The egg. It’s what life begins with. It’s what your day begins with. Coincidence? That’s a hard-boiled no.
In the kitchen it’s an ingredient. It’s a binding agent. A thickening agent. It coats, emulsifies and aerates. It plays a supporting role in so many dishes. In baking, you know the egg is there, you just forget the egg is there. Outside of the kitchen, it’s the symbol of a pretty large holiday. You paint on them. You paint them on canvasses. You roll them. The egg is so ubiquitous, we shape other foods into eggs! (hello Mr. Cadbury).
Today we are going to talk about the egg…as an egg. Just itself. Not as a supporting actor. But as the main character and how many different lead roles it can play. You can hard-boil them. You can fry them over easy or sunny side up. You can also fry them into a scramble or an omelette. You can bake them in the oven or poach them in a ramekin. If you didn’t notice, all of these ways to cook an egg are through the lens of breakfast. That’s where the egg is at it’s best so that’s what we’re going to talk about.
Egg as egg.
We are going to assume you already know how to cook an egg in the aforementioned ways. So we will refrain from insulting your intelligence and giving you step by step instructions on how to boil an egg. Instead we are going to arm you with all the tools you need to accomplish each task.
Hard-boiling eggs.
First, you’ll need any pot or saucepan. The size you will need depends on how many eggs we are talking. A good rule of thumb is twice the amount of eggs per quart. So a 3 quart saucepan or pot should comfortably boil 6 eggs.You don’t need to go super fancy here. If you are going to invest in a saucepan you can’t go wrong with the Hestan Thomas Keller Insignia Open Sauce Pot or the Zwilling Clad CFX Stainless Steel Ceramic Nonstick Saucepan. You will also need a slotted spoon to place the eggs into the boiling water. You can use a slotted spoon like this stainless steel one from the Henckel’s gadgets set. Or if you prefer the softer touch of a silicone spoon you can sub in a skimming ladle from Staub. After you have achieved your desired level of hard-boiledness and a ready to start cracking try out this new Dreamfarm Eggler. It is an egg tool that cracks, peels, and slices hard-boiled eggs. This is probably the only tool we’ve mentioned you don’t already have so grab one of these. It’s one of those ingenious items you will tell people about, but never loan out.
Frying eggs.
So for the next three cooking methods you will need a nonstick frying pan. Again, the size depends on how many eggs you are frying at a time. A very adequate nonstick fry pan at a very reasonable price is the Zwilling Motion Hard Anodized Aluminum Nonstick 10” Fry Pan. Up the size and sophistication of the nonstick coating a little bit and you should consider the Hestan ProBond Professional Clad Stainless Steel TITUM® Nonstick Open Skillet or the Scanpan HAPTIQ Fry Pan. Both come in 11” and have best-in-class nonstick coating.
After the frypan decision is made, you now need to choose a spatula. You can get spatulas in sets like the previously mentioned Henckels Cooking Tools 6-Piece 18/10 Stainless Steel Kitchen Gadgets Set. But if you are only looking for a sole spatula you should try the Dreamfarm Stainless Steel BBQ Chopula Serrated Spatula. It has a flat edge on one side so it doubles as a cutting device to separate joined eggs. You should also check out the EZEE-Flip Spatulas from Gusto. They have a very thin edge profile for maximum undersliding (we just made that word up). The EZEE-Flip also has a rotating handle that allows you to flip the egg without the gracefully awkward hand-torque-jerk method we’ve all used for years.
Frying over easy or sunny side up.
Hopefully you know the difference between the two. You still need a skillet or fry pan and some sort of a spatula or turner. Sunny side up does not flip but you still need one to get it out of the frying pan. You can try the “slide out of the pan” technique that you see in movies or cooking shows but you run the risk of breaking the sunny part. Here’s a tool you should check out. It’s called the Dreamfarm Flegg. It’s a handy little egg ring mold that allows you to keep the frying egg in one shape, and also make an easy flip if over easy is what you are craving. Want sunnyside up, just don’t flip! You can also lift and serve right out of the Flegg.
Scrambling eggs.
Still need the fry pan. Still need the spatula. But to make the perfect scrambled eggs you will need to add two very important tools to your arsenal. A mixing bowl and a rock solid whisk. For commercial grade function try the Hestan Provisions 3-Piece Stainless Steel Mixing Bowl Set. If you like your mixing bowls a little more fashion forward try the colorful Rosti Victoria 3-Piece Mixing Bowl Set. This set comes in 2,3 & 4 liters and 7 colors. Now for the whisk, The whisk adds the fluffiness quotient to your eggs. This is where you get to add all the fun scrambled eggs magic. The milk, the onion powder, the garlic powder, the spices. Save the chives, parsley & other greens for the pan. We would recommend are the Dreamfarm Flisk Whisk. It a goes from a large balloon whisk for whipping, to a sauce whisk for shallow liquids and gravy, and then a flat whisk for deglazing. In its flat form it becomes the easiest whisk in the world to store. The second whisk we would recommend is the Zwilling Pro Large Whisk. It is a modified balloon whisk with eight stainless steel overlapping loops arranged in a star-shaped constellation to ensure increased air content.
Omelette-ing eggs.
Well we hate to say it, because we really love talking about product, but everything we’ve mentioned is all you need to make an omelette. Just a different process. However this is where you add the cheese so you might need a Zwilling Z-Cut Box/Tower Grater. And for adding your chopped greens to the frying pan, you’ll probably need to chop your greens. So try this Global Classic Vegetable Knife.
Baking eggs.
All you really need to bake an egg is an oven safe vessel to hold the egg its shape. The Staub Ceramic 3-Piece Mini Round Cocotte Set is perfect for baking an egg. They have the look of enameled cast iron but they are resistant to thermal shock and heat safe up to almost 600 degrees. They heat up faster and cool down quicker than cast iron. And they are downright adorable.
So to recap. Here’s your all-things-egg checklist.
Hestan Thomas Keller Insignia Open Sauce Pot
Zwilling Clad CFX Stainless Steel Ceramic Nonstick Saucepan
Henckels Cooking Tools 6-Piece 18/10 Stainless Steel Kitchen Gadgets Set
Staub Skimming Ladle
Dreamfarm Eggler
Zwilling Motion Hard Anodized Aluminum Nonstick 10” Fry Pan
Hestan ProBond Professional Clad Stainless Steel TITUM® Nonstick Open Skillet
Scanpan HAPTIQ Fry Pan
Henckels Cooking Tools 6-Piece 18/10 Stainless Steel Kitchen Gadgets Set
Dreamfarm Stainless Steel BBQ Chopula Serrated Spatula
EZEE-Flip Spatulas from Gusto
Dreamfarm Flegg
Hestan Provisions 3-Piece Stainless Steel Mixing Bowl Set
Rosti Victoria 3-Piece Mixing Bowl Set
Dreamfarm Flisk Whisk
Zwilling Pro Large Whisk
Zwilling Z-Cut Box/Tower Grater
Global Classic Vegetable Knife
Staub Ceramic 3-Piece Mini Round Cocotte Set
