Hacks That Will Make Boiling Your Eggs So Much Easier

If you haven’t succumbed to peer pressure-cooking and are proudly Instant Pot-free, you may be interested to know that the good old, slow cooker can make for a perfect egg-boiling device. This is a great way to cook them if you want boiled eggs on hand to use in a recipe to be named later, but you don’t need them right away. As with most crockpot cookery, this egg cooking method is pretty set-and-forget.

While some claim that eggs can be cooked in the crockpot without using any water, this method has never worked for them. Besides, tap water is basically free, so there is no need to omit it. Instead, put your eggs in the pot in a single layer, cover them with water, then add some salt. Cook the eggs on high for 2 ½ hours, but don’t let the pot switch over to the “keep warm” setting once they’re done. After 2 ½ hours, a few more minutes of heat probably won’t hurt the eggs too much, but it’s best to get them out of hot water and into a cold bath soon after the cooking time is up. After a few minutes of chilling in cold water, these slow-boiled eggs will be ready to peel and eat.

You can even boil eggs in your coffee maker.

Even if you don’t have a slow cooker, you may still be able to get in on the egg-cooking gadgetry as long as you own a 12-cup coffee maker. Even a smaller one might work. LeafTV notes that you should be able to fit two eggs into the mini coffee pots, which are standard equipment in many motel rooms. A standard coffee carafe, however, may fit up to half a dozen eggs.

To commence the coffee pot egg cooking, fill the water reservoir up all the way, put your eggs in the carafe, and then just hit the start button. The coffee maker will heat the water to near-boiling, pour it over the eggs, and then keep the burner warm while they cook. After five or six minutes, you’ll have soft-boiled eggs, while 10 to 12 minutes will give you hard-boiled ones. Keep the eggs in the carafe as you carefully pour out the hot water, then fill it up with cold water and let the eggs sit until they are cool enough to peel.

Or dare to use your dishwasher.

Long before home, sous vide machines were readily available, and kitchen hackers discovered that you could obtain a similar effect by cooking foods in your dishwasher. If you’re firing up the machine solely for the purpose of cooking your eggs, it’s neither a time nor energy-efficient method. If you don’t mind multitasking, however, you can always boil up a batch of eggs while you use the dishwasher for its intended purpose.

But wait, you may ask, won’t the eggs taste all soapy? After all, we just explained how shells are porous and flavours in the water can seep into the egg whites. Well, the secret to dishwasher cooking lies in creating an air (and soap)–tight seal. What you’re going to need to do is to find some screw-top glass jars to hold your eggs. Put the eggs in the jars, fill the jars up with water, screw on the lids, and let the dishwasher run. Assuming your water temperature is set to 140 F, an hour-long cycle will provide you with a batch of soft-boiled eggs and plenty of clean dishes to plate them.