How to hard boil an egg using an electric kettle

After Easter a few years back we had many eggs leftover. Not wanting them to go to waste I divided them out over a week and with some salt and pepper, went to town. Since then I been making them at work because they are a lot easier then cooking them on the electric griddle. Besides people were starting to give me dirty looks when they walked by my cubicle at work! Please note that I did not make this up at all. I have simply compiled my findings from many different places. Without further delay...

Step 1 Place eggs in kettle

Assuming you have fresh eggs*, the number of eggs you can make at a time depends on the size and shape of your electric kettle. I have a Chef's Choice Cordless Electric Kettle Model 677 and I can fit 4 eggs comfortably. You need to leave room inside the kettle so that they don't touch the heating element. Once you place the eggs inside fill them so that there is about an inch of water above them.  
* If you are not sure your when your eggs were purchased you can test them by dropping them into a glass of cold water.  If they sink like a stone then they are great.  If they drop and bounce a couple of times they are older but still are okay.  If they float they they are bad and should be tossed!  I found

Comments

[rwlh1950]

This is one of the best tips I have from instructables. It's so simple, and works every time. I love egg butties, but it's such a pain with sauce pan and boiling water, this is great, put the eggs in the kettle, switch on and walk away. come back some 15 minutes or more later.
Wonderful.

[possum888]

This actually works! I just tried it and it was very nice. But remember to drain the water afterwards! Eggy coffee dosen't tase nice!

[bigdukeydog]

 @possum888 - Yeah I usually rinse it a couple of times and boilsome water before I use it again.  Although as long as your eggdoesn't hit the element you shouldn't have any egg in your kettle. :)

[28.martine]

my heating is the bottom?! anyone some ideas how to cook my eggs. My cooker also keeps cooking when I open it. perfect for home brew coffee.

[28.martine]

I tried it this morning. No exploding eggs. 3 min for soft egg was a little to short but I think 4 for a medium one would do. 5 is definitely hard boiled. It was fast and easy thanks so much for this instruction.

[bigdukeydog]

 Glad it worked out for you, I've been trying to find a way tocontribute to this awesome site but could never think of a good Instructable!

[capn_midnight]

You could snag packets of mustard and relish from whatever fast food store you're in and mix it with the yolks for deviled eggs.

[bigdukeydog]

@ capn_midnight: That's a great suggestion I do have a little cafeteria right downstairs... It will make my work feel like a picnic!

[capn_midnight]

I believe that people eat out too much because they don't season the food they make for themselves enough and don't realize how easy it is to make tasty treats with simple ingredients.

[PKM]

I've done this before, eggs are nice and self contained (providing they don't hit the element and explode). Now instant noodles, they make a mess (I never tried that one but saw the results).

How do you empty the kettle and mess around with the wet eggs and bowl of ice water at your desk without attracting more weird looks? I try to restrict my activities at my desk to work, eating and occasionally juggling..

[bigdukeydog]

I actually have to go to the bathroom to drain the kettle because they wouldn't install a drain in my cube. However I have found that the cube walls are a perfect height to teach me the art of unicycling... wish me luck!

[chiok]

Unicycling is about posture, so keep your back straight and head up. Anyway, I used to do this at university when I didn't want to get a pan wet. I opted for a different method and kept the water boiling by taking the lid off while the kettle boiled. On older kettles, taking off the lid stops the auto-shutoff as it doesn't reach the required temperature so keeps boiling. Means you need to keep an eye on it, but you don't need to wait 15 minutes. I used to use tongs to remove the eggs, but have learnt that you can crush the eggs and then you've got egg in your kettle.

[bigdukeydog]

@ chiok: Thanks for the suggestion I might give that a shot and while it requires a bit more attention I'm usually starving when I make the eggs. :)

[thepelton]

One thing I should mention about boiling eggs is that water boils at a lower temperature the farther from sea level you go. Here in Colorado Springs it's 6100 feet above sea level, and a hard boiled egg takes almost an hour to cook.

[bigdukeydog]

@ thepelton: That's really interesting I've never tried it on our trips to Aspen/Snowmass and after finding that out I don't think I ever will!

[28.martine]

an hour? no way? I always thought it would take some minutes longer! So you never eat boiled eggs I suppose. Here in Holland (i live bolow sea level) 5 minutes for a hard boiled one.

[28.martine]

I live 6.75 m below sea level!!!

[thepelton]

I know about quicker boiling times at sea level, since I lived for a time in San Diego, where the average elevation was about 2 m. Here it is over 2 Km, and with a lower pressure, the boiling point is lower, ergo the egg takes an hour to solidify.

[28.martine]

Really never knew that. I always thought a couple of minutes. I can imagine you make the eggs at front. Waiting an hour for your breakfast is very frustrating. Tomorrow is fathersday in Holland and then we always make my husband breakfast on bed with an egg. Now I have a very good story for tomorrow.

[thepelton]

Have a happy Father's Day!

[thepelton]

I do occaisionally eat hard boiled eggs, but I usually make them up in advance when I do.

[captainpoco]

I wonder if you could put noodles, or any instant food in a ziploc and cook it, or would the plastic leach chemicals into my bouillon base?

[timberframe]

I don't think the ziplok would be a very good idea, but there are boil-in rice products that might work nicely. I think the plastic is different. If you were to try it, I would try the turkey roasting bags or the crockpot lining bags, both of which would be designed for heat. This is a super idea tho. I have chickens at home, so hard boiled eggs are great (read extra yummy) sources of protein. They're really convenient if all I have to do is grab a couple in the morning.