I would like to hear from any chefs if they have done this.
It reminds me a bit of the technique of deep frying peppers to get the skins off. It works, it is much faster than roasting them over the grill but in the end the product taste isn't entirely the same. The end product is fine for brunch buffets and large scale production but the traditional roasting method is preferred.
Nicko, depending on the dish Nosworthy is making, no it may not matter. I'm certain we're all assuming the dish he's making is relative of egg salad, hince my stating "If what you're making is similar to [egg salad], I understand the formation of your idea considering that the final egg product doesn't have to be pretty because the egg will be chopped up anyway, regardless of if it's boiled or poached." (Just to play devil's advocate: You wouldn't want a poached egg to be your foundation for a deviled egg; boiled would be the best bet in this case, hands down.) Additionally, I still can't help but feel that if he decided to go the poaching route, he still couldn't poach more than one at a time because of the high probability it would result in a wattery egg-drop-like "soup" and straining this for saving just the eggs may end in more time-consuming trouble than just peeling boiled ones. Nicko, you do make a good correlating reference w/ the roasting technique you speak of w/ peppers; the end result is close enough to pass, so why not give it a shot? I, too, would like to hear from any chefs who have chosen the poaching method over boiling eggs for a dish like this.
Panini, my grandmother used to do the same thing. She would boil the eggs, immediately drain the water after 10mins, put a few scoops of ice in the pot to stop the cooking process, cover, and shake the way you speak of. I had forgotten about her doing that; thanks for the trip down memory lane
Cheers for the replies. I'm talking about making egg, mayo cress mix for sandwiches at work. I cook in a care home and me plus Sandra (kitchen assistant) and Trish (potwash in for 5 hours) have to provide breakfast, lunch (2 choices plus pudding) and tea (2 choices plus pudding) for 94 residents, upto 20 visitors (lunch and tea) and upto 30 staff in 10 hours. About half of the residents require their food to be pureed or softened and desserts must be provided for those on soft or pureed diets. Dairy/gluten free, vegetarians and diabetics need to be catered for as well so time is of the essence.
I'll try the poached eggs for sandwich mix on Friday and report back. If it doesn't work I'll definitely try the battering about in a pan method suggested, sounds good. Actually will try that anyway for when the eggs need to look good for salads etc.
I am so trying this tomorrow! I have weekend prep and part of that is "boil one flat eggs" so I will definitely try it for peeling. Does a bucket with a cover work as well?
This worked really well. Filled up a pan with some water, brought it to a simmer, cracked 25 eggs in and waited until they were hard boiled. Then lifted them out with a spider and put them in a colander to get rid of any stringy bits left. The egg mayo mix was spot on, would recommend this method to anyone making anything similar.
What're other people's timings for boiling eggs for shelling? I go with cold water covering the eggs by 2/3 inches, bring to boil, turn off gas and leave covered with a pan lid for 16 minutes. Any improvements on this?
Is this possible? Never tried it but can you hard boil poach eggs to save on shelling eggs for a sandwich mix? We spend quite a while at work peeling eggs and it crossed my mind the other day that a way to save time could be to try doing it this way.
Yes , but really not poached. We used to make egg salad for hundreds. To peel the eggs would take a long time We solved the problem.
Break the eggs into a 2 inch S/S hotel pan. Stir in a drop or 2 of vinegar. Cover with plastic wrap so water does not get into eggs.
Steam the eggs in a steamer till they are hard cooked, chill them down quickly and then chop for egg salad. This method is also more sanitary then peeling by hand even with a glove on. Did it this way for 20 years.
A french chef in Sydney mass poaches his eggs 300 at a time. He has done a nice fit out and has joined 3 retail shops together to make his cafe a nice space.....its a real shame about the food, especially breakfast.
Been thinking about that mayo idea...I would suggest it is potentially a highly risky thing. You will end up with an aerated oily suspension that has cooked egg bits. Its a time bomb
Gareth, what does he poach 300 eggs at a time in? A bath?
What does 'aerated oily suspension' mean? The eggs are poached until hard boiled, any stringy bit of egg white discarded before refridgerating the cooked eggs ready for making egg, mao and cress mix.
Gareth, what does he poach 300 eggs at a time in? A bath?
What does 'aerated oily suspension' mean? The eggs are poached until hard boiled, any stringy bit of egg white discarded before refridgerating the cooked eggs ready for making egg, mao and cress mix.
Gareth, what does he poach 300 eggs at a time in? A bath?
What does 'aerated oily suspension' mean? The eggs are poached until hard boiled, any stringy bit of egg white discarded before refridgerating the cooked eggs ready for making egg, mao and cress mix.
Ah, right. No time to make our own mayo unfortunately.
I'd heard fresh eggs can be awkward to peel and we get our in daily so sometimes they're very difficult. The darker ones seem to be more difficult than the lighter coloured ones as well. I'll try the shaking about in a pan with lid on method this weekend and see how it goes.
Add a little salt to water when boiling. Works everytime.
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