My Electric Egg Cooker—Environmental Fail

15 Responses for "My Electric Egg Cooker—Environmental Fail"

1. Emily April 17th, 2012 at 5:25 am 1

   I haven’t used an egg cooker but recently used our rice cooker to hard boil our Easter eggs for the first time. Essentially you steam them for 17 minutes and they came out perfectly! Love having another use for the rice cooker!

2. rebecca April 17th, 2012 at 7:36 am 2

   Ooh, interesting, Emily. I don’t have a rice cooker. (Another small appliance that kicked the bucket.) I don’t know if I make rice often enough to justify getting one, but I am intrigued by the idea of having an appliance that does more than one thing!

3. Gina - The Gluten-free Gourmand April 17th, 2012 at 8:48 am 3

   I have been meaning to get an egg cooker so Christopher and I can have hard-boiled eggs in the morning. Now I know what not to get! Sorry yours kicked the bucket. I’ll be checking back to see what people recommend.

4. rebecca April 17th, 2012 at 2:26 pm 4

   So far no one has recommended one. Maybe they are embarrassed to admit that they own one. Not me! I LOVE(D) my egg cooker. Until it died. Now I hate it . . . and miss it. It’s a very dysfunctional relationship.

5. Jennifer S. April 17th, 2012 at 3:07 pm 5

   We baked our eggs in the oven a la Akron Brown style. 325°F for 30 minutes I do believe.

6. Jennifer S. April 17th, 2012 at 3:08 pm 6

   Oh goodness that should say Alton Brown :/

7. Jennifer April 18th, 2012 at 4:02 am 7

   Boiling eggs is easy.

   Put them in the pot and cover with water. Doesn’t matter how many. Cover and put on the stove on high heat. When they come to a boil, remove the lid and set a timer for 5 minute. When it goes off, turn off the heat, cover, and reset the timer for 10 minutes. DONE.

   Always remove the peel as soon as possible, running under cool water just enough to be able to handle them. Crack the shells all around and they should peel off easily.

8. Carol Kelley April 18th, 2012 at 12:16 pm 8

   Had to retire Henrietta after maybe 15 years. I’m also looking for a new egg cooker. I was forced to cook eggs on the stove and it wasn’t that hard but I like having an egg cooker better.

9. rebecca April 18th, 2012 at 1:31 pm 9

   I have never heard of doing that, Jennifer. Very interesting. I just looked it up and found the instructions. Maybe I could do that in my toaster oven. Otherwise I worry about wasting energy. . . . Not that buying an electric egg cooker every two years is preferable! I must try this!

10. rebecca April 18th, 2012 at 2:46 pm 10

    I didn’t see the second Jennifer’s comment. I think the problem I have with boiling eggs is the timing. You have to watch the pot and keep setting the timer. It also takes a lot of water because you need to cover the eggs with at least an inch of water for best results. Then the shells are usually very difficult to remove.

    This is a very contradictory stance I am taking, I know. Normally I am the one arguing that the “old-fashioned” way is not difficult. I make almost everything from scratch and know how to make a lot of complicated dishes. I just don’t like applying that knowledge to hard-boiling eggs!

11. Gina - The Gluten-free Gourmand April 19th, 2012 at 10:16 am 11

    Well, it sounds like we might have an egg cooker challenge on our hands. Perhaps we Kelley women – Carol (Mom), Rebecca, and I should each buy a different egg cooker and rate our results. Rebecca can do a blog post about it after a few weeks of trials, and we can also see whose lasts longest. If one of them takes 15 years to die it could be problematic to report the results, but it would be a great experiment!

12. becky April 20th, 2012 at 12:12 pm 12

    i am voting for the old fashioned way! my even simpler directions that i learned from my husband after spending my life thinking boiled eggs were too complicated. now we do a dozen every few mornings and we eat them for breakfast and snacks every day.
    put eggs in water, just enough to cover. bring to boil and turn off heat. leave covered and in water for 15 minutes or until you remember. if you set the timer you can avoid the overcooked yolks but they are still tasty if you forget. drain them and put them in the fridge in a bowl of ice. done.
    if you must purchase something get one of these:
    http://www.acehardwaresuperstore.com/1329-specialty-gadgets/60619.html

13. rebecca April 20th, 2012 at 1:42 pm 13

    Hm, Becky, I am not convinced. I really don’t like eggs that are overcooked even one minute. And that’s my problem with the whole “oh, cook them in a pan” method. I have to sit around watching the pot like a hawk, waiting for it to boil. Then you have to set the timer and take them out at just the right time, and that varies depending on the number of eggs you’re cooking. If you don’t have the right amount of water (usually more than 4 quarts!), the eggs also don’t turn out right. I have ruined so many batches of eggs trying to boil them.

    I have very strong feelings about this. I could go on and on about how stressed out I get thinking about boiling eggs. Maybe I should write a book about it. A confessional memoir or something. . . .

14. rebecca April 20th, 2012 at 1:42 pm 14

    Gina–good idea! What one are you leaning towards?

15. another Josh April 26th, 2012 at 11:52 am 15

    Similar to what someone else posted previously about the rice cooker, we hard cook our eggs in a steamer. We’ve got a 2 level one, so if we’re cooking something in one level we’ll put the eggs in the other level. If we’re steaming rice which takes around 50 minutes, the eggs go on top and are done in 24 (then we can steam something else in the other basket).

    In the summer, to keep the extra heat out of the house we take the steamer outside. The neighbors have looked at me kinda funny when I’m out there juggling eggs, beets, and rice to get them all cooked in the steamer in one 50 minute session.

    You’ve still got to set the timer, unless you’re just cooking the eggs. In that case, set the steamer timer for 24 minutes then it shuts off when it’s done.